Forming 'Team Korea' to Commercialize 'Drone Taxi' Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Industry, academia, research, and government have joined forces as 'One Team' to commercialize 'Urban Air Mobility (UAM),' a core strategy for future commerce.

On the 24th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the launch of the 'Urban Air Mobility Public-Private Council,' also known as 'UAM Team Korea,' which includes over 40 key organizations and companies in the urban air mobility sector, and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) among participating institutions.

This policy community launch is a follow-up to the Korean Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) roadmap announced by the government on the 4th. Notably, the launch ceremony was held at the National Aviation Museum in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, which opens on the 5th of next month to showcase the past, present, and future of aviation, adding significance to the event.

Urban Air Mobility is a future advanced industry that brings the aviation domain, which traditionally connected airports on the outskirts of cities, into the urban core. As a new business encompassing even aircraft manufacturing, the global market size is expected to reach $69 billion (730 trillion KRW) by 2040.

The background for launching this policy community is the need for harmony between private sector technology development and government regulatory improvements to pioneer the market. The vice minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will chair UAM Team Korea, with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and the Aviation Safety Technology Institute serving as secretariat organizations, and various local governments, academia, and public institutions participating.

This council will primarily function as a decision-making body, meeting once or twice a year, while a working committee for free discussions among staff will be held at least quarterly under the chairmanship of the Ministry’s Future Drone Transportation Officer.

Going forward, UAM Team Korea will ▲ continuously implement roadmap tasks and discover new policies and research and development (R&D) projects ▲ jointly design scenarios and requirements for phased verification of the large-scale public-private demonstration project, the K-UAM Grand Challenge, and actively participate in future demonstration projects ▲ jointly commission and research tasks requiring expertise and cooperation from various institutions, such as regional noise, weather, and communication environment surveys, and the construction of complex spatial information on weather, noise, and communication ▲ share market and technology trends acquired through domestic and international academic conferences and events to promote mutual development ▲ provide certification support programs to strengthen capabilities in aviation certification ▲ jointly plan and host national-level conferences ▲ and carry out diverse initiatives including efforts to enact the UAM Special Act targeted for 2023.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi stated, "It is the first time in our country that a government-level roadmap has been prepared and a policy community with massive public-private participation has been created to realize the future new industry of urban air mobility," adding, "We will spare no support and effort to foster collaboration and healthy competition among participating institutions so that Korean Urban Air Mobility, K-UAM, can grow into a global standard."