[Pangyo Technology] Naver to Gain Speed in "Global AI Research Belt"… Recruited Outside Personnel from the US and Japan

    LOS ANGELES, CA, October 05, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Naver would focus more on "global AI research belt," a technology research network created by Naver while recruiting outside personnel who are gaining momentum in global search and AI.

Naver announced on the 17th that it recruited Kim Yong Beoum, an expert in Conversational AI, who have extensive hands-on experience from global companies including Microsoft and Amazon after acquiring a doctor's degree in Natural Language Processing at Wisconsin University of the US as leader and professor Sakai Tetsuya at Department of Computer Science and Engineering from Waseda University of Japan who is considered the world's leading expert in search quality evaluation as General Research Advisor.

Kim has conducted research and development on core technology which can understand users' intent and context to provide optimal services while leading Dynamic Ranking science group a core component of Alexa an AI platform in Amazon. He had created an AI system for tens of thousands of Alexa Skills of various devices that provides desirable responses for individual users and companies around the world.

Professor Sakai had worked as dean of computer engineering at Waseda University after working as chief of natural language process laboratory of NewsWatch (subsidiary of Toshiba) and working at MS Research Asia. He is assessed as an expert with rich experience and knowledge in search quality evaluation continuing to conduct research on methods to evaluate effectiveness such as PC, mobile search, Q&A and natural language conversation over the past 20 years. Now, he is creating networks with world-renowned researchers while assuming vice chairman and head of operations of global research institutes and international conferences such as ACM(Association for Computing Machinery) SIGIR, and ICTIR(International Conference on the Theory of Information Retrieval).

Naver recruited external talent from other countries including Japan and the US not only to improve the technology and quality of its search services but also to strengthen cooperation among "global AI research belt" of Naver that is connected across the globe including South Korea, Japan, Europe, Vietnam and Hong Kong. Global AI research belt is a technology research network created to lead the new global technology trends against US and China technological competition and conduct boundless and borderless research on technology.

To that end, Naver acquired Xerox Research Europe the largest AI research institute in Europe in 2017 and established Naver Labs Europe based on which it has been working with Asian countries such as Japan, Vietnam and Hong Kong and it has expanded its R&D department to North American region by recruiting chief director Kim Jin-Young who had worked for Microsoft and Snap in May

Accordingly, Naver is conducting joint research and development with talented people and educational institutes from around the world to strengthen the global AI ecosystem and secure the most advanced technological prowess. Its plan is to expand global research cooperation and engender synergy effects for advancement of Naver search and AI services while working with Kim and professor Sakai.

Kang Inho chief director of Naver Search CIC said, "we expect that Naver's rich data and service operation know-how and the newly recruited experts offer more sophisticated search experience to users. As a leading tech business, Naver would strengthen cooperation with outstanding researchers from countries around the world and promote technology development."

Pangyo Technovalley is an innovation hub for global companies comparable to the Silicon Valley in the US, Zhongguancun in China, and STATION F in France. It is an Asia tech hub with 1,259 IT, BT, CT, and NT companies that possess innovative products and technologies. Located just south of the metropolitan area, it provides the best environment for Korean companies to do business with great transportation access and infrastructure.

Various high-tech companies are located in Pangyo Technovalley, and it is occupied by 64,000 full-time employees, many in their 20-30s. In terms of industry, the companies are engaged in information technology, contents technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology.

With the support of innovative companies with global capabilities such as Kakao, Naver, AhnLab, Krafton, NCSoft, Nexon, and Hancom, companies in Pangyo Technovalley recorded 107 trillion won in sales last year. Investment and infrastructure growth in Pangyo is expected to continue, with the Metaverse hub entering Pangyo this year.

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