• Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.92-115
• /
• 2016

This paper presents how Korea succeeded in developing an indigenous nuclear power plant model over fifty years. Long-lasting national R&D for technical progress and the Korean government for managerial process were the two pillars in the build-up of indigenous Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) technological capabilities. The concept of technological capabilities is used to examine its evolutionary process with a qualitative and longitudinal approach. The government had a developing country ambition to formulate a strategic plan for technical self-reliance on nuclear power plant while establishing the country’s institutions and organization structure for the plan. Under the government leadership, it was national R&D that led to the resolution of a good number of technological problems, efficiently, by absorbing imported technologies and effectively adapting them to local circumstances.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.71-92
• /
• 2006

There may exist differences in R&D patterns between multinational enterprises and domestically owned firms located in catching-up countries. This paper examines the differences in R&D patterns between different ownership in Korea. In order to do this, the paper has conducted the in-depth interview of the major multinational and local firms. The interviewed firms has been selected mainly from the telecommunication, semiconductor and display industries. The paper reveals that multinational firms tend to focus on sales-oriented R& while domestically owned firms are likely to cover the range of development, applied and basic research. The most outstanding difference lies in the length of R&D period. The domestic firms apparently turn out to conduct longer period R&D projects than multinational firms. In addition it is revealed that local firms need to develop their own capability, whereas foreign companies in Korea can acquire advanced technology and scientific knowledge from the R&D centers in their home countries. On the basis of the research findings, this paper discusses some implications and recommendations for Korea and other catching-up countries.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.205-227
• /
• 2004

This paper examined the leapfrogging of Korean Digital TV Industry in the midst of digital Revolution. Despite the lack of sufficient capability and core knowledge base, the Korean firms succeeded in the catching up forerunner firms in the Digital TV industry. The reasons of the success of Korean firms were as follows. Firstly, the Korean firms had some complementary asset, such as the experience of producing analog TV, and were able to develop the prototype digital TV given the accesses to the foreign knowledge via overseas R&D posts and acquisition of a foreign company. Secondly, the Korean firms were not locked in the analog technologies. As a follower, they had little sunk cost on the existing analog technologies. Thirdly, New mode of innovation, such as National R&D program for the development of HDTV and ASIC, were used as a tool for the mobilization of scarce knowledge base of digital technologies and the sharing the risks of development of path-breaking new technologies.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.147-175
• /
• 2006

One of the biggest problems of Korean economy is polarization of firms for export and domestic demand and that of conglomerates and SME's achievement. One of the culprits lies weakness of intermediate industry such as machine tool. Since intermediate industry is important path where export performance affects domestic demand and whose actor usually is SMEs with high spill over effect in labor market. Especially, intermediate industry Is vulnerable because of industrial policy biased In backward linkage effect. However if a country fails to develop intermediate industry above some critical point, that country would fall in low-tech equilibrium without growth. In case of benign circle where final goods industry growth leads growth of intermediate industry and again it leads that of final goods industry, it can reach high-tech equilibrium. By contrast, in opposite case where in industrialization latecomer fails to link industries likewise above some critical point that country would fall in low-tech equilibrium without growth. Moreover, for several reasons, machine tool firms of Korea have difficulty in catching up technology above critical point. Firstly. Conglomerate demander neglects their product. Secondly, even after success of development overcoming difficulties they fail to get market share for response of dumping of foreign competitors. And the last one is patent litigation of foreign competitors that incapacitate the technology development. For these, Korean machine tool firms fell in 'middle-income country trap' itself, since they stuck in some extent when they technologically catch up. Consequently, for latecomer country in machine tool industry to leapfrog meaningfully policy support is necessary, Weak intermediate industry does not Induce domestic firms and remained fragile. Therefore, localization, policy should reflect condition of technological catch up more than before, in order to be effective and fruitful. There should be turning point over relationship between conglomerates, major demander of machine tool and SME's, for only with active purchasing of conglomerate Korean machine industry can grow.

• 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2018.11a
• /
• pp.277-281
• /
• 2018

Information system has been at center of economic development in several developed countries, and as Africa envision to improve its global economic competitiveness it is important to assess penetration rate the digital divide and catch-up effect over the years. This paper examined whether there exists digital divide and if so, is it narrowing over time and whether the ICT is converging with time in the African countries. Three technologies namely mobile-cellular, internet and fixed broadband were used to measure the digital divide and the catch-up effect. Gamma and sigma convergence methodology together with averaged penetration ratios were used to assess the cross-country performance of each technology. This study confirms both the narrowing of digital divide and convergence of ICT in all three technologies for both total group and subgroups. The digital gap was narrowing over time and the low-income countries were catching up faster to the middle-income countries in all three technologies. However, there are marked differences exhibited in the speed of narrowing digital divide and the speed of convergence between the total groups and the subgroups of countries. Some policy implications were discussed in the conclusion and they can be utilized in designing developmental ICT policies in each technology case for individual countries.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
• /
• 2022.06a
• /
• pp.1154-1161
• /
• 2022

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has evolved into a comprehensive, collaborative method in construction project delivery. Most industrialized and developed countries have made BIM mandatory in the government and public projects, whereas developing countries are embracing and catching up BIM technologies to improve their professional's abilities and reduce claims in the construction projects. However, BIM awareness and professional's competence have become critical in implementing BIM in infrastructure projects in Nepal, particularly hydropower projects. The objectives of this study are to find the BIM awareness among hydropower professionals in Nepal and assess their response. The study used a questionnaire survey to assess the awareness. The results showed that only few professionals (12 percentage in this study) are aware of BIM and its application in Hydropower infrastructures. Majority of the respondents (more than 50%) were interested in BIM trainings and believed BIM implementation in future projects. The study indicated that lack of BIM training and lack of BIM awareness were the top factors affecting BIM implementation in hydropower projects in Nepal. The findings showed that about 66 percent of the respondents who used BIM in their projects mainly used during construction phase. More than 80 percent believed that BIM should be mandated for the hydropower projects in Nepal. The findings presented in this study could promote awareness among different professionals, organization, and construction team and encourage BIM implementation in Hydropower projects. The findings could raise awareness of BIM in Nepal's infrastructure sectors and its invaluable benefits in construction.

• Proceedings of the Technology Innovation Conference
• /
• 1999.06a
• /
• pp.176-202
• /
• 1999

Korea has exerted her efforts to assimilate nuclear power technology, and reportedly localized 95 percent of nuclear power technology by 1995. This paper investigates the evolution of nuclear power program in Korea to exploit the development process of the nuclear power industry and key factors for the technological localization of nuclear power plant. In developing countries, an imitative catching-up process can be shown as a course for developing the absorptive capacity of foreign technology, which depends on prior knowledge base and the intensity of effort. The process of technological learning consists of five stages including preparation, implementation of foreign technology, acquisition of peripheral technology, acquisition of core technology, and improvement f foreign technology. Moreover, this paper discusses six essential factors that have influenced the successful achievement of technological localization of nuclear power plants in Korea. They include the role and strategies of the government, the leading role of utility firm, the development and cooperation of the related organizations, the development of human resources and their efforts, market conditions and the assistance of foreign donors, and social conditions. Finally, this paper discusses about implications offered by the Korean experience for other developing countries.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.27-39
• /
• 2014

The role of R&D center for technology commercialization can be categorized into three distinct stages: the first stage consists in developing industrial problem-solving capability; the second consists in catching up with industrialized economies developing creative imitations of imported technologies; and the third consists in acquiring advanced knowledge creation capability. Accordingly, the R&D center's organization should be aligned with this development strategy. This case study of Kazakhstan provide a managerial implication for the other developing countries. The first stage of development, which may be called the 'industrial problem solving stage,' the center will build the infrastructure in terms of both technology and human-resources. The second stage will involve building up 'knowledge capability' with a view to becoming a major industrial R&D hub in Central Eurasia. In the third stage, the center will create advanced knowledge as a 'world-class knowledge center'. In this regard, the evolution of the R&D center should be described according to the features of the center's services.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.23-43
• /
• 2005

Industrial clusters are geographical concentrations of interconnected companies, specialised suppliers, service providers, firms in related industries, and associated institutions (for example, universities, standard agencies, and trade associations) that combine to create new products and/or services in specific lines of business. At present, the concept of industrial cluster becomes very popular worldwide, policy makers at national, regional and local levels and business people in both forerunner and latecomer countries are keen to implement the cluster concept as an economic development model. Though understanding of clusters and related promoting policies varies from one place to another, the underlying benefits of clusters from collective learning and knowledge spillovers between participating actors strongly attract the attention of these people. In Thailand, a latecomer country in terms of technological catching up, the cluster concept has been used as a means to rectify weakness and fragmentation of its innovation systems. The present Thai government aspires to apply the concept to promote both high-tech manufacturing clusters, services clusters and community-based clusters at the grass-root level. This paper analyses three very different clusters in terms of technological sophistication and business objectives, i.e., hard disk drive, software and chili paste. It portrays their significant actors, the extent of interaction among them and the evolution of the clusters. Though are very dissimilar, common characteristics attributed to qualified success are found. Main driving forces of the three clusters are cluster intermediaries. Forms of these organizations are different from a government research and technology organization (RTO), an industrial association, to a self-organised community-based organization. However, they perform similar functions of stimulating information and knowledge sharing, and building trust among participating firms/individuals in the clusters. Literature in the cluster studies argues that government policies need to be cluster specific. In this case, the best way to design and implement cluster-specific policies is through working closely with intermediaries and strengthening their institutional especially in linking member firms/individuals to other actors in clusters such as universities, government R&D institutes, and financial institutions.

• International Area Studies Review
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.325-348
• /
• 2011

This paper analyses how China is likely to be able to sustain its current pace of growth. The results of analysis show that China's economic growth matches standard growth patterns identified by the models of economic development such as structural change, catching up model. Furthermore, China's economic growth, within these analytical frameworks, matches those of Korea at an earlier stage of her development. So Korea's growth patterns may well apply to the future of China such as the benefits of free society with economics and politics which generate technical progress and innovations. A country with a high innovative capacity is one whose institutions - educational, economic, political, legal, and so forth - allow it to dynamically and continually generate new products and services in a myriad of sectors. These are the way how China is likely to be able to sustain her economic development.