The Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) World Congress, often called the Olympics of advanced transportation technology, will be held in Gangneung, Gangwon State, for five days from Oct. 19 to 23. Korean small and venture companies ranging from a self-driving startup founded less than two years ago to a traffic technology firm with nearly 30 years of history will present their technologies to a global audience.
Sixteen institutions and companies will set up exhibition booths and conduct on-site technology demonstrations at the 2026 Gangneung ITS World Congress, according to industry sources on Oct. 14. Picker Project, established in March last year, will unveil Billini, a single-rider self-driving cart. Billini is a compact cart measuring 1.3 meters in height and 0.8 meters in width, developed as a mobility device for people with limited mobility, including older adults and people with disabilities. This marks the first time Billini will be shown at a public event. The company plans to demonstrate autonomous driving in which Billini recognizes its surroundings and follows a route without any input from the rider.
At the booth of lidar developer SOS Lab, visitors will see a service that pinpoints empty parking spaces. SOS Lab has installed five lidar units at the parking lot of the Gangneung Arena swimming pool and will stream the screen of its smart parking guidance service, LPGS Spot, to its booth. The system detects whether a vehicle is present in each parking space and displays real-time occupancy across the entire lot. SOS Lab will also unveil a new lidar product for the first time at the event.
Traffic technologies incorporating artificial intelligence, a leading topic in the ITS field, will also be available to try at the venue. Hangil HC, a small company with 28 years in business, will present an AI-integrated voice guidance system for pedestrians and an AI system that automatically extends pedestrian signals. G&T Solution will demonstrate Mobile Meda, which uses AI to automatically detect whether drivers are wearing seat belts.
Some startups will also take the speaking stage. Noh Jae-kyung, deputy president of autonomous driving software developer Mars Auto, will join a series of presentations on building transport routes in preparation for autonomous driving as the representative of a Korean company. The session is a side event hosted by the U.S. Department of Transportation, with speakers including Sevall Oz, a U.S. assistant secretary of transportation, and Mark Williams, head of the Texas Department of Transportation. Noh plans to introduce the freight truck autonomous driving project Mars Auto is taking part in across a 7,000-kilometer round-trip route in the United States.
First held in 1994, the ITS World Congress is considered the largest international event in the field of transportation technology. It features meetings of transport policy officials, academic presentations and demonstrations of advanced traffic technologies. This is the third time the congress has been held in Korea, following Seoul in 1998 and Busan in 2010. This year's event in Gangneung will draw 109 institutions and companies from Korea and abroad, and organizers expect about 60,000 people to visit the venue. With policymakers and companies from many countries gathering, Korean small and venture firms see the event as a chance to have their technological capabilities and business potential validated in the global market.
"A stage like the ITS World Congress goes beyond simple promotion and serves as a venue where market participants objectively verify our technology," said So Jae-hyun, CEO of Picker Project. "We will use it as an opportunity to exchange views with experts from around the world through on-site demonstrations and advance our technology another step."