DAEJEON — Students at Hannam Design Factory won multiple awards at a government-run competition with service ideas built on public data.
Hannam University said on the 1st that its Hannam Design Factory students took the grand prize in the Small Enterprise and Market Service category, the top excellence award in the Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. category and an excellence award in the Korea National Railway category at the 2026 Public Data Utilization Contest.
Kim Min-ji, Kim Ho-jin, Lee Kang-hee and Lee Jun-hyuk won the grand prize, presented by the president of the Small Enterprise and Market Service, in the Small Enterprise and Market Service category for "Nurigo," a gamification-based application designed to revitalize traditional markets. The app was designed to let people in their 20s and 30s, who rarely visit traditional markets, experience them as a form of entertainment. Judges praised the approach, which encourages users to visit and explore different parts of traditional markets in the manner of the location-based game "Pokemon Go."
Kim Ye-reum, Kim Yun-man and Nam Gung-deok won the top excellence award in the Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. category for "Durumi," a local information platform built on regional gift certificate data. The students noted that tourists and foreign visitors to unfamiliar areas struggle to identify places locals actually frequent using internet searches or existing map services alone. Their idea uses data on residents' use of regional gift certificates to pinpoint where local spending concentrates and present those places as "local favorites" and similar listings.
In the Korea National Railway category, Oh Sang-gyu, Lee Seong-un, Lee Jun-young and Park Hyo-ryeong won an excellence award for a customized guidance service in which artificial intelligence selects and delivers the services each railway station user needs based on their circumstances. The AI analyzes a user's situation and information needs to prioritize relevant services among the many available at a station. For pregnant women, it would show the location of nursing rooms while also providing taxi booking information linked to train arrival times. For drivers, it would point to available parking spaces.
Jin Hyun-woong, head of Hannam Design Factory, said he hopes the students' ideas will not stop at winning awards but will be put to actual use in improving services at public corporations and agencies.
