On 3 December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development. As we mark the International Day of Education 2026, the global conversation turns to a powerful new theme: “The power of youth in co-creating education.” It recognises youth as agents of change in shaping inclusive, equitable and quality education, and helping build more peaceful, just and inclusive societies.

This vision acknowledges a fundamental truth that our youth, who constitute more than half the global population, can no longer be viewed as passive beneficiaries of education systems. They must be their architects. As digital natives, they understand the rhythm of the future better than any generation before them, and their voices are essential in shaping how learning evolves.

Just as how institutions like UNESCO are championing agency for our youth, we must play our role in bridging the opportunity divide and meaningfully enable youth to become active participants in their education. This is especially critical amid rapid technological transformation, which calls for rethinking not only what we teach, but how teaching and learning take place.

Bridging the Opportunity Divide

Across Southeast Asia and Oceania (SEAO), the digital divide is often framed as an infrastructure challenge marked by a lack of internet bandwidth or access to devices such as laptops, tablets, or computers. At Samsung, we see it differently. We see it as an opportunity divide.

Bandwidth is not just about internet speed; it is about how quickly a student can access knowledge. A device is not just a gadget; it is a canvas for creation. When a student in a rural community lacks these tools, they are not simply missing a tablet; they are missing a seat at the table of the future economy.

The demand to bridge this divide is real. In 2025, 59% of schools in our region had plans to upgrade and invest in modern technology to digitalise their learning environments[1], confirming that such investment is no longer a convenience, but a baseline requirement to ensure all students and educators have fair access to quality learning environments.

Yet technology alone is just the starting point. When educators are equipped to guide and inspire, students can co-create the future and innovation will thrive. That is why our approach begins with the educator.

Through Samsung Learning Hub, we provide the tools, training, and resources to elevate teaching, inspire learning, and help make technology work for every classroom. Our bootcamps and mentoring programs support both educators and school leaders in helping them to build the capabilities needed to keep pace with evolving curricula and help guide their schools on a digital transformation journey. By strengthening digital competency at every level, we help to ensure that technology in the classroom serves pedagogy, not the other way around.

The Samsung Digital Lighthouse School initiative is a showcase of what is possible, and that digital transformation is not only achievable but also sustainable

Building on this foundation of empowered teaching, we are also extending impact into the learning environment through initiatives like the Samsung Digital Lighthouse Schools program. Recognising that every school begins at a different stage of its digital journey, this program meets schools where they are and supports them with the tools, capability building, and frameworks needed to progress sustainably.

In Indonesia, SMP Islam Al Azhar 25 Tangerang Selatan and Thursina International Islamic Boarding School have recently joined the Samsung Digital Lighthouse School community. In these schools, teachers are building confidence in using digital tools to enable more engaged and collaborative learning, while technology helps reduce administrative workloads so educators can focus more fully on teaching and mentoring students.

Reimagining Learning for A Better Tomorrow

Once access is established and educators are empowered, we can turn to the ultimate goal: Agency.

Beyond infrastructure, our role is to equip the next generation with real-world problem-solving skills. By using technology as a catalyst for critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration, we help to enable youth to pursue their ambitions and shape the futures they envision.

This is especially vital in our region, where young changemakers are driven to develop creative solutions to challenges within their communities. We see this in our flagship corporate social responsibility program, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, a competition that invites students to apply science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills to social issues. By challenging them to design the solutions they wish to see in the world, the program fosters a powerful mindset of co-creation. In 2025, nearly 17,000 youth participated across the region, marking a 40% increase compared to the previous year.

Hailing from New South Wales in Australia, Jack Lowe built Eilik, an AI-powered results comparison platform to help educators identify potential academic dishonesty in the age of generative AI

In Australia, we witnessed this ingenuity in action. Jack Lowe was awarded the “Runner-Up 14-18” prize for his concept, Eilik—an AI-powered results comparison platform designed to help educators identify potential academic dishonesty in the age of generative AI. His innovation reflects how youth are seizing the opportunity to reshape learning from their own perspectives. Jack’s goal is to support fair learning environments and ensure students receive the guidance they need to build strong foundations in science, mathematics, and English. This thoughtful response to one of education’s emerging challenges exemplifies what co-creation in education truly means.

As our region’s AI-driven digital economy continues to grow, building industry-ready capabilities is more important than ever. Through Samsung Innovation Campus, spanning four SEAO markets, we equipped more than 24,000 participants in 2025 with critical skills in coding, programming, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence. In doing so, we are not just teaching students how to use today’s technology but also preparing them to build the technology of tomorrow.

A Shared Responsibility

The International Day of Education 2026 reminds us that education is not something we simply hand down to the next generation, it is a shared, ongoing effort—one we build alongside them, so they can continue transforming education for those who follow.

At Samsung, our commitment remains firm. We invest in the infrastructure that enables digital classrooms, empower educators who guide our youth, and most importantly, provide platforms that allow young people across our region to exercise their agency to invent, to solve, and to co-create a better world.

By closing the gap in access today, we open the door to their innovation tomorrow.

[1] IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Samsung, Modernisation of Learning through Digital Tech Investments, #AP242475IB, November 2024­­­

At Samsung, we strive for continuous growth and improvement, while also recognising the importance of empowering the next generation to drive their own innovation and progress. Today, technologies like generative artificial intelligence (AI) are fast becoming the transformative technological developments of this era, and we strongly believe in the technology’s potential in enhancing our capabilities.

I found a recent report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to be quite interesting; the findings revealed global human development progress – a measure of improvements in health, education, and income levels according to the UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) – has slowed to a 35-year low. While this take was concerning, what followed was unprecedented optimism about AI’s potential – with 60% of respondents worldwide hopeful that AI will create new job opportunities[1].

We now stand at the edge of a digital divide. As a global technology leader, we are taking on the responsibility to equip all with technology – such as AI – as well as skills that empower them to co-create meaningful change at scale.

Inspiring Collective Innovation Through Human-Centered AI

In the vibrant Southeast Asia & Oceania (SEAO) region, we are already seeing the next generation embracing AI’s potential, not just to shape their careers, but also to drive meaningful social change[2]. These insights align with UNDP findings that show two-thirds of respondents anticipating the usage of AI in education, health, or work within the next year.

At Samsung, initiatives like Solve for Tomorrow (SFT), our global flagship corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, embodies the United Nations’ (UN) call for building an economy where people leverage AI rather than compete against it. Across SEAO, the 2025 edition of SFT has kicked off in Australia ,Vietnam, Indonesia, , Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia and New Zealand.

The Solve For Tomorrow 2025 Australia Major Prize winner hails from Melbourne, Australia, with his entry, “Access Lens”.

Through the competition, participants gain the skills and confidence to tackle complex problems, transforming their ideas into actionable solutions that solve real problems. One such example is Samsung Australia’s Solve for Tomorrow Major Winner, Faiz Noorani whose concept, Access Lens which is an AI-powered solution that uses augmented reality to improve real-time Auslan translation to assist Deaf and hard of hearing Australians. Designed to translate spoken English into Auslan signs via smart glasses or a smartphone camera, Access Lens aims to help users feel more confident, connected and included in everyday interactions.

Our approach to CSR also reflects the UN’s focus on embedding human agency across the full AI lifecycle, from design to deployment. Through programs like SFT, we ensure that young innovators remain at the center of technological solutions, and not just as passive recipients.

Investing in the Leaders of Tomorrow

Today, we are also seeing the democratisation of AI underway. Our own youth survey on AI reveals that 9 in 10 youths in SEAO are using AI daily.

Notably, the UNDP highlights that 70% of people in low- and medium-HDI countries expect AI to increase their productivity. These insights reinforce the potential of AI as a bridge to new knowledge and skills, thereby making Samsung’s contributions towards skills development not just beneficial, but essential for regional economic growth and competitiveness.

Creating a future-ready workforce means bridging the digital divide, and ensuring those without easy access to education, technology, and upskilling opportunities, have the support they need to both participate in and drive change.

Samsung Innovation Campus is a global education program that helps youth build advanced IT skills and practical capabilities for better opportunities.

Across the region, we empower young people through initiatives like Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC), providing information and communications technology education in areas such as Coding & Programming, Internet of Things and AI. By bridging the skills gap and laying a foundation for future employment, we’re contributing to the development of skilled professionals and supporting national goals, such as Indonesia’s digital economy growth, which will need an additional 9 million digital talent by 2030.

Over in Thailand, our decade-long partnership with the Office of the Vocational Education Commission through the Dual Vocational Education (DVE) program empowers vocational students with real-world experience and future-ready capabilities. By combining classroom learning with on-the-job training, the program not only strengthens technical expertise, but also cultivates vital skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork. This well-rounded approach ensures that students are fully equipped to succeed and contribute meaningfully to Thailand’s development.

Technology as a Bridge

This commitment to inclusivity extends beyond product design and into how we think about the future of work. As industries evolve and the green economy expands, we must ensure that no one is left behind.

By working closely with government agencies, educators, partners, customers, and the youth who will inherit this future, we are building not just products but responding to the urgent need for new approaches to development, by creating pathways where innovation uplifts communities, and ensuring that everyone has a role in shaping an AI-enhanced future.

[1] Human Development progress slows to a 35-year low according to UN Development Programme report | United Nations Development Programme

[2] Samsung Solve For Tomorrow 2025: Where Gen Z’s Ideas Meet Global Impact

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. recently hosted the Samsung Developer Conference Korea 2024 (SDC24 Korea), a virtual event that showcased the company’s latest software innovations and vision for the future.

Since 2014, Samsung Electronics has held this annual event to engage and collaborate with software developers, making SDC24 Korea the 11th iteration. This year’s conference highlighted research related to software embedded in products such as generative AI, software platforms, IoT, healthcare, communications and data. It also delved into the culture of open-source development.

During the keynote address, the company unveiled Samsung Gauss2, the second generation of its proprietary AI model, and highlighted its improved performance, efficiency and various application possibilities.

“Samsung Electronics is committed to developing cutting-edge software, including AI and data analytics, to enhance user experiences,” said Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, President, CTO of the Device eXperience (DX) Division and Head of Samsung Research. “With three distinct models, Samsung Gauss2 is already boosting our internal productivity, and we plan to integrate it into products to deliver higher levels of convenience and personalisation.”

Samsung Gauss2: A Multimodal Language Model Catering to Diverse Needs

Samsung Gauss2 follows the company’s internal generative AI model unveiled last year, and it offers improved performance and efficiency in simultaneously handling various data types as a multimodal model integrating language, code and images. It is available in three distinct models catered to different purposes: Compact, Balanced and Supreme.

The Compact model is a small-sized model specifically designed to work efficiently, even in limited computing environments. It delivers optimised performance for on-device usage by maximising the utilisation of the device’s computing resources. On the other hand, the Balanced model focuses on achieving balance between performance, speed, and efficiency, providing consistent performance across diverse tasks. Finally, the Supreme model aims for top-notch performance by leveraging a mixture of technology[1] atop the Balanced model, allowing significant reductions in computational costs during training and inference processes while maintaining high levels of both performance and efficiency.

Samsung Gauss2 supports 9 to 14 select languages as well as various programming languages, depending on the model. Samsung has developed and incorporated its own stabilisation techniques for training large language models (LLMs) and designed a custom tokeniser[2] to ensure maximum efficiency for these supported languages.

Customisable for Various Productivity Tasks and Product Development

Having an internal generative AI model allows easier customisation so that optimal performance can be achieved for specific goals and applications. Samsung Gauss is already being used in various tasks for Samsung’s employees, leveraging its customisable development capabilities.

With the power of Samsung Gauss, the in-house coding assistant ‘code.i’ assists the company’s software developers. Now upgraded to Samsung Gauss2, it is being utilised by business units within the Device eXperience (DX) Division and overseas research institutes.

Samsung Gauss Portal is a conversational AI service powered by Samsung Gauss that assists employees within the DX Division as they handle various office tasks — such as document summarisation, translation and email composition. The service was expanded to overseas subsidiaries in April. In addition, starting from August, Samsung is using Samsung Gauss to call center staff to automatically categorise and summarise customer calls.

Moving forward, Samsung aims to continuously increase productivity within the company by applying Samsung Gauss2, to improve the performance of the code.i service, enhance the natural language question-and-answer function of the Samsung Gauss Portal, and support multi-modal functions like understanding tables and charts and creating image.

Moreover, under the AI vision of “AI for All,” Samsung will continue to expand the reach of its AI-based services across all product lines so that users can experience more convenient and enjoyable daily lives. And by integrating knowledge graph technology with AI, Samsung expects to provide even more enhanced personalisation services.

Presentations on Topics Including Software Platforms, IoT, Healthcare, Communications and Data

Following the announcement of Samsung Gauss2, there were presentations on the customer experience with Samsung’s platforms, which included relevant insights on the SmartThings experience and improvements to various software platforms.

Subsequently, 29 diverse technical sessions were conducted, including the following:

• The Future of Healthcare and Samsung’s Health Ecosystem Strategy
• SmartThings Customer VOC Experience Improvement with Generative AI
• i: Understanding Samsung Electronics’ AI Coding Assistant
• TV-based Lifestyle Content Hub To Enrich Your Everyday Experience
• AI Solution for Samsung Home Appliances Through AI Vision Technology and Data Utilisation

For more detailed information about SDC24 Korea, visit the official website (https://www.sdc-korea.com/).

[1] An approach where only the most suitable expert models are selected and activated for specific tasks, allowing efficient performance enhancement through the conservation of necessary computational resources.

[2] A tool that converts inputs such as letters into data formats that can be processed by computers.