NPS Solveathon Workshop
The 'Solveathon Workshop' is a short-cycle version of a Solveathon, where participants acquire and experience creative ideation and rational communication methodologies through immersion and professional mentoring within a limited time frame, free from conventional constraints. 'Solveathon' is a compound word of 'Solve' and 'Marathon,' referring to a competition where teams propose solutions to given problems like running a marathon. Debate Korea introduced this concept to Korea for the first time by hosting the 2022 KB Solveathon competition with KB Financial Group last year, a concept that originated from MIT in the United States.
Debate Korea's Solveathon, reborn as a competition format, is an optimal methodology for participants to experience and grow through Debate Korea's three elements: innovation (Think), communication (Debate), and change (Change), by going through the entire process of 'professional mentoring and ideation,' 'discussion-centered collaboration and competition (Co-opetition),' and 'deriving practical solutions for real change (Solution).'
The 'National Pension Service Seoul Northern Regional Headquarters Solveathon Workshop,' held on April 6, 2023, was planned as part of the 'Pension Enthusiast Development Project,' designed to enhance employee capabilities in improving the negative perception of pensions amid accelerating distrust among the 2030 generation. The Solveathon workshop was conducted with 23 employees in their 20s and 30s from the National Pension Service Seoul Northern region, divided into 5 teams. The detailed program consisted of ideation lectures and practice, followed by solution development with incubation from two pension masters (Branch Manager Jae-yong Choi and Manager Tae-ja Moon), and concluded with brief presentations and selection of outstanding teams.
For the 20s and 30s employees working at the National Pension Service Seoul Northern Regional Headquarters, this workshop provided an opportunity to strengthen their capabilities as pension experts who will solve future pension issues through acquiring innovative ideation methodologies unrestricted by conventional approaches, and experiencing collaboration-centered competition and communication focused solely on problem-solving. In this way, the Solveathon Workshop is a program that provides a new methodology for looking at problems from a broader perspective beyond narrow views, and cultivates communication skills to put this into practice.

















