Composed of specialized teams in each field, from mechanical engineering to technical design
"We plan to build a universal platform by providing open source."

SK Telecom announced on October 31st that it launched the AROUND Alliance, an industry-academia-research autonomous driving joint research consortium, together with Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST).

Around Alliance was established with the goal of developing core technologies and accelerating the commercialization of autonomous driving in Korea by sharing capabilities and infrastructure with leading companies, universities, and research institutes in the domestic autonomous driving industry.

▲We plan to focus on advancing artificial intelligence and driving perception and judgment software for accident-free autonomous driving, ▲building a universal autonomous driving platform, ▲providing key software open source, and ▲cultivating talent.

In particular, joint research will be promoted in areas such as cooperative driving with vehicles using V2X (Vehicle to Everything), a vehicle communication technology, and safety information exchange between vehicles and the Internet of Things.

SKT will also build an autonomous driving platform. SKT announced that it will open-source the core software for the various platforms currently being developed by domestic companies and organizations, transforming them into general-purpose software. Accordingly, it was expected that 'small and medium-sized enterprises, developers, and institutions researching autonomous driving will be able to freely participate in technology development.'

The founding members gathered from various fields, including △Vehicle Communication and Artificial Intelligence (SKT Network Technology Research Center), △Vehicle Power Engineering (Seoul National University Professor Lee Kyung-soo's team), △IT Convergence Engineering (Yonsei University Convergence Technology Research Center Professor Kim Si-ho's team), △Technology Design and Human-Machine Interaction (Yonsei University Technology and Design Research Center Professor Joo Da-young's team), △Real-time System Software (Seoul National University Professor Hong Seong-soo's team), and △Image Recognition (DGIST Future Automotive Convergence Research Center Senior Researcher Kwon Soon).

Around Alliance also plans to foster autonomous driving talent. On the 31st, the opening ceremony for the SK Telecom-Yonsei University Joint Autonomous Driving Research Center and the first Around Alliance Joint Research Workshop were held at Yonsei University's International Campus in Songdo, Incheon.

This research center will be divided into research areas for autonomous driving AI cloud computing, autonomous parking, and electrical components, and will focus on autonomous driving path/driving decision technology, V2X-based services, and driver interface technology. Joint research centers are also planned to be opened at Seoul National University and Daegu.

SK Telecom Network Technology Research Center Director Park Jin-hyo said, “The domestic autonomous driving ecosystem will rapidly expand through the alliance’s capabilities and infrastructure sharing,” and added, “We hope that many talented individuals discovered through the alliance will play an active role in the global autonomous driving industry.”