※ Kyungpook National University Startup Support Group is operating the “Startup Leap Package (Large Enterprise Collaboration Field)” for startups in cooperation with SKT. It promotes innovative growth by activating startups’ ideas and technological capabilities based on collaboration with large enterprises. IT Donga introduces promising startups participating in the Kyungpook National University–SKT collaboration field of the Startup Leap Package.


Roads are like the blood vessels that keep an entire city moving. When problems arise in these vessels, the city’s safety and efficiency are shaken in an instant. However, until now, road management has not moved far beyond a reactive, after-the-fact approach, where people check conditions with the naked eye and respond only after accidents occur.

“Dareesoft” (Co-CEOs Jung Man-sik and No Elizabeth Kim) is a company that has declared its intention to fundamentally change this paradigm of road management. The company has developed an integrated solution that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to detect and digitize road hazards in real time.

Through cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Dareesoft’s solution has been installed on and is operating in more than 300 buses and taxis, and the company emphasizes that its performance has been verified through a variety of domestic and overseas projects, including a pilot project with the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT). IT Donga met with Dareesoft CEO Jung Man-sik to hear about the future of roads as envisioned by the company.

- Dareesoft stands out for positioning itself not as a simple road maintenance company, but as a “road data service company.” Please introduce yourself and explain the background of the company’s founding.

: Beginning with Dwin Electronics, a first-generation venture multimedia company founded in 1994, more than 31 years of on-site experience have been accumulated in the field of embedded software and IoT (Internet of Things). While overseeing business operations at MDS Tech and Hancom With of the Hancom Group, the company directly witnessed and led the process of how technologies were commercialized from the early days to the growth phase of Korea’s IT industry.

In particular, the experience of directly leading expansion into more than 10 overseas markets, including Singapore and Malaysia, during the tenure at MDS Tech became a driving force that enabled Dareesoft to target the global market from the outset. Based on these long-standing experiences, Dareesoft was founded in 2020 to drive digital innovation in road management. The company is currently conducting business in 17 countries and established a U.S. branch in 2023.

- Specifically, what were the biggest problems with traditional road management methods?

: For road hazards such as potholes and fallen objects, rapid detection and response are crucial. However, existing methods that rely solely on visual patrols and citizen complaints result in hazardous elements being left on the road for extended periods, increasing the likelihood of accidents.

There is also the issue of low objectivity and consistency of data. Assessments can vary depending on the experience level and fatigue of personnel, as well as observational conditions, making it difficult to manage conditions with quantitative data. As cities expand, the sections that need to be managed increase, but securing coverage by simply increasing manpower leads to sharply rising costs and inevitably creates blind spots in management.


- How is Dareesoft addressing this issue? Please explain the core technology and how it works.

: Dareesoft aims to replace the traditional manpower-dependent approach by realizing automation and digitalization in road management. To this end, the company has developed and is providing an integrated solution called “RiaaS (Road Information as a Service),” which enables AI to automatically detect hazardous elements on roads, share this information in real time, and provide the results as data that can support decision-making.


First, the AI road analysis device “Road Analyzer” automatically scans road conditions while vehicles are in motion and uses embedded on-device AI to detect and transmit hazard information in real time. The data collected in this way undergoes secondary, detailed analysis on a cloud platform and is then provided as services for road management and maintenance.

Administrators can use a map-based interface to assess road conditions and determine maintenance priorities, while on-site maintenance staff can review and process their tasks using mobile devices. In other words, RiaaS connects maintenance sites and administrative offices in real time, creating a single streamlined flow from assessment to action.


- What benefits does the solution offer in terms of work efficiency and budget savings when applied in the field?

: In communication with road management officials, the most frequently mentioned change has been that the accuracy of hazard information has become significantly higher than with visual patrols or handwritten records. With location and photographic information provided in real time, many reported that the time and procedures required to dispatch to the site and confirm hazards have been greatly reduced.

Prioritizing tasks has also become much easier. Previously, priorities depended on the order of complaint intake or the experience of the person in charge. With RiaaS, it is now possible to identify high-risk sections first, enabling more efficient responses using the same manpower and budget.

- There is also interest in the company’s performance in domestic and overseas markets. It is understood that the solution has been adopted in major cities such as Seoul and New York.

: As a representative achievement in Korea, the pothole detection project conducted with the Seoul Metropolitan Government since 2023 can be cited. By installing Road Analyzer on 300 buses and taxis in Seoul, the company has achieved extensive coverage, detecting road conditions across the entire city multiple times a day, and has been recognized for higher detection accuracy and usability compared to competing technologies.

Overseas, Dareesoft has been selected as a participant in a pilot project with the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT), creating another type of application case. For New York City, management of traffic safety facilities such as speed limit signs is a key challenge, and Dareesoft is participating in the process of detecting this information. While each country and city has different priorities in road management, RiaaS is built on an AI training-based structure that allows flexible expansion of detection targets according to local and sector-specific needs, resulting in high practical applicability.

- The era of autonomous driving is approaching. Dareesoft’s data also appears to be useful in supporting the safe driving of autonomous vehicles.

: One of the key challenges for autonomous vehicles is to stably handle exceptional situations on the road. Hazards such as potholes and fallen objects can be immediately detected by sensors, but in situations where they are obscured by the vehicle ahead, or under conditions such as nighttime or severe weather, detection itself may be delayed, making it difficult to always respond with sufficient margin.

In this context, road hazard data collected by RiaaS serves as a kind of “advance information layer” for autonomous vehicles. If the system already knows about hazards detected by other vehicles that have previously passed through a section, the autonomous driving system can adjust speed or adopt a more conservative driving strategy in that area. This helps reduce sudden braking or abrupt evasive maneuvers and enhances overall driving stability.

- Dareesoft has been selected for the Startup Leap Package program jointly run by Kyungpook National University and SKT. What specific expansions is the company pursuing through this opportunity?

: This Startup Leap Package program is a valuable opportunity for us. Through this, Dareesoft expects RiaaS to evolve beyond an existing road hazard management solution into various forms, such as traffic hazard alert services integrated with major platforms like T Map, and integrated traffic management solutions for local governments and public institutions.

The company hopes that through this program, its solution will reach a critical turning point, moving beyond simple road management to become a traffic data infrastructure used in actual mobility services and autonomous driving environments.

- Lastly, what kind of future for roads is Dareesoft aiming to create?

: Dareesoft aims to create “roads connected by data.” Roads are not simply spaces where vehicles travel, but the blood vessels that keep an entire city moving. Until now, roads have primarily been objects that are visually inspected and responded to only after problems occur. However, if hazards and changes occurring on roads are connected and shared as data, road management can become faster and more accurate.

Going forward, Dareesoft plans to extend the continually accumulated road data into future mobility environments such as autonomous driving and smart cities. The goal is to create an environment in which roads, vehicles, and urban systems are naturally interconnected through data.

IT Donga Reporter Kim Young-woo (pengo@itdonga.com)

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