"It is difficult for a single corporations's capabilities to lead a highly technology-intensive business. We judged that discovering potential partners and supporting their growth to build a competitive industrial ecosystem is an important role and duty of large corporations."
Korean Air is accelerating cooperation with startups and small and midsize corporations to secure competitiveness in future aerospace technology.
As it advances artificial intelligence (AI) convergence technology based on experience developing crewed and uncrewed aircraft and extensive aircraft design data, it has set an open research and development (R&D) strategy and the Small and Medium Business Technology Innovation Development Project as key pillars and has moved to build a win-win ecosystem.
Since 2023, Korean Air has operated an open innovation program to discover partners in core fields such as manufacturing technology, AI, smart factories and space.
This year, in partnership with the Seoul Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, it sought a co-executing company for the project "technology development to support aircraft drawing and design based on an MLOps platform." After issuing a call for applications in May and conducting reviews, it selected AI specialist SoftonNet in Oct.
Cho Sang-uk, Head of Team leading the autonomous flight technology team at the Aircraft Technology Institute under Korean Air's Aerospace Division, said in a written interview with ChosunBiz on the 3rd, "Beyond simply running a program, we are pushing actual commercialization by linking outcomes to a purchase-conditional R&D project of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups or by signing mutual memorandums of understanding (MOUs)," adding, "We are also jointly participating in major domestic exhibitions to support startups in attracting investment and expanding their business."
Head of Team Cho stressed, "From the initial planning stage, we designed the open innovation program as a 'platform to discover and nurture partner companies,'" and said, "While internalizing customized technologies that Korean Air needs, we aim to achieve true co-growth by providing startups and small and midsize corporations with opportunities for technology development and commercialization."
◇ 'Sustainability' is the standard for collaboration… "Early phase is key to narrowing gaps in technical understanding"
Since joining Korean Air in 2013, Head of Team Cho has developed various uncrewed aircraft flight control systems and software for fixed-wing, rotary-wing and tiltrotor platforms. Cho is currently focused on advancing core technologies for autonomous flight, including obstacle detection and abnormal situation response.
Regarding the open innovation program, Cho selects items among the needed on-the-job technologies that can be pursued through external cooperation to plan projects and then conducts technical evaluations and reviews of candidate companies.
Head of Team Cho cited "sustainability" as the top value when selecting partners. Cho said, "For sustained cooperation, above all we must share the same 'vision,'" adding, "It is important whether the relationship is strategic enough to fill each other's blanks." Cho also emphasized that communication skills determine the success of cooperation, given that unexpected situations frequently arise during development.
As a strength of working with startups, Cho pointed to "rapid action." Head of Team Cho said, "Even a good idea can only be judged for practicality through real-world application," adding, "A company we are collaborating with recently turned its proposed idea into a prototype in a short period, and together we are proving the technical utility."
By contrast, Cho identified "differences in technical understanding" as the biggest challenge. Head of Team Cho explained, "Because our areas of expertise differ, the process of aligning mutual technical understanding early on is particularly difficult."
◇ "Selection based on real demand… the goal is to run projects without failure"
The project underway with SoftonNet is no exception. Head of Team Cho said, "From this month to next month, SoftonNet will dispatch personnel to Korean Air to deepen understanding of each other's technical characteristics and to specify system requirements."
As for why SoftonNet was ultimately chosen among two supporting companies, Cho cited "expertise in ontology." Ontology is a kind of "map" that systematically organizes the structure and context of specific knowledge, and it serves as a "compass" that helps AI make more accurate judgments.
Put simply, it is a technology that arranges data held by large language models (LLMs) in a more orderly structure. Head of Team Cho explained, "Depending on the situation, an LLM can provide answers that are not factual," adding, "By integrating ontology technology, we aim to prevent or minimize such errors."
Head of Team Cho expected that if this project is completed successfully, Korean Air will secure AI-based aircraft design tools that can be immediately applied to crewed and uncrewed aircraft development projects. Cho added that SoftonNet will generate revenue by providing the tool and follow-up support and further gain new business opportunities. Cho said, "The experience of successfully executing the project will serve as a foundation for continuing cooperative relationships across various businesses in the future."
Korean Air is formulating its open innovation strategy around medium- to long-term plans rather than short-term results. It selects core technologies by business group and pursues both in-house development and external cooperation to raise technology readiness levels (TRLs).
Head of Team Cho said, "Because we take ample time for internal review even before announcing a project call and select based on real demand, there have been no cases of failure or suspension to date," adding, "This year, we held a performance-sharing session to share demonstration results and broadly discussed the collaboration model and future business direction."
Cho said, "We will continue to improve the completeness of the program to build an even more successful open innovation ecosystem," adding, "If partners' innovative technologies and Korean Air's strategic efforts are combined, the Korean aerospace industry will secure global competitiveness and make a new leap forward."