23 Universities Submitted Proposals, 2 Selected
High Evaluation for Development Feasibility, Industry-Academia-Research Capabilities, and Location
Urban High-Tech Industrial Complex to be Designated in Early Next Year
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Kyungpook National University and Chonnam National University have been finally selected as new sites for the Campus Innovation Park in 2021.
On the 1st, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that the two locations were finally selected as new Campus Innovation Park sites and will begin construction in the second half of next year.
The Campus Innovation Park project involves transforming universities' idle land into urban high-tech industrial complexes and establishing industry-academia-research innovation hubs (corporate residency spaces) to foster universities as innovation growth bases.
After announcing the Campus Innovation Park development plan in 2019, three universities (Kangwon National University, Hannam University, and Hanyang University ERICA Campus) were selected as pilot projects.
The government held a competition this year to select two new universities for the project, receiving proposals from a total of 23 universities, recording a competition rate of 11.5 to 1.
The three ministries formed an evaluation committee of nine experts in industrial sites, industry-academia cooperation, and startup and business promotion fields, and selected the final two universities through written evaluations, on-site inspections, and presentation evaluations according to the competition guidelines and evaluation criteria. The evaluation criteria included feasibility of development as an urban high-tech industrial complex, university capability and willingness, and potential for attracting companies.
The two finally selected sites have excellent location conditions, including development feasibility, industry-academia-research cooperation capabilities, and residential and transportation conditions.
Kyungpook National University will invest a total of 120.4 billion KRW to develop a Campus Innovation Park on a 32,000㎡ site by 2030, focusing on artificial intelligence, big data, and information and communication technology fields.
Chonnam National University will invest 150 billion KRW to promote the Campus Innovation Park project on a 35,609㎡ site, focusing on information technology (IT), environmental engineering technology (ET), biotechnology (BT), and cultural content technology (CT).
Both sites will start planning the industrial complex, aiming to be designated as urban high-tech industrial complexes in the first half of next year and to begin construction in the second half.
A government official said, "The two universities selected through this competition will become innovative spaces that create local jobs and grow companies, following the existing pilot projects. Given the strong interest from many universities and regions in the two rounds of competitions, the three ministries will work together to build an industry-academia-research cooperation innovation ecosystem."
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