• STI Policy Review
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.63-92
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• 2010

Recent years have seen an intensified discussion in many OECD countries about the role and mission of public research in the innovation system. This discussion takes place in quite specific national contexts, but should benefit from international experience. However, whereas voluminous literatures address the changing governance methods, organizational forms and missions of universities, much less attention has been devoted to developing a common understanding of the challenges faced by non-university public research institutions. The main goals of this paper is to contribute to clarifying the nature of these challenges, outlines possible policy answers and draws some implications for Korea. In the first section, the paper uses available internationally comparable indicators to review trends in the contribution of government research institutes (GRIs) to R&D and innovation activities. In the second section, the paper identifies the current major changes in the dynamics of innovation that may call for further adjustments in the positioning, organization and steering of public research institutes. Finally, the paper outlines some strategic objectives and orientations for the reform of public research institutes as part of the broader agenda of the Korean innovation strategy.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.69-88
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• 2010

This paper explores the determinants of the innovation impact of publicly funded R&D projects along three broad dimensions, namely project, firm and market-related factors. In addition to these factors we examine the attributes of the research result per se and aspects of the commercialization process. The observations from empirical and qualitative analyses are based on R&D projects funded by the Fifth and Sixth Research Framework Programmes of the European Union. Firm size, prior experience, innovation culture, the nature of the project itself, explicit intension to commercialize, consortium management and strategy are the factors with the strongest effect on project success, defined in terms of product/process innovation and/or technical knowledge creation. The paper provides important implications for the organization, objectives, and management of public programmes that fund R&D and for project and participant selection.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2011

Korea is examining how to coordinate its S&T policies and solidify its position as a leader of infrastructure innovation policy that forms the foundation for many different policies. A number of questions have been raised, such as whether to install a superior coordinating body like the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) or separate the budget allocation and coordination authority from the budget-planning ministry. Korea has tried using various institutional coordination devices and functions such as reorganizing its administrative ministries based on related functions and installing or reinforcing a superior coordinating body. In line with these discussions, the strengthening of the S&T policy coordination function through the NSTC is currently under review. In order to design an effective S&T coordination system in step with changing political and social demands, it is important to have a clear recognition of the current context as well as the unique institutional characteristics of Korea. This study examines the evolution of Korea's S&T policy coordination systems and analyzes its features.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.11-24
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• 2011

S&T policy has been traditionally regarded as a sector policy; however, it is now evolving into an infrastructure innovation policy that forms the foundation of diverse types of policies. Simultaneously, environmental and energy policies formerly considered as sector policies are now being expanded and integrated into a higher level policy for sustainable development. With these changes underway, the importance of policy integration has increased. Efforts are being made to minimize contradictions between environmental, social, and innovation policies that emphasize proactive linkage among policies or place the highest priority on environmental policy following the theory of Environmental Policy Integration (EPI). Confronted with these policy changes, the Lee Myung-bak government announced "Low-Carbon Green Growth" in 2008 as national agenda for development that focus attention on environmental and energy issues. Economic policy and environmental policy have been traditionally seen in a conflicting relationship with different paths of policy development. However, the administration of President Lee is now emphasizing the synergy effects between the environment and economic growth with the concept of green growth. The green growth policy of the Korean government has great significance as it has built a momentum for incorporating social goals such as environmental values or sustainable development into economic growth-oriented policies; however, there remain many challenges due to the legacy of the development period that has dominated Korean society. The Korean government says it reflects "EPI" or "environmentalism" in policy goals; however, in reality it prioritizes development over the environment.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2016

Technology supply has been the main thrust of the Korean government's science & technology policy, focusing on the development and acquisition of new technology in line with the catching-up strategy of economic growth and industrial development. However, new social or societal problems have become major government policy issues, heralding new innovation policy aimed to address them. Such new policy initiatives for social problem-solving present a niche where the existing system of government innovation policy process is challenged, including such processes as goal-setting, planning, implementation, project management, and evaluation. The rigidity of the existing institution of government innovation policy, however, still shapes the content and progression of innovation policy for social problem-solving. This study reviews Korean innovation policy for social problem-solving as a policy niche, and aims to clarify its challenges and opportunities. It uses a system transition framework to explain the emergence and evolution of the innovation policy niche in Korea. The main research question is to what extent and in what aspect the existing innovation policy regime shaped innovation policy for social problem-solving. The study examines the inertia of the current paradigm of innovation policies and R&D programs, and sheds light on the search for a distinctive identity for innovation policies that tackles social problems.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.131-144
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• 2014

The entrepreneurial university concept is a new challenge and opportunity for science and technology universities in Korea. The traditional university functions of education, research, and community service are still highly relevant, but increasingly so are new types of collaboration for research outcomes and funding resources. Strategic university management is needed to handle socioeconomic contribution, involving the creation and maintenance of proactive relationships with firms, national and regional governments, and other regional entities. The emergence of the entrepreneurial university in Korea is similar to the socioeconomic changes observable in the history of university development in America and in many other developed countries. In this paper, we examine the emerging paradigm of entrepreneurial universities in Korea and discuss the interactions among universities, firms, and government strategy and policy by investigating and comparing two universities, POSTECH and KAIST, in their leadership, adaptation to changes in the environment, business strategies, organization, and cooperative network. We conclude with policy points that emphasize the fact that while entrepreneurial universities are an emerging concept, they can expand innovation and creativity in education and research in Korean universities in the mid-to-long term if university administration, policymakers and public administrators, and regional innovation actors take an interest in the need for a new organization and system where university research can contribute socioeconomically.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.13-22
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• 2011

During the 1990s, North Korea suffered from severe economic hardships in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet bloc and massive floods; North Korea is still has not escaped this suffering. South Korea has pursued various inter-Korean cooperation projects to help North Korea open and develop its economy; however, there are limited successful cases for improvement in North Korea. It is imperative to define a long-term strategy through analysis of key success factors for inter-Korean cooperation in order to develop more successful cases of inter-Korean cooperation; however, limited studies have been conducted to analyze successful inter-Korean cooperation projects. This study selects the "Seed Potato Project" (implemented by the World Vision) as a successful case to be analyzed and identifies key success factors for inter-Korean cooperation. As illustrated in previous studies, the results of the analysis of success factors of a "Seed Potato Project" from a trust-building perspective has revealed that this project follows key success factors like openness, integrity, consistency, and benevolence. In the last section of this report, this study also presents important policy implications to develop future successful cases for inter-Korean cooperation.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-28
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• 2016

Current Korean innovation system is facing a new turning point while the growth-oriented and S&T provide-oriented development strategy. Accordingly, there are needs for not only system transition in various area, such as sustainable energy, agriculture, and rural area but also STI policy paradigm shift to create a new innovative pathway. Living lab is being discussed in European country as a new innovative model based on user participation and as a niche experiments for sustainable system transition. This study attempts to analyze the living lab cases which are for the purpose of energy transition, agriculture rural areas system transition, and STI policy paradigm shift. Based on this analysis, the implications were derived in Korea. European Suslab project, C@R project, and Taiwan living lab, promoted diverse transitional experiments successfully by collecting users' background and experiences from pre-planning stage and by maintaining the user-driven innovative actions within the whole development process. This result provides various suggestions to current Korean situation that central government and local governments are considering the introduction of living lab. Living lab can also be utilized as a strategic niche experiments for socio-technical system transition in region or country, as a mean of policy integration, and as a new regional innovation model. In addition, it can be an important platform to realize the policy integration reflecting the user and demand-side which are highlighted in recent innovative policy paradigm.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.41-61
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• 2017

The literature in research policy extensively addresses the interaction between public R&D and the society. Scholars have paid particular attention to the way science and technology are diffused into the society and industry with the aim of substantiating their potential value. In practice, having recognized the importance of the said interaction, R&D entities and governmental organizations promote scientific and technological innovations that result from their R&D activities. Yet, the nature of news media exposure as their primary channel to promote R&D outcomes has been remarkably understudied. Using the results of R&D projects supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), this study examines R&D entities' strategic use of the news media to publicize their outcomes. The empirical results suggest that the scale of an R&D project positively affects the counts of media exposure of its R&D outcomes, whereas the level of technology readiness and the technology life-cycle do not have significant influence. In addition, the results suggest that, compared to senior researchers, young researchers are more likely to publicize their R&D outcomes and that R&D outcomes from highly ranked universities are more likely to be publicized than those from lower-ranking universities despite our control for R&D outcomes. The aforementioned results suggest that in promoting the diffusion of science and technology, especially to the public, policymakers should be concerned about incentives for those who provide techno-scientific information, such as researchers. The social need for the diffusion of techno-scientific information into the public (e.g., technology transfer and diffusion) is an insignificant factor in determining the media exposure of such information, whereas personal benefits and sensitive issues related to a researcher's own R&D activities (e.g., justification for R&D activities) drive researchers to publicize their R&D outcomes. This paper suggests that policymakers, especially those concerned with better diffusion of scientific and technological innovations need to design a proper incentive system to maximize the societal benefits of media exposure.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.60-84
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• 2016

What impact does the sharing economy have on existing businesses? This paper empirically examines how Uber transformed the taxi industry in New York City. Using a regression model controlling various potential influencing factors, we find no direct evidence that daily trips or revenue per taxi driver decreased since Uber entered the taxi industry. However, a closer investigation into other dimensions of taxi trips reveals that taxi drivers were forced to change their way of doing businesses to retain existing daily trips and revenue. Since Uber crowded out yellow taxis from the central area of Manhattan, yellow taxis responded by serving customers outside of the Manhattan borough. From enlarging their geographical coverage and serving customers that were previously ignored, yellow taxis were able to retain their previous level of taxi trips and market share. We also find that yellow taxis responded by improving their service quality to better serve customers' needs. Our result suggests that incumbents actively responded to Uber's entry and provided substantial benefit to consumers. Combined with the incumbent's response, the sharing economy transformed the existing market in a welfare-enhancing way. This paper provides managerial and policy implication on how incumbents affected by the disruptions of the sharing economy should respond. Even though it might be yet premature to examine the impact of Uber, results suggest that incumbents have effectively defended against Uber's entry so far. We conclude that the sharing economy and the existing economy can create positive value in our society through well-intentioned competition, complementing each other's weaknesses and strengths.