CJ OliveNetworks Successfully Concludes AI Cooking Hackathon for 'Girls Can Do IT 2026'

[Financial News] CJ OliveNetworks announced on the 27th that it successfully held the hackathon program 'Girls Can Do IT 2026,' linked to the CJ-UNESCO girls' education campaign, Bright Girls, Brighter Future. In cooperation with the CJ Welfare Foundation, the social contribution arm of the CJ group, the event brought together 30 middle school girls from nine local children's centers in the Seoul metropolitan area, all member organizations of CJ Donors Camp.
CJ OliveNetworks has operated 'CJ AX Creative Camp,' an employee-participation AI and software education program, since 2015 to help close the digital education gap. 'Girls Can Do IT' is a social contribution program linked to Bright Girls, Brighter Future, designed to improve students' understanding of artificial intelligence and support their exploration of digital career paths.
Now in its sixth year, 'Girls Can Do IT' introduced a new curriculum that combines big data and AI technologies around nutrition and healthy eating. The program also incorporated the values of 'nutrition improvement' and 'healthy lives,' two of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). CJ OliveNetworks planned the curriculum so that students would not only study nutrition, but also gain hands-on experience solving everyday problems by connecting the food industry with big data and AI technologies.
Before the event, the students took part in preparatory classes where they learned about nutritional imbalance, essential nutrients for growth, how AI works, AI literacy skills, prompt writing, data analysis, and visualization. At the main hackathon held on the 22nd at CJ Talent Center in Pil-dong, Jung District, Seoul, the participating students and CJ OliveNetworks employees formed teams to analyze nutritional data by ingredient and develop recipes for healthy eating using generative AI. They then presented their finished dishes, along with the data analysis process, AI applications, and expected benefits, by team. The event featured a variety of AI-developed dishes aimed at addressing health concerns around the students, such as an aunt with calcium deficiency and a friend with diabetes.
Im Seong-soon, a chef at CJ CheilJedang who served as a judge and holds a Master Craftsman Cook License, said, "It was a very meaningful time to meet and speak directly with the future talents who created creative and sustainable dishes using AI technology and data." He added, "I hope this hackathon helped the children nurture their dreams."

[email protected] Yeon Ji-an Reporter