[Vitamin Junggi] Interview with Jeong Gwangcheon, CEO of Ivy Leaders
Development of Flight Procedure and Airspace Design Program 'SKY ROAD'
Aspiring to Enter Global Market with 50,000 Airport Clients and UAM Sector
Jung Kwangcheon, CEO of Ivy Leaders, stated, "UI is not a subsidiary element of the development stage but an important core technology that connects developers and users," emphasizing, "I challenged software development to ease the efforts of developers who consider how closely the services and functions provided by companies are delivered to users." Photo by Kim Heeyoon
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] IvyLeaders, a company that proclaims technological innovation (Innovation Business) from its very name, has established itself early on as a reliable supporter for developers by introducing UI (user interface) software that connects people and devices. CEO Jeong Gwangcheon stated, “UI is not a subsidiary element in the development stage but a crucial core technology that links developers and users,” adding, “We challenged ourselves to develop software to ease the efforts of developers who worry about how closely to deliver the services and functions provided by companies to users.”
The IB Sheet introduced by IvyLeaders is software that has received great acclaim from developers since its launch due to its fast large-scale data processing based on web standards and support for mutual conversion with text and Excel files. It can be used without separate installation not only on PCs but also on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, and it is highly preferred because it is not dependent on the framework (software environment) of a specific server. Based on this convenience, since its release in 2003, it has secured 1,800 clients including public institutions and related companies such as Samsung, Hyundai, and Doosan, gaining recognition for its technological prowess. Through continuous version upgrades, IB Sheet7 has now been released. CEO Jeong emphasized, “It was not easy for a small and medium-sized enterprise to develop and upgrade an independent product,” but added, “This achievement was made together with our employees with pride in developing software suited to the domestic environment.”
Having proven stable technological capabilities, IvyLeaders won the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s flight situation management system construction project in 2015 and embarked on developing flight procedure and aircraft movement route (airspace) design programs. While the hardware sector in the aviation industry is led by large corporations, the software sector is fiercely competitive among global small and strong specialized companies. Having accumulated aviation-specialized technology through work with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Air Force, the Aviation Meteorological Agency, and Incheon International Airport Corporation, IvyLeaders succeeded in domesticating technology by launching the integrated solution “SKY ROAD,” which comprehensively modifies and designs aircraft takeoff and landing on runways and airspace.
The urban air mobility (UAM) industry, which has recently emerged as a solution to ground traffic congestion, is a future market that Ivy Leaders is focusing on. Photo by Getty Images
Preparing for the Future UAM Era through Air Traffic Control Solutions
Developed in accordance with the international instrument flight procedure design regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), SKY ROAD assists safe air traffic control by providing an integrated program that includes flight efficiency evaluation, obstacle limitation surface design, 3D simulation, and generation of design calculation documents. CEO Jeong explained, “While training on the air traffic management program technology of Eurocontrol, the European air navigation service provider, we applied our own software know-how to the system to develop an integrated solution,” adding, “To ensure technological expertise, we hired three air traffic controllers and supported the graduate studies of development staff at aviation graduate schools, dedicating great effort to developing proprietary technology.”
Since its founding in 2003, IvyLeaders has maintained steady growth and invests more than 10% of its annual sales in R&D. Performance sharing is also conducted at a level similar to research and development. Emphasizing that employees are the company’s greatest asset in a software company, CEO Jeong added, “Improving employee concentration through work-life balance initiatives such as casual dress code, flexible working hours, unified annual leave, in-house clubs, and overseas workshops for all employees directly translates into the company’s competitiveness.”
The urban air mobility (UAM) industry, which has recently emerged as a solution to ground traffic congestion, is a future market that IvyLeaders is focusing on. Last year, Samjong KPMG predicted in a report that the global UAM market will grow to $1.5 trillion (approximately 1,680 trillion KRW) by 2040. CEO Jeong expressed his ambition, saying, “As the urban air transportation ecosystem, mainly implemented at low altitudes, is gaining attention as a new industry, we will contribute to industrial advancement through the development of advanced technologies.”
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