Minister Yoon Sang-jick of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) said his ministry has announced a list of 13 mega-convergence tasks in four fields that will serve as next-generation growth engines of Korean industry.

The 4th National Science and Technology Deliberation Committee, presided over by Prime Minister Chung Hong-won on Dec. 19, approved the sixth industry technology innovation plan, which contains a shortlist of 13 mega-convergence tasks. MOTIE Minister Yoon and other related ministers participated in the committee meeting.

While giving a briefing to reporters later in the day, Deputy Minister Chung Man-ki, in charge of industrial innovation and creativity at MOTIE, said the 13 mega-tasks in four arenas — six tasks in the systems industry, two tasks in the energy industry, two tasks in the materials and parts industry, and three tasks in the ‘creative industry’ — are determined based on demand and future prospects of the designated industries. 

The implementation of the mega-tasks is expected to contribute to creating new industry eco-systems by developing core technologies combining Korea’s competitive manufacturing industry — the nation’s strength — with new technologies, ICT, and services, said Kim Hyun-chul, director in charge of industry technology policy at MOTIE. The government will share the long-term risks by carrying out core technologies with a wide range of spillover effects over a period of time lasting up to 10 years, said Kim, adding that the private sector’s aggressive investments will create more quality jobs. Given the uncertainties of the future situation, he said, the government will resort to the “milestone method” and exploring new additional tasks after taking stock of the mid-term goals it will set prior to the implementation of each task. Out of the 13 mega-convergence tasks, feasibility studies will be made on the detailed, large-sized projects in the first half of next year before they are to be launched in a full-fledged manner starting in 2015.

The background behind the establishment of the sixth industry technology innovation plan is that Korea badly needs to draw up technology innovation strategies to enhance the R&D performance and creativity of the industrial ecosystem, given the fact that the nation, which has maintained extensive growth based on labor-intensive industries for a short period of time, now sees its growth momentum slowing with cutthroat competition with China, coupled with continued wide technology gaps with advanced countries.

In a policy shift, the government intends to serve as the so-called dynamic pathfinder which will lead global markets to explore promising new industries, such as self-driving automobiles, departing from the conventional mode of being the “follower” of advanced countries. It seeks to make inroads into new markets and create new value chains by performing R&D projects combining products and services and packages of R&D projects connecting products, materials, equipment, and systems. 

The government wants to build a support system in which stakeholders can co-evolve so that a virtuous cycle can be created through endless changes. It endeavors to establish a comprehensive support system based on each industry in consideration of interactions within the industrial ecosystem, particularly among product makers and service providers, materials and parts suppliers, and complementary good producers. 

The government intends to strengthen connectivity among innovative organizations, including companies, research institutes, and universities and build comprehensive support systems such as common infrastructure, such as equipment, testing devices, standardization, and certification.

Establishing the government and the private sector’s definite roles in the R&D field, the government strives to serve as a stimulus to expedite the private sector’s technology innovation, the government focuses on high-stakes investment areas to induce the private sector’s investments.   

The sixth industry technology innovation plan specifies mid- and long-term industrial technology strategies related to R&D investments for the five years between 2014 and the end of 2018, the implementation of the 13-mega convergence tasks put on the latest shortlist, and the 165 core industrial tasks. 

The plan aims at karea’s rising to an advanced industry powerhouse by building a virtuous cycle of industrial technology ecosystem. The plan calls for raising the number of Korean globally-specialized companies that chalk up $100 million in exports from 217 in 2012 to 400 in 2018, and the private sector’s portion in R&D outlays for universities and research institutes from 2.7 percent to 5.0 percent. The government plans to upgrade the nation’s technology levels compared to advanced countries from the current 79.2 percent to 90.4 percent in 2018, the Korean major industries’ global market share from 9.2 percent to 11.6 percent, and Korean high-tech industries’ exporting share from 25.2 percent in 2011 to 35.0 percent in 2018.

MOTIE officials said the combined R&D outlays of the 13 mega tasks are estimated to fetch from between 7 trillion won and 10 trillion won, and given the matching funds from the private sector, the figures are likely to swell to some 20 trillion won.

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick 

At the committee meeting, Vice Minister for Industry and Technology Kim Jae-hong said the government will do its utmost to achieve its goals, as it has suggested, by pushing innovation plans, adding that well-laid plans are meaningless without the determination to put them into action. 

Here is the gist of some of the 13 mega-convergence tasks the government will implement during the following five years:

Wearable smart devices — The global wearable smart device market, starting with the likes of glass- and wristwatch-type gadgets such as Google Glass and Samsung Galaxy Gear, are forecast to evolve into clothes, so Korea intends to step on the gas to develop related textile and chemical materials. The value of the market is projected to soar from the current $8.4 billion to $61 billion in 2018 and $266.4 billion in 2024. 

MOTIE Deputy Minister Chung said major circuits and elements such as sensors, light-emitting, power generation, and batteries will be replaced with newly developed materials. 

Self-driving automobiles  —  The top 10 core automotive parts essential for the production of driverless automobiles, including sensors, recognition and automatic control systems, will be developed with a focus on SMEs and large-size, non-conglomerate companies. 

The global autonomous automobile market is forecast to jump from $9.3 billion in 2015 to $133.1 billion in 2018 and $486.2 billion in 2023. Global automakers such as GM, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and BMW are turning to the manufacturing of self-driving automobiles with government support with the goal of commercialization by 2020.

Vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicles (VTOL-UAV)  — Civilian and military demand for VTOL-UAVs are on the rise from Korea with rough terrain and insufficient runways, the Middle East region, the United States, and the EU. 

The United States is implementing the Joint Multi-role Program to develop high-speed VTOL-UAVs, and the EU is also carrying out the Clean Sky 2 Project. Chances are high that Korea, the world’s second country to secure the original technology of Tiltrotor, an aircraft which generates lift and propulsion by way of one or more powered rotors, could take control of the new global VTOL-UAV market if the nation succeeds in commercialization at the early stage of market building.  

The government has announced a shortlist of the 13-mega convergence tasks it wants to implement as future growth engines.

Among the 13-mega convergence tasks the government will carry out are marine plants for extreme environments. (photos: MOTIE)