Chairman and President Chung Yang-ho of Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) gestures with other participants as they attended an inaugural meeting of the managing director (MD)-program director (PD) strategic consultation committee at the Korea Technology Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on Aug. 31. (Photo: KEIT)

Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) has overhauled convergence planning process regimes to develop innovative convergence technologies that will have powerful spill-over effects. Half of the newly allotted budget will be financed to develop convergence technologies by 2021.

The figure represents a sharp increase from a 20 percent portion set in 2019. To this end, KEIT has restructured a convergence tech planning process as the managing director (MD)-program director (PD) strategic consultation committee has been overhauled and a convergence planning consultation committee has been inaugurated.

This year, KEIT launched the designed to challenge industrial questions whose solution technologies are considered to transform the future technology landscape, but now not also made available but also have least probability of commercialization.

The budget of the project will increase from 3 billion won this year to 14.8 billion won in 2020. The Grand Challenge Exploration Committee designated three tasks of the pilot Alchemist Project: an EV capable of driving 600 km with one minute of charging, a vehicle capable of purifying the air, and a robot suit capable of running a 100-meter distance in seven minutes.

KEIT Chairman and President Chung Yang-ho spoke of these and other policies during a parliamentary audit of KIEIT by the National Assembly Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee on Oct. 10.

KEIT has established development strategies on each of 229 themes in 18 strategic investment sectors, including self-driving car, health care, semiconductor and smart home in accordance with mid- and long-term investment strategies.

KEIT has provided full support for the development of technologies related to core items such as semiconductor and display for which Korea heavily depend on imports from Japan.

The government set aside 142.8 billion won in the 2019 supplementary budget and will allot 700 billion won for the strategic development of raw materials, parts and equipment. In order to spur the commercialization of R&D outcomes, steps such as the private sector’s burden on matching, a reduction in technology costs and the offering of incentives are taken so that demand companies participation can be promoted.

KEIT plans to expand sessions of sharing R&D outcomes among task performers, investors and demand companies and discuss on the direction of commercialization.

KEIT Chairman & President Chung said, “The government’s full support for R&D has played a greater part in the development of industrial technologies, a driving force behind the nation’s economic growth.” “KEIT make efforts to make Korea a technology powerhouse through the planning of innovative and challenging technologies and conducting evaluation management in a specialized and fair fashion as an institution in charge of R&D.”

In particular, of late, the Korean raw materials, parts and equipment industries is faced with a crisis, caused by Japan’s export curbs on Korea and countries are staging a fierce fight to secure a technology upper hand in the future market amid the rapidly changing technology environment such as the 4th Industrial Revolution, he said.

KEIT is devoting itself to ensuring a stable supply of raw materials, parts and equipment and technology self-sufficiency at the earliest possible date by securing challenging and innovative technologies designed to create new industries and developing proprietary technologies of raw materials and parts, Chairman Chung said.