The Busan Metropolitan Government will open the Microsoft Data Center Academy (MS DCA) Lab at Kyungnam College of Information & Technology's Centum Campus on the afternoon of June 6, in partnership with Microsoft. About 30 attendees are expected at the opening ceremony, including officials from the city government, Microsoft Korea, the Korea Quality Foundation, and the Busan Information Industry Promotion Agency, as well as first-cohort internship participants.
The lab opening is a follow-up measure building on the results of the first cohort of the Microsoft Data Center Academy, which launched in September last year, aimed at expanding the education-focused program into a hands-on workforce training system. The program consists of 450 hours of practical training covering servers, networks, and cloud computing. It produced 28 graduates at the end of last year, six of whom were selected for internships at a Microsoft data center in Busan and have been gaining on-site experience for three months since February.
The newly opened lab is a training facility that replicates the operational environment of data center infrastructure. Trainees will carry out project-based tasks mirroring actual work in server operations, network configuration, and cloud management, converting theoretical knowledge into practical skills. The city plans to use the lab to fully activate a step-by-step talent development model linking education, projects, internships, and employment.
"We are focused on technical education and talent development based on regional cooperation," said Tianji Dickins, Director of Data Center Community Affairs for Microsoft Asia-Pacific. "Through the opening of this lab, we will support Busan's young people in growing into globally competitive data center professionals."
The city plans to simultaneously strengthen digital infrastructure and talent supply systems centered on data centers, building a virtuous cycle that extends to attracting global companies and expanding the industrial ecosystem.
"A city's digital competitiveness ultimately starts with talent," Busan Mayor Park Heong-jun said. "We will expand our partnership with Microsoft to systematically nurture talent in data centers, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, and connect this to the creation of quality jobs."