ICT (Information Communication Technology) Baduk Festival is about to be held and it will have Baduk players from 14 ICT organizations and businesses participating. It will be a Baduk festival where there will be conversations and laughter even in the midst of fierce competitions.
ICT Baduk Festival, which is hosted by Electronic News, is going to be held at Korea Baduk Association on the 15th. This festival is sponsored by Ministry of Science, ICP and Future Planning (MSIP), Korea Baduk Association, Korea Software Industry Association, NHN Entertainment, Dongyang Networks, and Tygem.
◊14 Teams to Participate in This Festival
Total of 14 teams will be participating in this ICT Baduk Festival, and IT service businesses have the most teams participating at 5 teams. Followed by IT service businesses, public organizations, gaming companies, and SW business will have 4 teams, 4 teams, and 1 team participating respectively.
MSIP is sending the most amount of Baduk players to this festival and will have two teams participating. First team is led by Director General Seo Seok-jin of SW Policy along with 5 official players and it also has 3 substitute players. Their skills are also top-notch as most of the players including Deputy Director Yang Yong-ryeol, who is a 5-dan rank Baduk player, are 3 to 5-dan rank Baduk players. South Korean AI Baduk Program called ‘Dol Baram’ is also a player for MSIP.
Second team is led by many public service personnel along with Director Yoo Dae-seon of National Radio Research Agency, and they are also high-rank players that are ranked above 3 to 4-dan. This team has 5 official players and 3 substitute players. MSIP’s Baduk team once placed at Central Administration’s Baduk competition.
Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, which formed Avengers Team with public service personnel from local government organizations, is also receiving attention. Including 7-dan ranked Cha Taek-joon, who is a public service personnel working for Pocheon-si, 3 5-dan ranked players and 1 4-dan ranked player will be part of Avengers Team. Public service personnel from Uijeongbu-si and Bucheon-si will be participating also.
AI Baduk program called ‘Dol Baram’ is also receiving attention. People are interested whether or not it can bring another huge event that was previously brought by AlphaGo. Dol Baram is made by combining ICT with South Korean Baduk technologies that are one of the best in the world and is based on Monte Carlo Simulation. It uses a ratio system when there is an unclear situation with a goal of making a decision. It also has Deep Learning installed and development of Dol Baram was finished in 2013.
Dol Baram, which has level of 5-dan rank player, will participate as a member of MSIP and will have 4 matches against a human according to Switzerland League’s method. “If MSIP’s A team where Dol Baram belongs to places, we will give our award to people who place after us.” said Director General Seo Seok-jin of SW Policy who is also serving as the supervisor of MSIP’s Baduk players.
Staff Reporter Shin, Hyekwon | hkshin@etnews.com