The government announced a comprehensive package of measures Monday to cultivate IT manpower considered essential to help local companies to take full advantage of the ongoing fourth industrial revolution.

The ministry rolled out the blueprint for the next five years to deal with the latest revolutionary changes that are characterized by a fusion of cutting-edge technologies such as big data and the Internet of Things.

Under the measures announced by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the government will offer quality education by working jointly with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor and Employment to nurture future scientists and engineers.
 

"The government hopes that this policy plan would act as a catalyst to support more scientists and engineers, as well as bridge the gap between science technology and society," said Kan Byeong-sam, an ICT official.

Specifically, the government will work with one of the country's top engineering schools, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, to expand science curriculum at primary and secondary schools so students can discover their given talents early on, which can help them decide on what kind of jobs they want to have in the future.

Also, the government will focus on nurturing "high-quality" engineers by fixing various policy hurdles, as the country lacks specialists in fields such as artificial intelligence.

Earlier, the government announced that it will first allocate 52.5 million won to a total of 350 up-and-coming researchers who possess good potential to make breakthroughs in their respective fields.

Under the blueprint, the government will make an effort to create an environment where scientists and engineers are properly compensated for their work. (Yonhap)