Development of wearable materials, components, and platform technologies... Establishment of a commercialization support center

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Minister Yoon Sang-jik) and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (Minister Choi Yang-hee) are jointly launching the 'Wearable Smart Device Project,' a representative field of the Future Growth Engine and Industrial Engine Project.

This project is scheduled to be implemented over five years from 2016 to 2020 with a total scale of 127 billion won. It plans to invest 111 billion won in the development of wearable materials, components, and platform technologies, and 16 billion won in the establishment of a commercialization support center for commercialization.

Currently, the wearable market is in its early stages of formation, but given the acceleration of related research and development and the trend of global companies successively launching new products, it is predicted that a full-scale market will be formed as early as around 2016.

Currently, the majority of applications involve providing information such as text messages, emails, and schedules in conjunction with medical devices that check users' health status and smartphones. However, as applications expand to include clothing, equipment, and lifestyle/cultural products based on communication between objects that are needed in high-risk environments such as national defense and firefighting, the global market size is expected to grow even further.

Meanwhile, if we leverage our competitive strengths in electrical, electronic, and information technology (IT), we can secure a leading position in the market within a short period, and not only in the IT sector but also in medical, defense, and middIt is also expected to lead to the advancement and sophistication of related industries such as textiles.

Accordingly, the two ministries have been seeking concrete measures to foster the industry, such as applying for a preliminary feasibility study in the first half of 2014, establishing the 'Industrial Engine Project, Comprehensive Action Plan for Future Growth Engines' which includes the wearable sector in April 2015, and jointly announcing the 'K-ICT Smart Device Development Plan' in September 2015.

Meanwhile, as developed countries such as the United States, Japan, and Europe are making all-out efforts to secure technology, there have been concerns that if the timing of technology development is delayed, technological dependence on developed countries will intensify and the growth foundation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the electronics, information, and information and communication technology (ICT) sectors will collapse. Furthermore, due to the nature of the information technology (IT) industry, if initial core technologies are not secured preemptively, continuous expansion of entry barriers is expected, which could make it difficult for our companies to enter the global market in the future.

Both ministries announced that they would foster this project as a flagship collaborative initiative between the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, emphasizing that they would actively pursue various forms of support, including not only technology development but also workforce training and corporate assistance.