South Korean Government is going to completely restructure its R&D system for industrial technologies this July. It is expected that the government is going to increase the number of medium-size projects and major projects and introduce new ways of R&D. It is expected to quickly respond to changes in technologies related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and enhance its support for major industrial policies.
According to the South Korean Government and relevant agencies, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and R&D Strategy Planning Group are planning to finalize their plan on “Industrial Technology R&D Innovation Plan” that will drastically restructure the current R&D system for industrial technologies by July.
Although they were initially planning to come up with a final draft by the end of this first half, processes of collecting opinions and establishing specific plans have been delayed due to COVID-19. Once “social distancing” is eased, they are going to accelerate the speed of establishing Industrial Technology R&D Innovation Plan by collecting opinions from industries, universities, and research institutes.
South Korean Government has been working on a drastic restructuring of its R&D system for industrial technologies since last year. Although the budget for industrial technologies has been increasing and the level of importance of industrial technologies has been growing, some have been raising an issue about the effectiveness of the system. In this past February, representatives from industries and R&D experts gathered to hold a “industrial technology R&D innovation task force (TF)” and discussed about different topics. Although they were planning on panel debates and public hearings, they have yet to carry them out due to the spread of COVID-19.
South Korean Government is planning to come up with a final draft by collecting opinions from different industries based on bottom-up method. It is going to examine various ways such as competitive research project introduced to Alchemist Project and R&D preliminary assessment fund led by the private sector. Also, government departments and R&D experts have agreed on increased number of medium-size projects and major tasks, increased freedom for researchers, and increased number of competitive projects.
Because the R&D system on industrial technologies has been focusing mostly on small projects led by small and medium-size companies, it has not been suitable for major industrial policies. In 2017, there were 4,699 projects related to technology development that have lasted three years on average and received $413,000 (500 million KRW) annually on average. As the Small and Medium Business Administration was promoted to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in 2017, there have been many projects that overlap with the current R&D system on industrial technologies.
As the Fourth Industrial Revolution where AI and IoT technologies are converged with major manufacturing industries has hit the stride, restructuring of the current R&D system has become an urgent issue in order to deal with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As the current R&D budget to enhance materials, components, and equipment industries immediately has increased, there needs to be a suitable system for promoting medium-size projects and major projects. This year’s budget for R&D on industrial technologies is set at $3.44 billion (4.1718 trillion KRW) that is about a 30% increase from last year’s budget at $2.65 billion (3.2068 trillion KRW).
MOTIE is going to prepare a final draft by this July. It is planning to apply any changes to projects that are scheduled to be carried out in this second half at the earliest.
“We are going to apply changes to projects that can be applied immediately if we are able to come up with a final draft by this July.” said a representative for MOTIE. “We are considering various plans.”
Staff Reporter Byun, Sanggeun | sgbyun@etnews.com