Ten Korean companies took part in an overseas Internet of Things exhibition and came away with one letter of intent and ten memoranda of understanding. Venture companies that are still just startups are making their mark in IoT, a promising new market of the future.
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the Korea Internet and Security Agency announced on the 24th that they showcased the technologies and services of 10 promising Korean Internet of Things (IoT) SMEs on the world stage at ‘Smart City Expo 2014’, held in Barcelona, Spain.
The Smart City Expo brings together key figures from 50 cities across Europe, Asia, Africa, and beyond, along with some 400 cities, 41 national delegations, and 232 companies, exhibiting the IoT technologies and services needed to build sustainable and efficient urban environments.
The Korea Pavilion set up at the event introduced IoT technologies and services essential to building smart cities, including a cloud-based IoT platform, wearable devices using beacons, industrial equipment management solutions, and home networking services based on temperature and humidity management.
Through pre-event meetings and on-site business meetings, the participating Korean companies achieved the signing of one letter of intent for joint technology development and volume supply contracts, and ten memoranda of understanding for future business cooperation.
In particular, ‘Blockstone’ signed a letter of intent (LOI) with a Spanish company deploying embedded sensors in Barcelona, covering technology development and volume supply worth up to 5 billion won once a final contract is concluded.
‘Daliworks’ agreed to pursue European marketing of its cloud-based IoT platform combined with hardware from Israeli, French, and Spanish companies, along with a demonstration project in the Barcelona area.
In addition, ‘ATEC’ plans to pursue final contracts with transportation system companies in Turkey and Poland after further review; ‘Idolink’ agreed to cooperate on a smart city project in Copenhagen, Denmark; and ‘Qubes’ signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with an Israeli company for vehicle management and urban development system business through mutual technology provision.
Startups also delivered results. Notably, ‘Cornerstone Technologies’ signed an agreement with an Israeli company to pursue demonstration projects for disaster evacuation IoT services in Barcelona and the United States.
SK Telecom, the chair company of the global IoT public-private consultative body and a co-developer of IoT technologies, joined the meetings with participating companies and contributed to drawing up practical cooperation plans.
The Ministry and the Korea Internet and Security Agency also held discussions with the Barcelona city government and government officials from countries including Israel, India, and Japan on identifying demonstration projects for smart city and IoT technology services and building cooperation channels between companies.
Seok-jin Seo, Director General for Software Policy at the Ministry, emphasized, “This was an opportunity to confirm the strong competitiveness of Korean IoT companies in the global market. Building on the business cooperation MOUs signed between companies this time, the government will spare no effort in providing active support so that tangible overseas expansion results can be achieved in the near future.”
by ZDNet Korea
