A software company in a slightly different field has thrown down the gauntlet in the VR/AR game market, which has been developed mainly in the gaming industry. The protagonist is Naviworks, a defense industry company specializing in developing weapon system software. After its establishment, Naviworks developed GIS (geographic information system)-related development and became connected to the defense industry. Since then, it has developed weapon system software, virtual reality simulators, and tactical training simulation software. Through continuous research and development in this field, it has created a technology base and is responding to various fields such as VR/AR.

On the morning of the 20th, we met CEO Won Jun-hee (53) at the Naviworks headquarters in Gwanyang-dong, Dongan-gu, Anyang-si, and asked about the philosophy of Naviworks, which is changing the landscape of the software/IT industry.

◇ Naviworks, a leading metaverse company = Established in 2000, Naviworks is a ‘metaverse’ company specializing in virtual reality and intelligent control. For 21 years, we have carried out over 100 major national projects and developed and supplied solutions that have been verified and trusted by numerous customers, including government agencies in the defense, public, and industrial sectors. Currently, Naviworks has a group of experts consisting of about 80 professional developers and 20 project managers, and we are pursuing systematic development in compliance with the international software engineering process ‘CMMI Level 3’ when developing products. Through continuous R&D, we are continuously integrating cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud, and big data to become a company leading digital transformation services.

Naviworks has been developing training software and simulators for the defense sector based on VR technology since the 2010s, before the term ‘metaverse’ was used in the IT industry, and has implemented a metaverse environment. When Naviworks was founded, we provided 2D and 3D battlefield situation solutions that allowed the military to see the battlefield situation at a glance using geographic information system (GIS) technology, and this is how our relationship with the military began, and we naturally started a simulator to verify the combat system that goes into our military’s ships.

Going one step further, we have been carrying out a virtual training IT project that conducts education and training virtually for our military. At that time, the terms virtual reality and metaverse were not common, but looking back at the projects we have carried out since our founding, we explained that they were all consistently laying the foundation within the category of virtual augmented reality.

CEO Won Jun-hee said, "The defense industry is the first place where cutting-edge new technologies are introduced, and the defense industry is also the place that requires the strictest quality certification." He added, "In this field, we have accumulated a lot of know-how and technological prowess in the process of meeting customer needs and suggesting new solutions. We wanted to expand these assets not only to the defense industry but also to the public and private sectors."

◇ Rising to the position of industry leader = As the metaverse market is currently growing, many new companies are emerging. It is currently in the 'boom-up' stage, which is a positive stage that has attracted social interest in the metaverse. Currently, Naviworks owns and develops major metaverse technologies and has four representative technologies.

Representative technologies include ▶ Augmentation technology (technology that layers new control systems and information on top of the physical environment) ▶ Simulation technology (technology that models reality and interacts with it) ▶ Intimate technology (AI technology that allows users to appear as agency agents and avatar systems in the environment) ▶ External technology (technology that provides information and control about the world around the user, and technology that integrates and controls physical elements of the virtual and real worlds).

Naviworks is a high-quality software company that develops platform products in the form of authoring tools that can create, change, and reuse such content in the metaverse world through systematic software development engineering. It is leading the market with technological prowess that is highly differentiated from other companies in the same industry. Through continuous collaboration with national public institutions such as the military, police, and fire departments, it has been steadily supplying products and services developed by the company, and has been actively promoting exports since 2-3 years ago.

CEO Won said, “Recently, the Middle East and Southeast Asian markets have shown great interest in our products and technology, and we are making every effort to achieve exports,” and explained, “We will soon raise the status of Korea through good results and contribute to the stability of the lives and assets of customers around the world.”

◇The driving force behind Naviworks’ operation is ‘talent and technology’=CEO Won Jun-hee chose ‘customers, talent, technology, and processes’ as the driving force behind Naviworks’ growth. The biggest driving force behind Naviworks’ development is definitely customers. This is because technological innovation is achieved starting from providing useful services to customers, and the services and solutions developed in this way are verified by millions of customers, giving and receiving various feedback, and growing together with customers.

He also said that the executives and employees who silently fulfill their duties in their positions and grow together with the company are the key driving force behind the company’s development. Accordingly, Naviworks is also devoting great effort to nurturing talent. In particular, it recently received the Minister of Education Award for its contribution to the development of the early employment contract department and leading university fostering project. The company will continue to grow by recruiting excellent human resources and nurturing talent.

Lastly, the driving force was explained to be Naviworks' technology and process.

CEO Won Jun-hee said, "The specialized knowledge and know-how on the domain that comes from long-term experience and technological accumulation, the acquisition of next-generation technology through continuous R&D, and the development process that complies with international quality standards increase productivity and efficiency, and systematic development is possible, which ultimately leads to customer satisfaction."

◇ Further development with the support of the SME Promotion Agency = SMEs are in dire need of help from capital investors. Currently, the industrial structure of Korea is focused on manufacturing. The social system is related to manufacturing. This is why it is difficult for software companies to manage in Korea. Manufacturing companies recover quickly compared to their investments, but software companies have difficulty achieving results compared to their investments. It takes an average of 5 to 10 years for software companies to achieve results from one investment in a field. Due to the nature of the industry, it is difficult to achieve visible results. This is one of the reasons why there are not many software companies in Korea at present. In the midst of this, the support from the SME Promotion Agency provides enormous added value to SMEs, especially software companies.

Naviworks said that the support from the SME Promotion Agency, such as policy funds, was a great help in maintaining a large workforce without restructuring even during a management crisis. They also said that the export voucher program was very useful for Naviworks in advancing into overseas markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

CEO Won Jun-hee said, "The support from the SME Promotion Agency provides enormous added value to software companies," and "It was a great help in situations where it was difficult to receive social support for funds or financial services."

Reporter Park Yong-gyu

Source: Joongbu Ilbo - A strong friend of Gyeonggi and Incheon(http://www.joongboo.com)