By: Kyunghwan Choi, KGGTF 2024 Youth Intern
On May 7th, 2024, the KGGTF interns attended the second private sector lecture. This inspiring lecture was given by Manager HyeJin Yoon and Naver's Tech Executive Hyuntae Yoon. It consisted of an introduction to Naver and its innovative technological advancements. After the lecture, we had the opportunity to tour the office building, observing firsthand how new technologies, such as robotic systems and automated facility management, function smoothly and efficiently.
Ms. Yoon and Mr. Yoon gave a presentation about 'Naver's 3 Key Values': Global, Sustainability, and Technology.
Global
Naver started in 1999 as a start-up and has since become a leading global IT and Tech company with more than 15,000 employees. Notably, Naver Webtoon service is available in over 100 countries, supports more than 10 languages, and has over 100 million users. Furthermore, more than 400 million global users are utilizing Zepeto, a service that operates on a metaverse mechanism. As a global leading company, Naver is also trying to collaborate with World Bank Group on Funding project in Asia and Africa continent, focusing on smart building.
Sustainability
"Project Flower" is an initiative aimed at fostering Naver's collective growth with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). It targets the creation of an environment where SMEs can flourish in their creativity and value by providing support through technology and various online platforms. Statistically, 79% of the sellers on Naver's smart store (e-commerce platform) are SMEs. Moreover, Naver is the first IT tech company to participate in both RE100 and EV100, as part of its effort to meet the '2040 Carbon Negative Goal.'
Technology
Every year, Naver invests more than 25% of its budget into R&D, distinguishing itself from other global companies that typically invest only 10-15% of their budget in R&D. In this context, Office 1784 can be regarded as the essence of Naver’s technology. Office 1784 is the world’s first technology hybrid office. As a testbed, various tech teams and initiatives collaborate on diverse projects. The most outstanding technology from the Naver team is the 'Digital Twin,' which perfectly mirrors the real world by scanning it with laser sensing and creates a digitized visual map. With this technology, Naver has already collaborated with the Seoul Metropolitan Government by modeling geographic factors and harnessing that data to prevent natural disasters. Furthermore, amid the unprecedented data explosion driven by advancements in AI technology, Naver constructed a new data center called 'Sejong GAK.' This facility is the largest data center in Asia, hosting more than 600,000 servers and is powered by over 80% renewable energy.
The lecture concluded with a vibrant Q&A session, addressing queries such as how the Zepeto service could be improved and how Naver's AI, 'Hyper Clover,' could distinguish correct and appropriate information from the ceaselessly produced data.
The private sector lecture given by Naver was a truly inspiring and eye-opening experience for KGGTF interns, allowing them to observe innovative technology. The interns left the session equipped with new insights and enthusiasm for the potential applications of these technologies in various areas, especially in support of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
All images courtesy of Kyunghwan Choi