| Expanding the designation target to all manufacturing industries
| Discovery of a Leading Model for Technological Innovation Growth

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) will begin accepting applications for designation as an excellent corporate research institute on the 24th to discover and foster corporate research institutes with outstanding research and development capabilities and excellent technological innovation activities, thereby driving qualitative growth in the private R&D sector.
Corporate research institutes are a key player in private sector R&D investment. Since the introduction of the system in 1981, quantitative growth has been achieved, but the need for qualitative growth has been consistently raised, as research personnel and R&D investment per company have weakened.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Science and ICT has been promoting a pilot project since 2017, including designating a total of 13 excellent corporate research institutes in certain fields such as food and bio, in order to shift the paradigm of corporate research institute development policy from quantity to quality and to present a leading model for enhancing the technological innovation capacity of all corporate research institutes.

Building on the achievements of the past two years, this project will be implemented this year by expanding the designated target to all manufacturing industries, and next year, it will be expanded to include knowledge-based service industries.

As the scope of designation expands to all manufacturing sectors starting this year, a "self-diagnosis assessment" stage will be newly established to provide rapid feedback and enhance the efficiency of the review process, allowing companies to assess their own R&D capabilities.

The existing written evaluation was replaced with a "self-diagnosis evaluation" to help companies identify their strengths and weaknesses in each R&D capability evaluation item and encourage them to strengthen their insufficient capabilities. Furthermore, only companies that have achieved a certain score or higher based on the automatically calculated online evaluation results are eligible to apply.

In addition, by designing the distribution ranges for each self-diagnosis quantitative indicator, we were able to ensure objectivity and fairness while reflecting the various characteristics of each industry and company size.
If the self-diagnosis evaluation assessed the basic capabilities of the company and R&D, the presentation evaluation focused on judging the excellence of the company's research institute. The on-site evaluation confirmed whether the previous evaluation results were consistent with the actual research site, and the final decision was made in the comprehensive evaluation.
Meanwhile, we plan to actively foster and support excellent corporate research institutes to foster an environment where their technological capabilities and research value can be utilized in the market and to boost their pride.

Last March, regulations were revised to allow for an additional 3% of the evaluation score to be awarded to excellent corporate research institutes when selecting national research and development projects. Furthermore, the company plans to actively consult with relevant ministries to ensure that the value of research institutes can be utilized in technology financing and various certification and purchasing systems.

The points will be reflected in the selection process for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's Excellent Enterprise Research Institute Promotion Project (ATC+), and ongoing discussions are underway to expand the projects reflecting the points.

Companies wishing to apply for designation must submit an application to the Korea Industrial Technology Promotion Association by August 5th. Detailed explanations of application documents, evaluation criteria, etc. are available in the excellent You can receive guidance through the corporate research institute's dedicated website.