Gyeongnam, Chungbuk, Gwangju Jeonnam Promote Innovation Projects Through Collaboration Between Universities and Local Governments

Ministry of Education Announces Results of Cooperation-Based Regional Innovation Project Selection
Partner Universities Collaborate with Regions to Foster Talent
Expectations for Job Creation and Startups Using Companies and Clusters
108 Billion KRW in Government Funding Planned

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Regional innovation platforms submitted by Gyeongnam, Chungbuk, and Gwangju-Jeonnam have been finally selected as places to promote innovation projects between local governments and universities.

The Ministry of Education announced the results of the 'Local Government-University Cooperation-Based Regional Innovation Project' selection on the 16th.

This project is newly launched this year as part of a cross-ministerial core policy for regional innovation and national balanced development. Universities will form cooperative relationships with regions in the form of platforms and play roles such as fostering talented individuals and revitalizing employment. A total of 108 billion KRW in national funds will be invested.

The selected 'Gyeongnam' platform consists of 17 shared universities including Gyeongsang National University and Changwon National University, and 49 regional innovation institutions such as LG Electronics and Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, selecting three fields: manufacturing engineering, manufacturing ICT, and smart communities. 'Chungbuk' selected core fields related to the bio industry such as pharmaceutical bio, precision medicine and devices, cosmetics and natural products, with 15 universities including Chungbuk National University and Korea National University of Transportation, and 44 regional innovation institutions including the Advanced Medical Industry Promotion Foundation and Osong Vestian Hospital. The 'Gwangju-Jeonnam' alliance, formed by two local governments, designated energy new industries and future transportation devices as core fields, centered on 15 universities including Chonnam National University and Mokpo National University, and 32 institutions including Gwangju-Jeonnam Technopark and Korea Electric Power Corporation.

The shared university model, promoted for the first time at the regional level in Korea, operates based on universities' online education infrastructure and allows for joint and double degrees. Universities are expected to collaborate with public institutions relocated regionally and regional innovation cluster companies, creating employment and startups. Furthermore, the plan is to expand university capabilities to local communities by linking primary and secondary education with higher education. To support this, the Ministry of Education plans to revise the Act on Local Universities and Regional Balanced Talent Development within the year, including department reorganization, quota adjustment, and standards for mobile classes, and introduce a higher education regulatory sandbox system in the platform construction regions.

Park Baek-beom, Vice Minister of Education, stated, "The Ministry of Education will spare no effort in comprehensive support such as regulatory innovation," and added, "We will expand the regional innovation platform project based on their successful models."

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