Industrial Core Technology Development Project invests 112.3 billion won in 194 new projects
Securing mid to long-term industrial technology research and development (R&D) innovation capabilities

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the 2016 new support plan for the Industrial Core Technology Development Project, Global Specialized Technology Development Project, and Excellence Technology Research Center Project.

The total 2016 project budget for the Industrial Core Technology Development Project is 579.6 billion won, and the Global Specialized Technology Development Project is 118.9 billion won. Finally, the Excellence Technology Research Center Project has a total 2016 project budget of 75.2 billion won.

Of the 579.6 billion won support budget for the Industrial Core Technology Development Project, the new support announcement targets are 194 projects with a total of 112.3 billion won in the creative industry, materials and components industry, and system industry sectors, with a support period of 3 to 5 years depending on project characteristics. Based on the call format, 89 designated item projects receive 34.7 billion won, and 105 designated call projects receive 77.6 billion won.

As detailed projects, a total of 33 projects and 22.55 billion won will be allocated to the creative industry fields related to bio, nano convergence, knowledge services, and engineering.

In the materials and components industry fields including metal materials, chemical process materials, ceramics, textiles and apparel, public display, advanced foundational technology, and leading industry information technology (IT) convergence, a total of 59 projects will receive 26.77 billion won, and in the system industry fields including production systems (industrial machinery, production equipment), robots, green cars, smart cars, shipbuilding, plant engineering, research equipment, and medical devices, a total of 102 projects will receive 62.94 billion won.

Global Specialized Technology Development Project invests 28.6 billion won, supporting core technology development for domestic companies

Of the 118.9 billion won support budget for the Global Specialized Technology Development Project, the new support announcement targets are 5 detailed projects in "core technology development for companies with excellent brain capacity, clean production-based specialized technology development, advanced medical device development support, equipment-linked 3D printing materials, and collaborative technology development between textile living streams" with a total of 28.63 billion won, and the support scale is 200-1,000 million won annually per project for 3 years or more.

Designated item projects will support 17.79 billion won for a total of 36 projects in 4 detailed projects excluding brain capacity excellent specialized technology development, while free proposal projects plan to provide 10.84 billion won support to 4 detailed projects excluding equipment-linked 3D printing materials.

Excellence Technology Research Center Project invests 25 billion won, promoting world-class product development and supporting cultivation of company-affiliated research institutes

The Excellence Technology Research Center Project supports free proposal projects and plans to select approximately 50 (provisional) company-affiliated research institutes from excellent small and medium-sized enterprises and provide 25 billion won in support.
220 billion won will be provided to general ATC projects, and 3 billion won will be allocated to global convergence ATC projects that support joint research between overseas R&D centers or foreign engineering universities and domestic small and medium-sized enterprises.

To select and support R&D project implementers early and secure sufficient evaluation periods to ensure substantive evaluation, new project announcements were made early in 2015, the year before implementation ('15 announcement date: January 6 for industrial core and global projects). Furthermore, to enable companies to exercise maximum autonomy and creativity in research and development, the proportion of free proposal and designated item project budgets is being expanded ('15 Ministry of Trade R&D 45% (provisional) → 2017 target 50%), and through restructuring the Ministry of Trade R&D budget category structure, the detailed projects of the Global Specialized Technology Development Project have been systematized to align with major industrial sectors (creative + system global + materials and components).

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Assessment and Planning plan to provide various support including briefing sessions for applicants wishing to participate in the project. Briefing sessions will be held traveling to major cities and provinces to provide guidance on support methods, procedures, and regulations related to project participation.