SMEs Ministry, Finance Ministry, trade ministry, IP office to run cross-ministry guide through Oct. 19
63 public institutions, including Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Korea KPS, covered
Application procedures and technology databases to be consolidated for easier SME access
The government will transfer 3,563 technologies held by public institutions but left unused to small and medium-sized enterprises free of charge or at minimal cost, while consolidating fragmented application procedures and technology databases scattered across ministries.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Korea Intellectual Property Office said Monday they will run a "cross-ministry integrated guide to free technology transfers" from Monday through Oct. 19, covering unused technologies held by 63 public institutions, including Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Korea KPS. The initiative covers a total of 3,563 technologies that domestic companies can receive free of charge or at low cost to develop products and services and pursue commercialization.
Until now, each ministry ran its own technology transfer program on a different schedule, required different application documents, and listed technology information on separate platforms — forcing companies to search institution by institution to find what they needed.
Under the new integrated guide, companies will be able to view all participating ministries' free technology transfer programs in one place by visiting any of the operating platforms — the National Intellectual Property Trading Platform, the NTB Technology Bank, or Smart TechBridge.
Key programs include the SMEs Ministry's "Technology Transfer Supporters" and "Private Joint Brokerage Support Project," the Finance Ministry's "Unused Patent Sharing," and the trade ministry's "Technology Sharing." The ministries plan to link their technology and patent databases and streamline application documents.
The initiative focuses on improving the distribution structure so companies can more easily find technologies that have been hard to locate. Previously, transfers of unused public-institution patents were handled through public technology trading agencies, dedicated departments at public institutions, and technology licensing offices at government-funded research institutes.
The government also plans to expand incentives for technology-supplying institutions based on their free transfer track record. The aim is to encourage institutions holding technologies to take a more active role in transfers while lowering the application burden on companies to raise the actual commercialization rate.
"Small and medium-sized enterprises will now be able to check free technology transfer programs spread across ministries at a glance," said Hwang Young-ho, director general for technology innovation policy at the SMEs Ministry. "We will continue to consult with related ministries on ways to ensure that excellent public technologies lead to new business models and commercialization outcomes for small businesses."
hong@heraldcorp.com
