KISTEP held the 1st NIS Policy Colloquium on February 28 (Thur) at the El Tower.

The event was designed to systematically review whether the current investment strategy will be effective in the future through data-based analysis and discuss future strategies and policy plans, as there has been questions raised about the comparative efficiency of government R&D investment for its quantitative growth in the 20 trillion KRW era of government R&D.

President Sang-seon Kim said, "The absolute amount of 20 trillion KRW is important, but we need to clearly understand the nature of the optimal scale," said Sang-seon Kim (President of KISTEP), "We need to think about the fundamental importance of S&T and the new role based on it, as it is a key engine of future development."

[▲ [Opening address] Sang-seon Kim (President of KISTEP)]




[▲ [Presentation] (from the left) Jang-Jae Lee (Director, Research Institute of S&T Innovation and Strategy, KISTEP) and Won Joo (Deputy Director, Economic Research Department, Hyundai Research Institute)]

 

The presentation consisted of ‘The Optimal Scale of Government R&D and Solutions’ by Jang-Jae Lee, and ‘The Direction of National R&D that Industry Desires in the Crisis of Major Industries’ by Won Joo and open floor discussion followed the last.

Director Jang-Jae Lee presented the concept of the optimal scale of R&D, its existing research results and detailed analysis of the government's R&D budget of 20.55 trillion KRW in 2019. Based on this, he proposed a plan to set investment strategies that consider the characteristics of South Korea and policy agenda that could contribute to strengthening future responsiveness.

Deputy Director Won Joo presented the urgent task of the government, including multiple arguments on the efficiency and productivity of government R&D investment, the closedness of public R&D, and the role of government R&D for nurturing future industries.

[▲ The 1st NIS Policy Colloquium]


 

The open floor discussion was followed with a total of 10 panel members including Kil-Choo Moon (Presiden, UST), Sejong Kim (Secretary General, ASEM SMEs Eco-innovation Center (ASEIC), Jong-hoon Kim (Head Director, Strategic Planning Division, Korea Industrial Technology Association (KOITA)) Joon-ho Na (Research Fellow, LG Economic Research Institute), Sangook Park (Professor, Seoul National University), Tae-hyun Yang (Principal Researcher, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER)), Kyung Man You (CEO, Science Technology System Information), Myeong-Hee Yu (President, Korea Federation of Women’s Science & Technology Associations (KOFWST)), Joo-Young Lee (Director, Yonhap News Agency), Tae Jeong Ha (Vice President, Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI)), Byung Hwan Hyun (President, Korea Technology Innovation Society), and the 2 presenters attended.

[▲ Open Floor Discussion]