For 4th Industrial Revolution
In regard to research and development (R&D) in the scientific technology and information and communications technology (ICT) areas, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) will significantly increase the proportion of free contests that allow researchers to choose a research topic his own and submit an application this year. It is also expanding investment in the software sector, the core foundation of the fourth Industrial Revolution, including artificial intelligence (AI).
The MSIP confirmed and released the “2017 comprehensive R&D Implementation plan for scientific technology and ICT sector” worth a total of 4.13 trillion won (US$3.43 billion) on January 1. The plan excludes research and operating costs of the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST) and the NST-funded research institutes among the MSIP’s total R&D budgets of 6.77 trillion won (US$5.62 billion), and includes detailed operation plans for the scientific technology sector of 3.14 trillion won (US$2.61 billion) and the ICT sector of 989.6 billion won (US$821.24 million).
The heart of the MSIP’s R&D plan this year is to proactively cope with the fourth Industrial Revolution era through creative R&D and strategically focus on the investment in technologies that can prepare for the fourth Industrial Revolution.
In its bid to create a creative and challenging research climate, the MSIP has decided to increase the budgets for the basic research of scientific technology from 768 billion won (US$637.34 million) last year to 886.6 billion won (US$735.77 million) this year. For new ICT projects, it has also expanded the proportion of free contests that enable researchers to choose a research topic his own from 43.5 percent last year to 60 percent this year.
For national research projects for source technology development, the ministry has also decided to increase the proportion of “combination planning” that the government selects strategic research areas and guarantee autonomous and creative studies for researchers. Accordingly, the proportion of combination planning in new source technology development projects will grow from 20.8 percent last year to 44.6 percent this year in terms of project number and from 13.8 percent to 41.9 percent in terms of budgets.
In addition, the MSIP plans to increase the number of “software-centered universities” from 14 last year to 20 this year in order to actively deal with “Intelligence Society” and “the fourth Industrial Revolution.”