Jeonbuk and Changwon University Selected for 'Campus Innovation Park'... "A Hub for Regional Startup Development Innovation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of Education announced on the 9th that Jeonbuk National University and Changwon National University have been finally selected as new sites for the 2022 ‘Campus Innovation Park Project.’

The ‘Campus Innovation Park Project’ is a joint project by three ministries (Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Education) that focuses on government initiatives to strengthen industry-academia-research cooperation and corporate capabilities by transforming universities’ idle land into urban high-tech industrial complexes and establishing industry-academia-research innovation hubs (corporate residence spaces), thereby fostering universities as regional innovation growth bases.

Through the first and second rounds of public contests in 2019, the government selected Kangwon National University, Hannam University, Hanyang University ERICA Campus, Kyungpook National University, and Chonnam National University as Campus Innovation Parks. Following the successful implementation of the existing projects, the government conducted a new contest this year to select two additional universities to expand the project’s achievements. This contest, the third since 2019, received proposals from a total of 17 universities, showing a competition rate of 8.5 to 1.

The three ministries formed an evaluation committee of nine experts in industrial location, industry-academia cooperation, startup and corporate development fields, and selected the final two universities through written evaluations, on-site inspections, and presentation evaluations according to the contest guidelines and evaluation criteria.

The newly selected project sites will immediately begin establishing industrial complex plans and aim to be designated as urban high-tech industrial complexes by the second half of next year, advancing the projects with a sense of urgency.

A government official stated, “The two universities selected through this contest are expected to become innovation hubs nurturing regional startups alongside existing projects,” and added, “We plan to strengthen regulatory innovation and link various support projects to ensure that Campus Innovation Parks continue to spread the startup boom throughout the regions.”