BISTEP Presents Busan Science and Technology Agenda for 2040

Using Five Independently Developed Indicators, Large-Scale Future Science and Technology Trend Survey to Discover Agendas

Seven Fields and 40 Agendas for Busan Science and Technology in 2040, Including 'Changes in Tourism Needs' and 'Smart Ports'

The Busan Institute of Science and Technology Promotion (BISTEP, Director Kim Young-bu) has published a research report titled "Busan's Science and Technology Agenda 2040," becoming the first among local governments nationwide to present a science and technology agenda.

Until now, regional projects related to global trends such as AI and smart mobility have been promoted according to the central government's choices, which limited the reflection of regional characteristics. In contrast, this study is significant in that Busan independently identified global trends and formulated an agenda, laying the foundation for proactive responses by industry-academia-research-government-civil society collaboration.

The 2040 Busan science and technology agenda proposed by BISTEP includes △6 items in the health sector (pandemics, increasing and diversifying needs for elderly support, etc.) △5 items in the economic sector (labor population supply-demand gap, expansion of the sharing economy, etc.) △4 items in education, culture, and tourism (innovation in higher education institutions, increasing tourism needs, etc.) △10 items in technology utilization (smart mobility, digital finance, etc.) △6 items in urban sectors (urban spongification, smart cities, etc.) △6 items in environment, disaster, and energy (power supply and energy transition, persistent disaster risks, etc.) △3 items in marine and fisheries (smart ports, marine biodiversity).

The total 40 agenda items across 7 sectors are key points not only for attracting national funding and responding to the concentration in the metropolitan area but also for Busan to become a global hub city. To select these agendas, BISTEP researchers first conducted a large-scale survey of 2040 trends announced by about 190 major domestic and international think tanks, including international organizations and statistical agencies, extracting 667 keywords.

These were classified according to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) announced by the UN, and after adjusting their scale and scope, 56 agendas were selected. Subsequently, through three rounds of consultation with 33 experts and evaluations using self-developed indicators such as △importance △relevance to Busan △relevance to science and technology △feasibility of policy implementation △citizen satisfaction, the final agenda was completed.

Jong-ryul Lee, Principal Researcher at BISTEP, stated, "Various future science and technology agendas announced domestically and internationally inevitably focus on issues centered on their own countries, which limits their reliability and acceptance. This study is expected to serve as foundational data that guarantees policy directions and execution capabilities based on Busan's capabilities and data regarding global issues predicted for 2040."

The full report can be accessed through the BISTEP website.

Busan Science and Technology Agenda 2040.

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