Ministry of Science and ICT Promotes 'Technology Commercialization Fast Track' Project

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 27th that it will promote the 'Next-Generation Promising Seed Technology Commercialization Fast Track' project as a new project this year. The 'Technology Commercialization Fast Track' is a project aimed at rapidly advancing technology to a level where companies can utilize research results created through basic research projects under the leadership of researchers.

The Ministry of Science and ICT explained, "Most existing technology commercialization projects are led by demand companies," adding, "It has been difficult for researchers who possess original technologies to actively participate." They continued, "We have launched the 'Technology Commercialization Fast Track' project to discover excellent basic research results, match them with corporate demand, and promote technology scale-up led by researchers who hold the technology."

Researchers selected for the project will carry out technology advancement for two years, including improvement and securing follow-up patents, prototype design, and verification of their research results. For projects with high commercial potential, additional technology commercialization activities such as prototype optimization, technology transfer, and technology dissemination will be conducted through collaboration between researchers and companies. To effectively promote researcher-led technology commercialization, expert groups such as patent law firms will participate to support the practical application of research outcomes.

The 'Technology Commercialization Fast Track' project will invest a total of 46.37 billion KRW over seven years until 2029 (41.4 billion KRW from the government and 4.97 billion KRW from the private sector). The National Research Foundation of Korea, the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology Commercialization, and the Korea Industrial Technology Association will jointly conduct technology and demand discovery, project management, and operation. This year, a total of 14 new projects will be selected, with government funding of 345 million KRW provided per project.