Next Year's R&D Guideline Announcement: Timely Response to COVID-19 and Others

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] Starting next year, a systematic overhaul will be implemented to ensure timely research and development (R&D) at each response stage for new and mutated infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Support will also be expanded to localize core materials, parts, and equipment, and to secure growth engines for key industries like semiconductors.

The Ministry of Science and ICT has approved the '2021 Government R&D Investment Direction and Standards.' This investment direction will be communicated to 22 ministries related to R&D by the 15th. Each ministry will use it as a guideline for R&D budget requests, and the Ministry of Science and ICT will use it as a basis for allocating and adjusting next year’s R&D budget.

Expansion of Researcher-Centered R&D

The government has focused next year’s R&D projects on producing outcomes that the public can feel and on results driven by innovative growth. To this end, support for creative and challenging research led by researchers will be expanded. Support for researcher-led basic research projects and dedicated support projects for early-career researchers will be strengthened to create an environment where young researchers can conduct research stably. Mission-oriented research support to solve social and industrial challenges will also be enhanced.

To expand the innovation capacity of public research institutions, core investment areas will be selected according to the roles and responsibilities (R&R) of government-funded research institutes and directly controlled research institutes, and a performance analysis system will be established for national and specialized research institute R&D.

To expand regional research capabilities, the system will be changed so that central ministries support regional R&D projects, and support for regionally planned regional innovation projects will be strengthened. Small and medium enterprises will also receive customized support according to their technological capabilities.

Securing National Competitiveness through Science and Technology

Additionally, the government will work to secure national growth engines through science and technology. It will support the localization of core materials, parts, and equipment and securing global competitiveness, and assist the smartization, eco-friendliness, and convergence of key industries by sector.

Next, innovation growth will be accelerated focusing on innovation infrastructure (Data, Network, AI. DNA) and three major new industries (Biohealth, Future Vehicles, System Semiconductors). The government will work on building a data ecosystem following the revision of the three data laws, provide technical support to expand 5G convergence services and AI convergence services across all industries, and offer technical support for personal information protection and new cyberattack responses.

The government will also strengthen support for nurturing talent for the 4th Industrial Revolution. Priority will be given to proactively addressing mismatches between supply and demand for personnel in software, artificial intelligence, and other fields. Customized talent development programs based on field demand will be implemented, and retraining will be expanded. To strengthen technology commercialization and startup support based on research outcomes, customized commercialization R&D support tailored to technology and stage characteristics, and support for laboratory startups and early-stage startups will be provided.

Establishing a Timely Support System for COVID-19 Response Stages

Finally, the government will work to improve the quality of life that the public can feel through science and technology.

It will establish a system capable of timely support for diagnosis, vaccines, and therapeutics in response to new and mutated infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Cross-ministerial cooperative R&D for strategic responses to large-scale and complex disasters and R&D support based on public demand surveys to create public-impactful R&D will be strengthened.

To respond to climate change, efforts will be made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to produce, distribute, and spread eco-friendly energy, and support will be provided to secure technology for activating the hydrogen economy. Furthermore, R&D will be expanded to advance the understanding of ultrafine dust phenomena, reduce and manage fine dust emission sources, and solve threats to the living environment such as household waste, microplastics, and chemical substances. Personalized healthcare service support and R&D to address health and medical issues for various vulnerable groups will also be supported.

Enhancing the Efficiency of Government R&D Investment

The government will pursue investment based on autonomy and collaboration to carry out these R&D projects. Joint planning investments across multiple ministries will be expanded, and budgets will be allocated considering the level of collaboration implementation. A cross-ministerial R&D management system will also be established to share project information among ministries. The preliminary feasibility study system will be improved to focus on scientific and technological evaluation (scientific and technological merit 55?65%, policy relevance 20?40%, economic feasibility 5% or less) for challenge-innovation type projects.

The R&D PIE, which supports 'technology - human resource development - system - policy' as a package to enhance R&D investment efficiency, will also be applied to future vehicles and system semiconductors. The results of policy implementation checks will be linked to R&D budgets to increase policy compliance, and budget feedback based on performance evaluation results will be strengthened to solidify the connection between policy, investment, and evaluation. Large-scale R&D projects exceeding 10 billion KRW in the past two years that have been increased by more than the average growth rate this year will undergo in-depth inspection to enhance efficiency.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.