"The fundamental cause of the extinction of local regions ultimately is income. The quality of life declines because there are no quality jobs. If stable income is guaranteed even in the provinces, people can live comfortably. With that in mind, we tried to develop a solution that implements, with AI, geographic information for receiving a stable 'sunlight pension.'"
Im Jeong-su (50), Head of Team at Korea Land and Geospatial InformatiX Corporation (LX), explained the purpose behind developing 'A bright, sunny day,' which was showcased in the finals of the 'AI Champion Hackathon' on the 24th. Head of Team Im formed the 'Dongdongz' team with Lee Dong-gi (36), an assistant manager in the same department, and won the top prize (grand prize) at the hackathon. They became the 'inaugural champions' of the first AI hackathon held in Korea.
The Dongdongz team developed a tool to acquire siting information for solar power generation, seeing that the economic viability of renewable energy will grow further with the 'sunlight pension' policy promoted by the Lee Jae-myung administration as a response to regional extinction and recent decisions by large corporations to invest in semiconductors in the Honam region. Based on land information, they combined various public data on the land.
In particular, they did not miss that even within the same neighborhood, solar radiation differs depending on elevation and land slope. They used topography and slope data provided by the National Geographic Information Institute to select areas with good solar radiation.
At the solution presentation, questions poured in from a panel of judges made up of experts.
To the question, "If you had more time, what would you have improved?" Head of Team Im said, "Map data is lacking. If we had more time, we would have added map data."
There was also the question, "The purpose is clear, but if it fails, what do you think the reason would be?" Head of Team Im said, "It's still hard to presume failure," but added, "If it does fail, the installation expense for solar power keeps rising, and that could be a variable."
Jung Sang-won, CEO of ESTsoft and a judge, even indicated to hackathon officials after the judging that he "would like to purchase the intellectual property" for the Dongdongz team's solution.
On this, Head of Team Im said, "It seems like a matter that needs to be reviewed at the corporation level," adding, "I'm pleased that a businessperson active in the field gave a positive evaluation of the results developed at the hackathon."
Both Head of Team Im and Assistant Manager Lee previously worked at external SI corporations and joined the corporation through professional career recruitment. They are currently affiliated with the AI Innovation Office, responsible for the organization's AX (AI transformation) plans and solution development.
We asked the two about their future plans. Head of Team Im said, "We will try to implement various services by using AI more actively," adding, "We will also advance the programs we have built on a pilot basis so far and seek ways to make them usable in practice."
Assistant Manager Lee said, "I'm thrilled to have won in a competition I entered to see how far I could go with my own skills," adding, "During the two-day, one-night hackathon, I gained insights by looking at other participants' ideas. I will try to carry those insights into my work."