KISTEP held the 152nd KISTEP Wednesday Forum on November 9 under the theme of "Systemizing Civil-Military Cooperation R&D and Creating Technology Ecosystem.“

The forum aims to overview the current status of domestic and foreign research on civil-military cooperation R&D and to discuss measures to systematize civil-military cooperation R&D and create a technology ecosystem.

△Byung-Seon Jeong, President of KISTEP

In his opening remarks, President Byung-Seon Jeong said, "Defense and security issues are more critical than ever due to changes in the international situation, such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the America First policies by the U.S." He added, "We look forward to in-depth discussions on how to contribute to national security by civil-military cooperation and advanced military technnology development.“

△Seungyoung Lee, CTO of LIG Nex1

Seungyoung Lee, CTO of LIG Nex1, suggested developing a SW-centered weapon system, saying, "A paradigm shift in defense R&D is required through institutional and regulatory innovation to apply new technologies." He also suggested, "As the importance of software in the defense field has risen due to the Russia-Ukraine war, it is necessary to develop a SW-centered weapon system and prevent the leakage of high-quality personnel in the defense SW field."

 △Panel Discussion (from the Picture on the Left)

Dr. Won Joon Jang, Research Fellow of KIET,

        Dr. Myoungwon Jung, Civil-Military Policy Team Leader of ADD ICMTC,

Prof. Chang-Kyung Ryoo, Dept. of Aerospace Eng. at Inha Univ.

Dr. Seung-su Jun, Director General of the Office of National R&D Coordination of KISTEP, led the panel discussion with ▲ Dr. Won Joon Jang, Research Fellow, Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET), ▲ Dr. Myoungwon Jung, Civil-Military Policy Team Leader, Institute of Civil-Military Technology Cooperation (ICMTC), Agency for Defense Development (ADD), and ▲ Prof. Chang-Kyung Ryoo, Department of Aerospace Engineering at Inha University.

Research fellow Won Joon Jang emphasized the importance of overall innovation in the weapons acquisition process. "In addition to the traditional weapon acquisition (PPBEES*) method, we urgently need to develop advanced-level rapid acquisition and SW acquisition methods, including performance improvement programs, SW-centered weapon systems, and evolutionary development," he said.

* planning, programming, budgeting, execution, and evaluation system

Team leader Myoungwon Jung suggested, "Development of strategic technology centered on cutting-edge technology is urgently needed to respond to future battlefields such as space warfare, cyber warfare, and information warfare." He then emphasized the need for enhancing efficiency of the test evaluation system and civil-military cooperation.

Prof. Chang-Kyung Ryoo said, "To vitalize civil-military cooperation R&D and technology ecosystem, we should establish a pan-governmental civil-military technology cooperation organization to prevent overlapping investment. We also need to expand the interactive nature of civil-military technology exchange." He also emphasized, "We have to include defense-related technologies in the R&D planning stage and invest in defense R&D budgets in consideration of defense utilization in private-led R&D."