Asia's Largest Drone Show to Be Held in Busan

Busan City to Host 2023 Drone Show Korea

172 Companies, 625 Booths at BEXCO

46 Global Leaders from 8 Countries at Conference

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Everything about drones, including the 'future' born from imagination, is gathering in Busan. The largest-ever Asia's biggest drone show will open on the 23rd at BEXCO in Busan.

Hosted by Busan City, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of National Defense, and organized by BEXCO and the Korea Unmanned System Association, Asia's largest drone exhibition and conference, 'Drone Show Korea 2023,' will be held for three days from the 23rd to the 25th at Busan BEXCO.

Marking its 7th year, 'Drone Show Korea' will be held as an exhibition with 172 companies, 625 booths, and an area of 17,600㎡. The conference will feature 46 speakers and chairs from 8 countries (USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Korea), along with various experiential events.

BEXCO.

Drone Show Korea focuses on the expansion potential of the drone industry under the theme 'Everything about drones, our future with drones.' It will introduce cases of industrial convergence realized through drones and showcase various drone models applying the latest technologies to future daily life.

The exhibition, held on the largest scale ever, will gather institutions and companies leading key drone issues such as UAM/AAM, spatial information, AI, hydrogen, and marine sectors, continuing from last year.

Joint pavilions such as the 'Drone Infrastructure Utilization Pavilion,' 'Spatial Information Convergence Alliance Pavilion,' 'Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy DaaS (Drone as a Service)-based Global Ocean City Construction Pavilion,' and 'Ministry of Science and ICT Fundamental Technology R&D Pavilion' will introduce research achievements and practical cases of drone services and technologies.

The Ministry of National Defense will exhibit the current and future defense development through AI science and technology forces under Defense Innovation 4.0.

The Army will showcase the AI-based drone-bot combat system centered on 'Army TIGER,' leading multi-domain operations; the Navy will present the AI-based manned and unmanned complex combat system for future maritime warfare; and the Air Force will demonstrate the vision and capabilities of aerial unmanned systems to achieve future air superiority. A business briefing on the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's drone weapon system deployment project is also planned.

Amitaiger demonstration brigade soldiers are operating reconnaissance drones to perform missions such as enemy detection.
[Photo by Kang Jin-hyung]

Also, the Busan City UAM Consortium will present the complete B-UAM Future Team (LG U+, GS Construction, Kakao Mobility, Pablo Aviation), equipped with all capabilities related to UAM services from mobility platforms to airframes, communications, and infrastructure.

Drone companies participating include Korean Air, developing and producing various platforms from small drones to tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, stealth drones, and large strategic reconnaissance drones; Doosan Mobility Innovation, proposing the future of drones and land robots with hydrogen fuel cells as the next-generation power source; and Ucon Systems, exhibiting drone integrated control technology, drones, and anti-drone solutions.

Perstek, exhibiting component technologies included in large unmanned aerial systems; Prenew, demonstrating monitoring through drone integrated control vehicles; Plana, developing airframes optimized for flight distance and low-carbon flight with hybrid solutions; Daon I&C, Nes&Tech, and Hancom Inspace, unveiling blockchain- and AI-based swarm flight control technology and introducing unmanned aerial vehicle and swarm drone operation and maintenance education kits, are among the many unmanned aerial vehicle-related companies participating.

LIG Nex1 will exhibit a 40kg-class transport drone equipped with a hybrid engine usable for both military and civilian purposes and a drone protection system capable of safeguarding critical facilities from drone threats.

LIG Nex1 is showcasing a transport drone.

SK Telecom will showcase AI analysis of solar panels using drones, a mobile robot, and an integrated video control system for drones.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Aviation Safety Technology Institute will lead the Drone Infrastructure Utilization Pavilion, composed of local governments and domestic drone companies that participated in drone demonstration projects.

Also, the National Geographic Information Institute and the Spatial Information Quality Management Institute will set up a Spatial Information Convergence Alliance joint pavilion booth with nine specialized companies in drone spatial information technology.

A public surveying operators' meeting will also be held. Key domestic unmanned aerial vehicle research and development institutions and public demand agencies, including the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Aviation Safety Technology Institute, Korea Transportation Safety Authority, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, and Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, will also establish exhibition booths.

Participation from overseas companies, which had been difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is also notable.

Companies such as Liberaware (Japan), showcasing small drones for indoor space inspection services and demonstrations; Shenzhen Grepow Battery (China) and Shenzhen Vigorpower Battery (China), providing lithium batteries and battery solutions; DJI (China), participating jointly with domestic partners; Amuse Oneself (Japan); and FLYABILITY (Switzerland) will participate with booths.

Drone Show Korea held at BEXCO last year. Drones are creating a night view.

The international conference, held over two days from February 23 to 24, will open with a keynote speech on the first day titled 'Challenges of the Drone and Future Mobility Industry' by Mark Moore (current CEO of Whisper Aero), who led Uber Elevate, which sparked the global UAM/AAM boom.

Following this, Professor Jeong Soon-jo from the California Institute of Technology will present on the importance of AI/machine learning research to ensure the safety of rapidly advancing drones, various unmanned mobility systems, and future mobility such as UAM/AAM.

In the afternoon of the first day, a session titled 'K-Drone on the Global Stage' is planned to promote the global market expansion of Korean companies leading the drone industry. Starting with a presentation on 'Establishing Effective K-Drone Overseas Expansion Strategies' by the KOTRA Defense Material Trade Support Center, overseas speakers offering diverse perspectives, including Drone Industry Insight, Bangladesh Environmental Geographic Information Service Center, and African Development Bank officials, will appear to provide comprehensive understanding of the global drone market and explore opportunities for Korean companies targeting Bangladesh and the African continent.

On the second day, the 24th, the conference will be divided into two tracks.

Track 1 will include sessions on ▲Drones and War (status of domestic and international drone weapon system deployment, etc.) ▲Future Spatial Information Technology (cutting-edge spatial information technology and spatial information policies for promoting UAM, etc.) ▲Drone Utilization (various activities of drones changing our lives).

Track 2 will cover ▲Next-Generation Power Sources (research on next-generation power sources, key technologies opening the future mobility era) ▲From Deep Sea to Space (infinite possibilities and expansion of drones and unmanned mobility systems) ▲Future Mobility Ecosystem (various technologies and infrastructure required to dominate the UAM/AAM era).

For establishing drone leisure culture, events such as the 'Pop Drone Battle Competition,' 'Drone Soccer e-Sports,' product experiences by participating companies, and 'Swarm Drone Coding Education and Demonstrations' for youth are prepared.

At 7 p.m. on the 23rd, Daon I&C's 'Drone Light Show' will depict the future vision of drones. Viewing is available at the BEXCO outdoor exhibition hall flagpole. For more details, please refer to the Drone Show Korea website.