Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City to Host the 2027 Busan R&D Investment Direction Forum

내용

Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Chun Jae-soo, and the Busan Institute of Science and Technology Promotion (BISTEP) announced that they will jointly host the 2027 Busan R&D Investment Direction Forum at 2:00 p.m. today, July 22, in the City Hall Grand Conference Room.

The forum has been organized to share the national R&D investment direction and major policy priorities for 2027 and to gather input from experts in industry, academia, research institutes, and government on the Draft 2027 Busan Metropolitan City R&D Investment Direction, jointly prepared by Busan Metropolitan City and BISTEP.

At the forum, Cho Sung-ho, Director of the Investment Strategy Coordination Center at the Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP), will present the national R&D investment direction. This will be followed by a presentation on the Draft 2027 Busan Metropolitan City R&D Investment Direction by Yoon Ji-eon, Head of the Evaluation and Analysis Division at BISTEP.

An expert panel discussion involving representatives from industry, academia, and research institutes, followed by a question-and-answer session, will explore the proposed investment direction. Participants will also examine institutional coordination measures, including improvements to relevant laws and systems and the advancement of evaluation frameworks.

The Draft 2027 Busan Metropolitan City R&D Investment Direction, which will be the central agenda item of the forum, presents ten investment directions across three strategic areas under the overarching direction of strategic R&D investment focused on prerequisite technologies that will advance Busan as a global maritime capital and drive its AI transformation.

Prerequisite technologies refer to core technologies essential to the transformation of Busan’s strategic industries whose demand for regional demonstration, alignment with national R&D programs, and commercialization potential have been verified.

The first strategic area, “Advancing as a Global Maritime Capital,” focuses on strengthening the competitiveness of future maritime industries by leveraging Busan’s existing strengths in ports, logistics, shipbuilding, and maritime industries. Three investment directions will be proposed: innovation in maritime logistics and mobility, including the Arctic shipping route, smart ports, autonomous navigation, and ship maintenance, repair, and overhaul; the development of emerging maritime industries in fields such as marine biotechnology, maritime data, and polar research; and the clean energy transition involving hydrogen, ammonia, next-generation reactors, power grids, and energy storage.

The second strategic area, “Future Industrial Transformation,” aims to accelerate the digital transformation of Busan’s key industries and create new industries based on artificial intelligence and data. It presents three investment directions: digital innovation in key industries based on industrial artificial intelligence transformation, or AX; the creation of new convergence industries based on artificial intelligence and data; and the expansion of innovation infrastructure for artificial intelligence, data, quantum technologies, and cybersecurity.

The third strategic area, “Restructuring the Growth Framework,” seeks to increase the added value of existing industries and strengthen the competitiveness of future growth industries. Four investment directions will be discussed: increasing the added value of key manufacturing industries and promoting intelligent innovation; enhancing the competitiveness of the power semiconductor and advanced packaging industries; advancing the biomedical industry in areas such as digital health, precision medicine, and radiopharmaceuticals; and expanding the foundations for the regional innovation ecosystem and technology commercialization.

Since 2017, Busan Metropolitan City has been the only local government in Korea to proactively establish annual R&D investment directions and criteria for the following year and use them as official guidelines for the strategic allocation and coordination of its R&D budget.

Busan Metropolitan City and BISTEP develop these R&D investment directions through a comprehensive analysis of Busan’s industrial structure, current R&D investment, national R&D policies, and demand from regional stakeholders. The resulting framework serves as a key standard for improving the efficiency and impact of R&D investment.

Following reviews by the relevant departments, Busan Metropolitan City plans to incorporate expert and field-level input presented at the forum into the final 2027 Busan Metropolitan City R&D Investment Direction and use it as the basis for allocating and coordinating the city’s 2027 R&D budget.

Kim Dong-hyun, Director-General of the Future Technology Strategy Bureau, said, “These R&D investment directions and criteria will serve as a milestone for identifying Busan’s future growth engines and advancing its industrial ecosystem.”

“Through this forum, we will bring together local government, industry, academia, and research institutions and concentrate our policy capabilities on ensuring that R&D investment outcomes lead directly to meaningful job creation, regional economic revitalization, and ultimately a better quality of life for Busan’s residents,” he added.