• STI Policy Review
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.1-16
• /
• 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
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.131-144
• /
• 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.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.1-28
• /
• 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
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.41-61
• /
• 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.