The Republic of Korea Air Force announced on the 23rd that it will accept applications from the general public for its "8th Creative Innovation Idea Hackathon" from May 26 through June 27.
The competition covers three categories: open submission, designated submission, and an artificial intelligence (AI) contest. The hackathon seeks ideas applicable to military operations as well as public-sector concepts in areas such as public safety and startup support.
The Air Force has selected tasks focused on applying AI to key mission areas including aircraft maintenance and air traffic control. It plans to emphasize discovering field-ready ideas centered on the practical operational potential of advanced technologies such as physical AI-based logistics support and automated air traffic management systems. Physical AI refers to technology where AI combines with robots, autonomous vehicles and other systems to autonomously perceive, decide and act.
The open submission category covers the Air Force's five core missions: aerospace operations, base defense, operational support, education and training, and barracks welfare.
The designated submission category includes five defense topics and two public-sector topics selected by the Air Force and co-hosting organizations.
Specific designated topics are: building advanced technology-enabled mission systems to improve personnel management efficiency; establishing AI-based autonomous and automated aircraft maintenance management systems; developing manned-unmanned combined logistics support systems using physical AI; building advanced unmanned access control systems; constructing AI-based automated air traffic management systems; devising countermeasures against facilities exploited for three major transnational crimes; and developing diagnostic and customized resource recommendation models for solo entrepreneurs.
A judging panel will select up to 15 teams per category for the finals during preliminary screening in July. Ahead of the finals in September, organizers plan to assign specialized mentors to finalist teams to enhance the quality of their deliverables.
Eligible participants include active-duty Air Force personnel and civilian military employees. Both individual and team entries of up to four members are accepted. Applications can be submitted through the Air Force intranet from April 1 to 17.
A total of 21 winning teams will receive combined prize money of 34.5 million won and certificates.
Grand prize winners in the open submission and AI contest categories will receive the Air Force Chief of Staff Award. The grand prize winner in the designated submission category will receive the Seoul Mayor's Award along with 5 million won in prize money.
First-place teams will receive the Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center Director's Award (designated submission), the IBK Industrial Bank of Korea CEO's Award (open submission), and the Korea Entrepreneurship Foundation Chairman's Award (AI contest), each with 3 million won. Second-place and encouragement award winners will receive the Air Force Aerospace Combat Development Group Commander's Award along with 1 million won and 500,000 won, respectively.
