Regulatory Sandbox, Council Launched to Take Responsibility up to After-Sales Service (AS)

Financial Support, Patent Applications, and Corporate Networking Assistance

Park Jin-gyu, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. (Image source=Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that it will hold the launch ceremony of the 'Industrial Convergence Regulatory Sandbox (Sandbox) Approved Companies Council' on the 11th at 10:30 a.m., chaired by Vice Minister Park Jin-gyu.

This council was established to form a network among sandbox-approved companies and to resolve difficulties encountered during business operations.

The event will be attended by 77 companies approved in six sectors: future cars & mobility, sharing economy, smart healthcare, energy, food & health, and digital convergence. Representatives of companies serving as sector heads, including SpringCloud, selected as the council chair company, as well as Neofect, Robotis, Big Pictures, and Pulmuone Health & Living, will participate.

Song Young-gi, CEO of SpringCloud, stated, "Until now, it was difficult to obtain licenses to provide transportation services to the general public with autonomous buses, but receiving the demonstration exemption gave us hope."

He added, "Just as our company was able to test formal services for general passengers for the first time in Korea through the sandbox last August, I hope many cases will emerge where various companies freely pursue new products and services through the sandbox."

Representatives of companies approved for demonstration exemptions, such as 'Construction Machinery Training Virtual Reality (VR) Simulator' (Big Pictures), 'Home Rehabilitation Training Device' (Neofect), and 'Autonomous Delivery Robot' (Robotis), will each present key cases following sandbox approval.

In particular, Robotis will mention a case where autonomous robot delivery services were implemented in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, resulting in the average daily sales of the target restaurants increasing more than fivefold from 400,000?500,000 KRW to 2.7 million KRW, and 96% of participants responded that they were satisfied with the service.

Prior to the event, Big Pictures, a sandbox-approved company, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea Construction Safety Corporation and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Association for 'Construction Machinery Safety Education Using VR Simulator.'

Vice Minister Park Jin-gyu of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, "It is very meaningful that a channel for communication and cooperation between the government and approved companies has been created as the number of industrial convergence sandbox-approved companies approaches 100."

He added, "We plan to support the council to function as a platform that can maximize the sandbox’s effectiveness by strengthening post-approval support and promoting networking among approved companies."

The Ministry plans to use the council not only to resolve business difficulties faced by companies granted exemptions but also to provide guidance on commercialization support systems such as financial support, patent applications, and public procurement. Efforts will continue to utilize the council as a 'hotline' between the Ministry and approved companies.