Oh Sang-rok, President of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), speaks at KIST’s fundamental campus in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, on the nineteenth, stressing the have to shift away from a paper-·patent-centered R&D construction and to attach analysis achievements to business and markets. Provided by KIST
“We rose from being one of the poorest countries with nothing to becoming an advanced nation in the shortest time, powered by science and technology alone. But I wonder if we have been somewhat intoxicated by that success. Now we must move beyond a paper- and patent-centered, fast-follower research and development (R&D) model, and start linking research outcomes to industry and markets.”
Meeting at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, on the nineteenth, President Oh Sang-rok assessed that Korean science and know-how are at a important turning level amid the U.S.-China competitors for technological hegemony and a sweeping transition pushed by synthetic intelligence (AI). Citing the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, Oh stated, “Reality has proven that we live in an era where technology determines national security and national power.” He believes the world order has been reshaped in order that capital flows to the place know-how resides, and that securing basic applied sciences and platforms now determines the world market.
Oh confused that whereas Korea grew by way of a fast-follower technique, it now has to make the leap to grow to be a technology-leading nation. “In the past, it was enough to follow just one country that was the best in a given field, but now Korea itself has become a target for others to catch up with,” he stated. “In a situation where strategic technologies such as AI, semiconductors and bio determine both industry and security, it is difficult to survive the competition for technological hegemony with a fast-follower approach.”
He pointed to 3 capabilities that Korea should safe going ahead: foundational capabilities in future strategic applied sciences corresponding to AI, semiconductors and quantum; mission-oriented analysis planning capabilities that join laboratory outcomes to outcomes which are tangible for business, society and residents; and worldwide cooperation capabilities that safeguard sovereignty over key applied sciences.
● Institutional reform is required to supply frontier analysis
Korea ranks at the high amongst Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) international locations in phrases of R&D funding as a share of gross home product (GDP), and can also be amongst the world’s leaders in metrics corresponding to the variety of researchers and R&D expenditure in line with the World Intellectual Property Organization. While funding and manpower are in place, Oh identified that the nation nonetheless lacks the analysis capability to ship real world-first and world-best outcomes. He cited the present construction, which treats the manufacturing of papers and patents as the final purpose, as the fundamental trigger. “Papers and patents are only intermediate results, but as long as we treat them as the end goal, we will never truly fail,” Oh stated.
Because frontier, technology-leading analysis inevitably entails the chance of failure, he emphasised the have to institutionalize a tradition that accepts failure. He urged researchers to not lose their spirit of problem and their inside drive. This doesn’t imply reckless challenges, he stated, however relatively restoring the instincts of researchers who don’t shrink back from tackling troublesome issues which are important to the nation and society.
He additionally confused {that a} system the place folks can work with enthusiasm and be rewarded commensurate with their efforts is important to foster formidable, high-risk analysis, and known as for an overhaul of personnel, analysis and compensation programs throughout the board. He positively assessed the abolition of the project-based system (PBS) at government-funded analysis institutes, saying it freed researchers from having to safe their very own salaries and allowed them to deal with nationwide missions. He additionally revealed plans for KIST to determine a security web that will permit researchers to spin off start-ups based mostly on their applied sciences and nonetheless return to their positions as researchers even when these ventures fail.
Oh additionally known as for a shift in the position of presidency. The government-led strategy that powered Korea’s speedy financial progress throughout the industrialization era, he argued, is not suited to responding to as we speak’s battle for technological hegemony. “The market should be left to operate as a market, while the government focuses on building infrastructure and improving institutions,” he stated. Although the want for change has lengthy been raised, he identified that the precise tempo of reform has been sluggish.
Another structural downside in Korea’s analysis ecosystem, he stated, is the lack of “coaches” or supervisors. While Korea has skilled many researchers, it has didn’t domesticate sufficient individuals who can design course, clear obstacles and lead analysis groups. “We have trained players, but rarely have we trained coaches,” Oh stated. “In the fast-follower era, it was enough to focus on training players, but in the era of technological leadership, we need to nurture coaches.”
From 2003, Oh served for 4 and a half years as a challenge supervisor (PM) at the Ministry of Information and Communication, gaining first-hand expertise in such a task. His first project from then-Minister Jin Dae-je was to construct a robotic that price 1 million gained. The challenge stemmed from the analysis that the robotic market remained small as a result of costs have been too excessive. Oh gathered and persuaded researchers, eliminated authorized obstacles the place essential, and personally sourced elements once they have been unavailable. He stated he had full authority over securing the essential price range, assembling and working the analysis group, and instantly finishing up the challenge.
Drawing on that have, he has requested the challenge managers (PMs) at KIST’s seven mission-oriented analysis institutes to play an analogous position. “PMs themselves must grow into excellent coaches,” Oh stated. “Only then can our country take on the role of a leading nation going forward.”
KIST operates a mission-oriented analysis institute system, in which it first units national-level challenges corresponding to carbon neutrality, clear hydrogen and next-generation semiconductors, after which back-calculates the important enabling applied sciences required for commercialization, setting them as targets. No matter how modern a know-how could also be, if its contribution to reaching the mission is low, it’s excluded. PMs are granted full authority over planning, budgeting, personnel and analysis, whereas an innovation committee that features demand-side firms adjusts the analysis course from a market perspective.
● Competition and cooperation should each happen on the world stage
Oh confused that Korea additionally wants to vary the way it approaches world cooperation. He argued that the focus ought to shift from tutorial exchanges to joint growth of strategic applied sciences and the securing of technological sovereignty. He believes Korea should transfer past researcher-level collaborations to construct sustainable world platforms at the institutional degree.
Marking its thirtieth anniversary this 12 months, the KIST Europe Research Institute has been transformed right into a devoted hub for participation in Horizon Europe (Horizon EU), the European Union’s analysis and innovation framework programme. In Boston, USA, KIST is constructing the Korean Boston Bridge Center (Okay-BB) to commercialize the analysis achievements of government-funded analysis institutes in world markets.
Oh additionally stated that the stage for analysis itself should shift to the world enviornment. He urged KIST researchers to not be content material with being primary domestically. Reflecting this, KIST’s slogan emphasizes the “dignity of a global first-class institute” relatively than merely being “No. 1.” “Being number one just means ranking first on some metric that someone else has created,” he stated. “Our true goal is to set our own standards across everything that society needs.”
He additionally highlighted the downside that Korean analysis achievements should not sufficiently identified globally. Because there are few channels for sharing achievements past tutorial papers, KIST’s capabilities are identified solely in a fragmented manner. He famous that almost all overseas researchers at KIST are college students from growing international locations, and that there are nearly no circumstances the place principal investigator–degree researchers from superior international locations come to KIST. He added that even whereas home consultants might identify Korean researchers as high scientists in sure fields, overseas researchers hardly ever search them out in individual.
KIST is due to this fact strengthening its world outreach and making ready invitation applications that may permit principal investigator–degree researchers from superior international locations to remain for two to 3 years. “I hope we will see a growing number of researchers abroad saying that KIST is a place they must visit,” Oh stated, including, “We will collaborate with global institutions and companies, but we must firmly protect our core technologies, intellectual property and supply chains.”
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