KDIS launched a new application in January 2021. Different from the KDIS CL application, KDIS CONNECT is designed to connect KDIS students all around the world. Here is some information about KDIS CONNECT.

Please explain KDIS CONNECT and introduce its purpose.

The main purpose of KDIS CONNECT is to connect current students and KDIS alumni. We have alumni all around the world from diverse sectors, including public and private sectors. Their interests are not confined to their own countries. Many students, even many alumni, want opportunities to collaborate in business, research, or other projects. Taking this into consideration, the KDIS public relations division started working on an application that focused on finding and chatting with alumni.
Korean people mainly use Kakaotalk to communicate with each other. International students also download it to contact Korean students when they come to Korea. However, when international students go back to their home countries after graduation, they either delete the app or stop using it altogether. It even resets automatically when a user does not use it for a certain period. This makes it difficult for international students and even Koreans to keep in touch. In order to maintain close connections and build a more solid network within the KDIS community, KDIS CONNECT was created.

What is a distinct characteristic of KDIS CONNECT?

Although we already knew there are many great platforms for keeping in touch with people, like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, social media applications do not really focus on finding alumni who did not take a course in the same semester or year.

The major function of KDIS CONNECT is finding people, even though we are currently still optimizing the chat function, as it is in the initial stage. By going to the “Find” tab, you can easily search for people that you want to contact. There are four filters that can be set: entrance year, semester, program, and country. When searching for someone, you can search by name, year, program, country, or workplace. Despite there being only four options, you can also customize. You could find people that you do not directly know. For example, if you want to findn people who work in the government in Indonesia, just type “Indonesia” and “ministry.”

Are there any future updates planned or upcoming service additions for KDIS CONNECT?

A PC version of KDIS CONNECT will be released. Smartphone services have limitations. A PC version will make it easier for users to use the application at work. Many users have contacted us to ask for a video call service, so that will also be introduced. These two services are expected to be introduced next year.

Is there anything else you want to say about KDIS CONNECT?

There are two things that we want to say. We hope users add “KDIS Service Manager.” Many users give us feedback through email, but if you contact us through the KDIS Service Manager, we can respond to you more quickly. Last but not least, there will be an event related to using KDIS CONNECT through social media. We plan to give away a gift card as a raffle, so please keep a lookout for our KDIS CONNECT event!