Seoul City Selects 8 Companies for 'Water Industry Innovation Technology' Research... Up to 300 Million KRW Support per Project

Agreement Signed with Selected Company on the 13th

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] R&D research projects for innovative water industry technologies, which will lead the water industry sector recognized as a future new growth industry, have been selected.

On the 13th, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Seoul Institute of Technology, and Seoul Water Reuse Facility Corporation announced that they held a public contest for this year's water industry innovative technology R&D research projects from June 3 to 23 and finally selected eight companies. The projects were selected through an evaluation by a selection committee from 13 submissions received through the contest, and finalized with expert advice from the Seoul Institute of Technology and Seoul Water Reuse Facility Corporation in their respective specialized fields.

The selected companies mainly possess technologies applicable to water reuse centers, such as improving discharged water quality and enhancing energy efficiency. Topics incorporating smart fields like IoT in line with the 4th Industrial Revolution attracted attention. The technology name for R&D planning is the development of an on-site direct-reading IoT heavy metal detection sensor for smart sewage treatment, and the demonstration projects include seven items such as the development of high-efficiency, low-energy smart sedimentation technology and the demonstration of synthetic gas production using contaminants.

Seoul City confirmed the actual research capabilities of the companies through on-site inspections and plans to actively support the necessary resources for technology development, including providing demonstration sites and costs. The selected companies will sign agreements with Seoul City starting from the 13th and proceed with customized technology development by installing demonstration facilities at Seoul’s water reuse centers.

Through this year’s first pilot project for water industry innovative technology R&D, Seoul City plans to identify improvement measures and expand promotion from next year, extend the research period up to three years, and support complete and sufficient technology development. The scope of contest projects will also be gradually expanded to cover all areas of the water industry in stages.

Choi Jin-seok, Director of the Water Circulation Safety Bureau, said, “We hope this R&D pilot project will serve as a successful catalyst for fostering the water industry,” and added, “By responding to companies’ demands to utilize Seoul’s water reuse facilities as R&D and test beds, we expect this to become a stepping stone for nurturing the water industry and securing technological competitiveness.”

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