Opening of the 'Mirae Innovation Center,' a Research Support Facility for Autonomous Driving SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Kim] On the 28th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the opening of the 'Autonomous Driving Future Innovation Center,' a research support facility for autonomous driving small and startup companies, at 'K-City' in Hwaseong.

The opening ceremony will be attended by Eom Myung-so, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Eom Seong-bok, President of the Korea Automobile Testing & Research Institute, and many promising startups leading the development of autonomous driving technology in Korea to celebrate the center's opening. An autonomous driving company meeting will also be held concurrently.

The Autonomous Driving Future Innovation Center is located at the Korea Automobile Testing & Research Institute in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, and was established to support technological innovation of companies in connection with K-City, the largest autonomous driving testbed in Korea.

Companies using K-City will be able to repeatedly test their developed autonomous vehicles in various driving situations while simultaneously conducting research and development and maintenance activities such as data analysis, AI algorithm modification, and vehicle and sensor repairs.

The Autonomous Driving Future Innovation Center, which will be operated free of charge on a pilot basis until the end of this year, will house a total of eight companies selected through a public recruitment process starting next month.

Among the resident companies, small and startup companies will receive benefits such as rent discounts from next year to secure autonomous driving technology without incurring significant costs. Even companies that are not residents can use office spaces and other facilities necessary during the use of the testing facilities.

After the opening ceremony, an autonomous driving company meeting will be held to exchange opinions with the eight companies scheduled to move into the Future Innovation Center. The participating companies, which will move into the Autonomous Driving Future Innovation Center starting next month, include Forty2Dot, Autonomous A2Z, RideFlux, Irae AMS, Naver Labs, Morai, Samsong, and Autocrypt.

This meeting is the first gathering with the autonomous driving mobility industry since the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the Mobility Innovation Roadmap on the 19th. It is expected to be an opportunity to listen to the problems and improvement plans that companies feel on the ground to enhance the roadmap's execution.

Through this occasion, plans for the advancement of the K-City testing facilities and the free operation policy, as well as future operational plans, will be introduced. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport decided to extend the free operation period, which was until June, to 2027 in line with the government's goal of commercializing Level 4 autonomous vehicles.

The companies attending the meeting suggested △policy measures to increase public acceptance of autonomous driving, △continuous government investment expansion in research and development facilities, and △efforts to foster experts in autonomous driving-related fields such as security and communication.

Eom Myung-so, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "The Autonomous Driving Future Innovation Center will continuously listen to voices from the field to serve as an incubator that discovers and nurtures companies that will be the protagonists of mobility innovation," adding, "The government will spare no support so that a domestic autonomous driving unicorn company will soon be born and stand shoulder to shoulder with leading global companies."