“Innovation and Humanism Added to Technology!” ... ‘Junction Asia 2023’ Successfully Concluded

Europe's Largest Hackathon 'Junction' Asia Version... 300 Participants from 14 Countries, 58 Teams Compete

15 Final Teams Selected, Awards and Total Prize Money of 15 Million KRW... Overall Winner 'Hwiba'

The ‘JUNCTION ASIA 2023’ event, held over three days from the 18th to the 20th at BEXCO in Busan, concluded successfully.

JUNCTION ASIA 2023 IN BUSAN.

‘JUNCTION ASIA’ is the Asian version of ‘JUNCTION,’ Europe’s largest tech hackathon, and is a global hackathon festival where young people from around the world showcase their technical skills.

‘JUNCTION’ began as a hackathon organized by the startup club of Aalto University in Helsinki, which launched SLUSH, the world’s largest startup ecosystem event, and has since grown into Europe’s largest hackathon.

A hackathon is a portmanteau of hacking and marathon, referring to an event where analysts, developers, designers, and others interested in a specific problem come together to create innovative new technologies such as web services or business models within a limited time.

This year’s ‘JUNCTION ASIA 2023’ saw 300 young participants from 14 countries who passed a blind preliminary screening out of over 1,000 applicants from 27 countries.

At this year’s competition, five presenting companies and organizations proposed challenges focused on solving social issues and services that could be applied or activated within companies.

▲ Busan City (with Shinhan Card) presented a challenge to solve urban problems using data, and ▲ Zacarobotics proposed developing a mobile or kiosk app for food ordering for a cooking robot system.

Additionally, ▲ SoluM presented a challenge involving smart solutions for industrial environments using low-power wireless communication-based ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) and cloud servers, ▲ Busan Tourism Organization (with Ground K) proposed developing transportation service solutions specialized for the tourism industry, and ▲ CNT Tech presented a challenge to implement an anti-delivery order platform.

The 300 participants from 14 countries formed 58 teams and competed intensely for 48 hours. Fifteen teams were selected as finalists and awarded certificates along with a total prize money of 15 million KRW.

Participants particularly praised the services presented by the winning teams for each challenge, noting that they added innovation and humanism to the technology.

JUNCTION ASIA 2023 IN BUSAN.

The winning teams for each challenge were ▲ Slow Village, which proposed a housing-sharing platform connecting elderly living alone with young people needing workations for the Busan City (with Shinhan Card) challenge, and ▲ 4idoits+1, which proposed a robot chef menu using famous chefs and a community-based ordering service for the Zacarobotics challenge.

Also, ▲ hyva, which proposed a service contributing to kitchen work efficiency and environmental issues using ESL display technology instead of receipts for the SoluM challenge (overall winner), ▲ Omirekona, which proposed a service using AI technology to discover hidden local attractions through missions and rewards for the Busan Tourism Organization (with Ground K) challenge, and ▲ Team Dragon Ball, which proposed a solution using missions and rewards to change eating habits and delivery culture for the CNT Tech challenge, were selected as winners for their respective challenges.

The overall winning team ‘hyva’ from ‘JUNCTION ASIA 2023’ will have the opportunity to participate in ‘JUNCTION 2023’ scheduled to be held in Finland this November. Additionally, outstanding teams will be selected separately to receive opportunities for commercialization and startup support.

The ‘Gojingamrae’ team, which won the final prize at ‘JUNCTION ASIA 2022,’ participated in ‘JUNCTION 2022’ held in Finland last November and achieved the grand prize at the global competition.

The ‘Gojingamrae’ team developed the ‘Haru’ app, which uses artificial intelligence to create a picture based on diary entries written by young people, and won the grand prize at ‘JUNCTION 2022.’

The event was supported by 12 organizations and companies, including ▲ Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), ▲ Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) Startup Promotion Center, ▲ Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) Link Project Group, ▲ Group by HR, and ▲ D.CAMP.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, “The philosophy of JUNCTION, which dreams of a better life through youth-led technological innovation, and our city’s efforts to innovate science, technology, and research and development through local government-industry-university cooperation have come together through ‘JUNCTION ASIA 2023,’ amplifying Busan’s global innovation capabilities. I sincerely congratulate the teams that achieved excellent results, praised for adding innovation and humanism to technology. Going forward, our city will continue to provide maximum support so that talented individuals can find employment in desired companies and entrepreneurs with innovative technologies can grow in Busan.”