The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) held a 'Public hearing on 2024 government R&D investment directions and standards (plan)' on February 22. The public hearing was held to present the ‘2024 Government R&D Investment Directions and Standards (Plan)’ and to listen to various opinions of researchers and experts from industries and academia, related officials from ministries, and the public.

The public hearing was divided into part 1 and 2. Mi-Young Hong (Director of the Strategy Center for R&D Coordination, KISTEP) presided over the first part, which began with greetings from Young-Chang Joo (Vice Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, MSIT) and Byung-Seon Jeong (President of KISTEP).

▲ Young-Chang Joo (Vice Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, MSIT)

"Considering Korea's internal and external conditions, adequate investment in S&T innovation is more urgent than ever. It would be great to share various suggestions and opinions here today for the establishment of a future-oriented investment directions," Dr. Joo said.

▲ Byung-Seon Jeong (President of KISTEP)

"The 2024 Government R&D Investment Directions and Standards (Plan) will be important criteria for planning the budget for next year. I believe that the totality of the discussions today will serve as a compass for strategically utilizing our national R&D resources during national budget deliberation. We will try to collect and reflect the valuable ideas of all those who participated today," President Jeong said in the greetings.

In the first part of the public hearing, Hyeon-sook Cho (Director of the R&D Budget Coordination Division, MSIT) gave a general presentation on the plan, followed by panel discussions and Q&A sessions led by Doohyun Kim (Professor of Konkuk University) with experts from industries and academia.

The 8 key investment directions in the 3 areas suggested in the general presentation are as follows.

1. Establishment of technology sovereignty and expansion of foundation for future growth

① Expanding investment in 12 national strategic technologies in response to competition for technological hegemony

② Establishing the basis for future innovation through various basic research and S&T manpower

③ Strengthening preemptive investments in global supply chains to establish economic security

2. Promotion of S&T-based industrial transformation

④ Productivity innovation across national industries through great digital transformation

⑤ Securing future technology and driving new growth for the transition to a carbon-neutral society

⑥ Reinforcing bold investments for corporate-led innovation growth

3. Enhancement of Social Sustainability

⑦ Creating a foundation for self innovation with S&T in districts

⑧ Expanding the role of government R&D to strengthen the social safety net

In the second part, presentations were given on investment strategies followed by in-depth discussions by expert committees for each technology field (public spaceㆍenergy environmentㆍmechanical materialsㆍICT convergenceㆍbiomedicalㆍand basic infrastructure).