Selection and Announcement of the Top 10 Promising Testing and Certification Services of the Year

The government is selecting promising future testing and certification services and providing support for commercialization to accelerate the market launch of new products such as wireless charging, 3D printers, and smart wearable devices.

Unlike last year, this year's selection of promising services introduced voting among employees and customers of testing and certification institutions to enhance objectivity, and focused on services that can be commercialized in a short period of time.

Seven items, including the evaluation of bio-convergence materials that received low scores in commercialization readiness, were excluded, and a total of 10 promising testing and certification services were finally selected, including the newly selected evaluation of packaging logistics safety due to the increase in e-commerce.

  ▲ Test the biocompatibility and physical strength in real-world usage environments of a prosthetic leg produced using a 3D printer.

The government's initiative to identify promising testing and certification services and encourage their commercialization is intended not only to support the market launch of new products but also to foster testing and certification as a high-value-added service industry.

According to the roadmap, most of the top 10 promising services are expected to be commercialized by 2018, and by 2020, the market size is expected to reach approximately 200 billion won and create employment for about 2,700 people.

Among the top 10 promising services, automotive functional safety evaluation and small-capacity wireless charging certification services were the first to be commercialized last year. The automotive functional safety evaluation is significant in that it marks the first entry of a domestic testing and certification institution into a market previously monopolized by foreign organizations. This service evaluates the safety of hardware and software in automotive electronic control systems based on the international standard (ISO 26262), and was provided to five companies last year.
▲ Tests on the human health risks of wrist-worn smartwatches and communication performance under real-life usage conditions.

▲ Top 10 Promising Testing and Certification Services of 2016

Wireless charging certification services for small electronic devices, such as smartphones, are expected to contribute to shortening the new product development period for companies. By establishing the nation's first WPC (Wireless Power Consortium) accredited testing laboratory in December 2015, the wireless charging certification services that companies previously obtained overseas are now being provided domestically. Yoon Jong-yeon, Director General of the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS), stated, "In order to turn new industries such as 3D printing and wearable smart devices into export engines even under challenging export conditions, the testing and certification industry must take a step ahead by providing testing and certification services."

The government has also decided to actively support testing and certification institutions in expanding investment in the commercialization of promising services, including announcing the 'Support Project for the Industrialization of Testing and Certification Services' next month.