Amid growing alarm that existing security systems could be shaken at their foundations, South Korean companies are turning to universities to secure both technology and talent. Corporate interest in industry-academia partnerships is climbing by the day, with 25 companies joining Seoul Women's University in launching a graduate program in personal data protection.
Twenty-five companies will take part in Seoul Women's University's plan to establish a personal data protection department within its general graduate school, according to information technology industry and university sources on the 14th. The new department is being set up with support from the Personal Information Protection Commission and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). The university plans to admit its first students in the spring semester of next year and begin full operation of the department.
Four of the 25 companies serve as lead partners: LG Uplus (032640.KS), EY Hanyoung, Toss and Saltlux (304100.KQ). LG Uplus will work with the university on research into technologies that allow personal data to be used safely in large-scale service environments serving general consumers. Toss will conduct joint research on areas including financial data processing and the design of governance frameworks for regulatory compliance.
Some of the companies, including LG Uplus, have already signaled to the university their interest in hiring master's and doctoral graduates from the program. "We are currently at the stage of planning joint technology development projects with major companies," a Seoul Women's University official said. "The industry-academia process will surface the foundational technologies each company needs, and we are mapping out the full picture so that researchers taking part in these projects can go on to pursue employment as well."
Seoul Women's University is not alone in forging corporate ties in the security field. Chung-Ang University has created a new admissions track with guaranteed employment, covering seven students, together with LIG Defense & Aerospace (079550.KS), LG CNS (064400.KS), LG Uplus and Doosan Digital Innovation BU. Students admitted through the track, which takes its first class next year, will be guaranteed a job at one of the four companies after they complete their undergraduate degrees. KT (030200.KS) is also moving through the process of establishing a contract-based retraining department in information security with Seoul National University. Once completed, it will offer a master's program in security for KT employees.
The surge in industry-academia partnerships began after a series of large-scale personal data breaches last year. Major leaks hit the country's three mobile carriers — SK Telecom (017670.KS), KT and LG Uplus — as well as Coupang (CPNG) and Lotte Card in succession. Companies then began scouring the market for security specialists as part of their risk management efforts.
The pool of available talent, however, falls well short of market demand. Data from the Ministry of Science and ICT shows that 23% of domestic companies are struggling to hire information security personnel. As a result, firms are pinning their hopes on cultivating security specialists through university curricula and recruiting candidates already vetted by academia. "Since late last year, there have been occasions when division-head-level executives from large companies' human resources departments came to my lab asking me to recommend capable graduate students," a university professor specializing in security said. "That was a scene you simply did not see just two or three years ago."
