S&T Policy Directions for Green Growth in Korea

To achieve the "low carbon green growth" vision, the first step is securing core technologies. Therefore, S&T policy direction for green technology development is urgently needed. As of 2008, investment in green technology (GT) development hovered around 10% of the government's total R&D budget. Thus, the Korean government developed a plan to increase that percentage to 15%, by 2013. To develop reasonable investment strategies for green technology development, targeted strategies that reflect technology and market changes by green technology area are needed. However, the overall planning and coordination of national GT development is currently split among, approximately, 10 government ministries. To establish an efficient green technology development system, the so-called "Green Technology R&D Council" should be launched in collaboration with the Presidential Committee on Green Growth and the National Science and Technology Council. Furthermore, to build a solid foundation for commercializing the outcomes of GT development projects and promote GT transfer, the government should undertake two initiatives. First, the government should reinforce GT R&D performance management, by establishing a GT R&D performance management and evaluation system. Second, the government should implement the "customized packaged support for promoting green technology business rights and commercialization" and present "e-marketplace for market-oriented green technologies". Creating a pan-ministerial policy for GT development policy would necessitate restructuring the HR(Human Resources) development system, which is currently separated by technology area. Based upon mid/long-term HR supply and demand forecasts, the government should design differentiated HR development projects, continuously evaluate those projects, and reflect the evaluation results in future policy development. Finally, to create new GT-related industries, the "Green TCS (Testing, Certification, and Standards) System" needs to be implemented. For objective evaluation and diffusion of R&D results by green technology area, a common standardization plan for testing, analysis, and measurement, like the "Green TCS", should be developed and integrated.