NST holds regional innovation forum with Daegu-based government research institutes

Participants pose for a group photo at the 2026 Daegu Government-Funded Research Institutes Regional Innovation Forum. [NST]
Participants pose for a group photo at the 2026 Daegu Government-Funded Research Institutes Regional Innovation Forum. [NST]

Five government-funded research institutes based in Daegu will expand cooperation to strengthen the technological competitiveness of the region's key industries, including future mobility, robotics and system semiconductors.

The National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST) said Thursday it held the "Daegu Government-Funded Research Institutes Regional Innovation Forum" at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology's Daegyeong Technology Commercialization Headquarters, bringing together representatives from local research institutes and regional innovation bodies.

The forum was organized to share research outcomes from regional branches of government-funded institutes and to build a locally driven research and development innovation ecosystem by linking regional industry needs with the institutes' research capabilities.

The gathering drew representatives from five institutes' regional organizations — the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) and the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials — along with officials from the Daegu city government, Daegu Technopark and the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology.

Lim Jong-hee, director of the Science and Technology Promotion Center at Daegu Technopark, introduced a regional issue-solving R&D planning platform and said joint research projects must be identified and cooperation expanded among local governments, industry, academia and research institutes.

Lee Su-ung, head of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology's Daegyeong Technology Commercialization Headquarters, said the region must strengthen its foundation for locally driven technological self-reliance, focusing on key industries such as future mobility, robotics and system semiconductors — the core growth engines of the Daegu-North Gyeongsang Province area — in line with the government's regional innovation policy.

Participants discussed ways to connect the research capabilities of the institutes' regional branches with the needs of local companies and universities, and to raise regional industrial competitiveness by identifying joint R&D projects.

NST Chairman Kim Young-sik said linking regional demand with the research capabilities of government-funded institutes is essential to addressing local challenges. He added that NST would actively support the institutes' regional branches in establishing themselves as key hubs connecting local governments, industry, academia and research institutes to lead regional innovation.

NST said it plans to develop support measures to strengthen the cooperative functions of the institutes' regional branches, based on feedback gathered at the forum.


nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com