Technology is available, but commercialization is daunting... "Jungjingong is here to help"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] As of 2020, South Korea's research and development (R&D) expenditure ranks 5th worldwide among OECD countries (93.7 trillion KRW), and the R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP is 4.81%, ranking 2nd. However, the commercialization success rate of technology development by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was 43.8% (2018?2020), indicating a need to strengthen support for commercialization capabilities targeting technology and patent-holding companies.

The Gwangju Regional Headquarters of the Small and Medium Business Corporation announced on the 21st that it is recruiting companies to participate in the "SME Technology Commercialization Capability Enhancement" project, which provides technology commercialization diagnosis and customized support to help SMEs commercialize their patents and technologies.

The SME Technology Commercialization Capability Enhancement project identifies promising technologies that have not yet been commercialized and, through technology commercialization diagnosis, assesses the likelihood of success from the perspectives of ▲technology completeness ▲marketability ▲commercialization capability. Then, it provides tailored support for commercialization (commercialization support, market-friendly functional improvement, technology transfer) according to the type of support needed.

Since its launch in 2017, the project has demonstrated significant results, with a commercialization success rate of 58.3% for participating companies (2018?2020), which is 14.5 percentage points higher than the average commercialization success rate of 43.8% for general SMEs.

The support targets SMEs that possess government R&D technologies judged successful and patented technologies that have not yet been commercialized (mass production and revenue generation). Each company can apply for only one technology commercialization project.

Commercialization support assists technologies lacking marketability to successfully enter the market by supporting commercialization planning, product performance improvement testing, market marketing, etc., providing up to 75% of project costs, with a maximum of 80 million KRW.

Market-friendly functional improvement support provides additional technology development for functional improvement and performance enhancement tailored to market demands for technologies and companies requiring technical supplementation, supporting up to 80% of project costs, with a maximum of 100 million KRW.

Technology transfer support assists companies holding technologies with excellent completeness and marketability who wish to transfer their technology by supporting marketing through registration on the technology trading platform (Tech-Bridge) and technology transactions and protection through technology trust.

Companies wishing to commercialize their owned technologies can apply on the Small and Medium Business Corporation website by 6 p.m. on the 11th of next month. For detailed inquiries, contact the SME Integrated Call Center or the Corporation’s Management Support Department.

Park Hong-joo, head of the Gwangju Regional Headquarters of the Small and Medium Business Corporation, stated, “To improve the overall level of technology commercialization among SMEs, this year we plan to provide coaching for mid- to short-term level improvements in areas lacking even to companies not selected as support targets.” He added, “We will actively support promising technologies developed and owned by SMEs to pass the final gate of commercialization and come out into the world.”

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