This study reviews technological innovation to examine science, technology, and innovation (STI) policies and strategies for academy-industry cooperation for innovation and entrepreneurship in Daejeon. STI policy in Daejeon is based on a vision that harmonizes regional and national policies at a regional level, fostering of a key innovation cluster and strategic industries in Daejeon, and a new growth engine of converging industries such as information technology (IT), biotechnology (BT), and nanotechnology (NT). This paper proposes the following: First, considering the harmony of national and regional policies, STI policy should be promoted at the regional level considering venture and SMEs. Second, we recommend nurturing a global innovation cluster as part of a regional STI and venture ecosystem. This will support the region of Daejeon as the heart of a global innovation cluster by having Daedeok Innopolis and the International Science and Business Belt as its two major axes. Third, we recommend strengthening academy-industry cooperation in Sejong and other regions.
본 연구에서는 대전의 혁신과 창업을 위한 과학기술정책과 산학협력방안에 대해서 고찰한다. 이를 위하여 대전의 기술혁신시스템에 대해서 고찰하였다. 대전의 과학기술시스템은 지역과 중앙의 과학기술혁신거버넌스가 조화를 이루고 있다. 정부출연연구소, 민간연구소, 지역의 벤처/중소기업, 대학 및 관련지원기관인 대전테크노파크, 대전벤처협회 등 지원기관이 구축되어있다. 이를 기반으로 한 혁신클러스터로서 ‘대덕연구개발특구’와 새로운 기초과학 중심의 혁신클러스터인 국제과학비즈니스벨트가 있다. 대전의 과학기술정책은 지역수준에서 중앙과 지역정책의 조화를 이루는 과학기술정책의 비전을 바탕으로 주요 혁신클러스터 육성, 대전지역의 전략산업육성, 신선장동력으로 IT, BT, NT 융복합 산업의 육성, 벤처기업의 단계별 육성이다. 이러한 과학기술정책의 기본 방향 하에 대전지역의 혁신과 창업을 위한 과학기술정책과 산학협력활성화 전략을 고찰하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 중앙과 지역의 조화를 고려하여 지역수준의 예측을 기반으로 과학기술정책 추진하는 것이다. 둘째, 지역과학기술 및 벤처생태계를 고려한 글로벌 혁신클러스터 육성이다. 대전지역을 대덕연구개발특구이외에 국제과학비즈니스벨트를 양대축으로 하여 세계적인 혁신클러스터의 중심으로 육성하는 것이다. 셋째, 세종시 및 수도권 등 광역권 산학협력 강화 추진하는 것이다.
In the current unstable competitive conditions, regional innovation systems and innovation clusters are receiving attention as units of national competitiveness(Lee, 2008). Although industry-level and innovation system analyses at the national level can be conducted to strengthen national competitiveness, an innovation cluster, which facilitates an examination at the regional level, is being reviewed as a new unit of competitiveness(Lee, 2008). Regional innovation clusters such as Silicon Valley and Research Triangle Park in the United States, Oulu Technopolis in Finland, and Biopolis in Singapore are emerging as new competitive alternatives(Shin, Lee, Nam, Choi and Choi, 2006),
As innovation clusters are considered an important alternative at the regional level, such clusters, along with regional STI(Science, Technology, Innovation) policy, are being promoted in each country. In other words, innovation cluster policy and STI promotion policy have a very high correlation at the regional level(Lee, 2008). Along with nurturing innovation clusters to give a region a competitive edge, hard and soft STI policies at the regional level such as a technological development project for fostering regional industries and a policy for networking inside and outside regional strategic industries are being promoted(Lee, 2008).
Today, STI policy suited to the regional level is being promoted by each local government in Korea. Each local government, such as Gyeonggi-do, Daejeon, and Jeonbuk, established institutes exclusively for STI to promote regional STI policy suited to regional conditions. However, a slight difference in regional conditions exists in each region. In Gyeonggi-do, Gyeonggi Institute of Science and Technology Promotion was established to promote science and technology and foster strategic industries; Gyeonggi techno-park plays a role in nurturing technology in the region and related industries and supporting venture businesses(GSTEP, 2010). In Daejeon, Daedeok Innopolis Foundation nurtures Daedeok Innopolis and Daejeon techno-park, while institutes fostering related regional industries promote regional strategic industries and support venture businesses(Daejeon TP, 2012). Each local government has built an autochthonic, indigenous STI ecosystem suited to regional conditions by linking with national regional development policy.
Of all the regions, "Daejeon region" has an unusual meaning. "Region" was added to Daejeon to highlight the meaning of "region" as a unit of competitiveness. Most government-funded research institutes of Korea are located in the Yuseong district of Daejeon; promoting regional STI policy at such a national level is slightly different from promoting it in other regions. The meaning of regional STI policy in other regions consist of nurturing a regional innovation cluster and promoting a technological development project for regional strategic industry and policy to vitalize academy-industry cooperation through networking between strategic industries and innovation agents(Lee, 2008). However, STI policy in Daejeon should consider another factor, national STI policy, in addition to STI policy at the regional level. The region of Daejeon is a place for realizing the national STI policy of Korea. Because national STI planning is conducted there, regional STI policy suited to regional conditions together with regional support needs to be promoted in order for the national STI infrastructure to be managed effectively and efficiently.
Accordingly, examining the STI policy in Daejeon may seem somewhat complex compared to examining it in other regions. This is because as national STI policy and regional STI policy mix and ostensibly overlap, STI policy can be seen as ambiguous, allowing one to question whether it is a national policy or a regional policy.
For example, while the innovation cluster policy for Gwanggyo Technovalley and Pangyo Technovalley in Gyeonggi-do is fostered by a local government, this government even has ownership of the nurturing of an innovation cluster. By fostering such an innovation cluster, related regional STI policy is promoted(GSTEP, 2010).
However, Daedeok Innopolis, the representative innovation cluster in Daejeon is based on national government-funded research institutes that have been founded since 1973; its concept is to create innovation by partnering with private research institutes, venture businesses, and universities in the region(DIVA, 2013). It has developed an innovation cluster concept for which it is seeking national and regional development at the same time as an organic link is forming between national infrastructure and innovation agents in the region. Along with this activity, the International Science and Business Belt currently is being advanced as a new growth engine for Korea(MSIP, 2013). The Science Belt is being promoted as a concept to win a Nobel Prize through basic science promotion beyond the creation of Korea's next generation of growth engine and to explore new science and technology capabilities(MSIP, 2013).
In this study, the International Science and Business Belt is defined as a new type of innovation cluster focused on basic science. As such, the International Science and Business Belt involves mixed national and regional concepts and is expected to be promoted with Daejeon as a base.
It is difficult to examine the STI policy in Daejeon only at the regional level, unlike that in other regions. While national and regional perspectives need to be understood simultaneously, they need to be reinterpreted and examined from a regional perspective. In other words, Daedeok Innopolis or the International Science and Business Belt are today promoted by the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning; such important innovation cluster policy, on which the fortunes of the nation depend, cannot be achieved without a regional STI policy. One reason is that policy for fostering an innovation cluster relies heavily on geographic location policy and creates innovation through organic links with related regional infrastructure.(Lee, 2008).
Another reason is that the innovation cluster policy cannot be examined in isolation from regional strategic industry policy, and the promotion of venture businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region from regional STI policy and regional industry policy perspectives needs to be organically linked with the cluster policy to effectively promote businesses in the region.
This study considers the peculiar conditions of the region of Daejeon, and examines the STI policy and academy-industry cooperation in Daejeon for venture and SMEs from a regional perspective. To this end, it analyzes the STI infrastructure and policy governance in Daejeon. Then, it concretely examines the STI policy in Daejeon. Innovation clusters in Daejeon, Daedeok Innopolis, and the International Science and Business Belt are explored, and then technological development projects in Daejeon and policies to foster regional venture businesses and academy-industry cooperation are examined. Next, strategies for the STI policy in Daejeon and academy-industry cooperation are identified.
2.1 Regional Innovation System and Innovation Cluster
Today, regional technological innovation systems are receiving attention as subsystems of a national innovation system, as is an emphasis on the importance of establishing science and technology systems at the regional level(Lee, 2008). As the national innovation system takes a very inclusive approach at the national level, it can be difficult to include regional needs. However, a regional innovation system can be promoted by considering a close link with the development direction of regional industry since the latter was planned(Cooke, Uranga, Etxebarria, 1997). In order to make the regional innovation system effective, the demand-side policy meeting the development trend of regional industry and demand is more effective than supply-side policy creating new business through research development (R&D)(Lee, 2008; Cooke, Uranga, Etxebarria, 1997). Regional STI policy should aim to increase competitiveness of venture businesses/SMEs through strengthening the capacity of the regional innovation system, thus enhancing local residents' quality of life.
An innovation cluster is the center of such a regional innovation system(Lee, 2008; Cooke, Uranga and Etxebarria, 1997; Hertog et al., 2001; Polt, 2002). An innovation cluster concentrates innovation agents related to "innovation" in a particular region; innovation activities occur intensively, centering on the agents and a region having a comparative advantage over other regions in terms of innovative competitiveness, thereby standing out in value-added creation(Hertog et al., 2001; Polt, 2002; Porter, 1998). Moreover, an innovation cluster based on an organic link between innovation agents concentrated in a particular region and a value chain of a particular industry is interdependent on innovation agents participating in the process of technological innovation. As a way to produce synergy, it can be considered a concept that includes processes ranging from learning the network of academy-industry cooperation to commercialization(Porter, 1998).
When such a technological innovation cluster is built, companies can benefit from acquiring knowledge needed for technological innovation(Hertog et al., 2001; Polt, 2002).
Today, technological innovation clusters are receiving attention at the national policy level because businesses, universities, and research institutes are agglomerated within an innovation cluster, and such a cluster creates economies of scale as well as a snowball effect, thereby being a source of national competitiveness(Lee, 2008; Hertog et al., 2001; Polt, 2002).
Moreover, if the innovation cluster policy succeeds, it should have a significant impact on other policies, as location policy, labor policy, and industrial policy can be coordinated(Lee, 2008).
2.2 Innovation Cluster and Academy-Industry Cooperation
Various innovation agents of academy-industry cooperation exist within an innovation cluster; innovation can be created when such innovation agents are linked organically(Hertog et al., 2001; Polt, 2002; Porter, 1998). This is because when heterogeneous innovation agents are connected to each other, diversity is achieved and new ideas and innovation are created(Granovetter, 1973).
Thus, networking within academy-industry cooperation plays a very important role for creating innovation and, accordingly, efforts are being made to promote it. In other words, innovation network policy can be a policy supporting formation and development of innovation networks in various forms. Supporting joint academy-industry research can be a representative policy for innovation networks(Lee, 2008).
Under a regional innovation system, a policy for academy-industry cooperation that actively supports and promotes networking is needed(Cooke, Uranga, Etxebarria, 1997).
Types of academy-industry cooperation vary by purpose. In other words, purposes of academy-industry cooperation can be divided into joint research, technological development, educational training, production support, technology transfer, people exchange, and information exchange(Lee, 2008). Such academy-industry cooperation appears in the form of research development, joint laboratory operation, spin-offs, and licensing; much networking is required to make it possible(Lee, 2008; Choi, Hong, Jang and Bae, 2012; Kim and Choi, 2014). Academy-industry cooperation is formed by various sub-network activities; visible cooperation activities are only the tip of the iceberg compared to actual networking activities(Lee, 2008; Polt, 2002).
Along with the increasing organic relevance of academy-industry cooperation within an innovation cluster, an innovation cluster can be divided into a pre-development cluster formation stage, growth stage, expansion stage, and adjustment stage(SRI, 1999; Sadik, 2001). In the early stage of innovation cluster formation, academy-industry cooperation is loose. In the expansion stage, the academy-industry network relationship becomes complex and speed of networking increases dramatically(SRI International, 1999; Sadik, 2001).
Along with the regional innovation system (the innovation cluster and its development examined earlier), STI policy at the regional level should be examined in light of academy-industry cooperation between innovation agents. Thus, STI policy promoted in many local governments consists of establishment of a regional innovation cluster, a technological development project at the regional level for academy-industry cooperation, and networking policy.
Ⅲ. TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION SYSTEM IN DAEJEON
Before the understanding of backgrounds of STI Policy and industry-academia cooperation for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, we examined the current status and governance of Innovation activities in Daejeon.
Firstly, the 2011 budget for research development project in Daejeon is KRW 5.57 trillion, which is the third largest amount after Gyeonggi and Seoul. Of 16 cities, the regions with the largest R&D expenditures in 2011 were the region of Gyeonggi with KRW 20.8468 trillion, Seoul with KRW 9.2313 trillion, then Daejeon with KRW 5.57 trillion and Chungcheong with KRW 2.9427 trillion(KISTEP, 2011; 2012).
Secondly, in particular, of the national R&D project budget of KRW 14.1793 trillion, KRW 4103.7 billion, or nearly 29.0%, was invested in Daejeon. This is the nation's largest investment, greater than KRW 3571.4 billion in Seoul and KRW 2194.1 billion in Gyeonggi(KISTEP, 2011, 2012).
Thirdly, when R&D characteristics in Daejeon, which is led by public research institutes, are examined, the portion of the 2010 R&D budget for the region of Daejeon by research agent is 56.9% for public research institutes, 35.6% for businesses, and 7.5% for universities, leading R&D in Daejeon to be classified as public research institute-led R&D. Finally, The majority of the R&D institution is situated in Yuseong-gu, north-west part of the Daejeon. There situated the Deadeok Innopolis, the largest innovation cluster in Korea.
3.2 Comparison between the Daejeon and Other STI environments
For the easy understanding of STI Policy and industry-academia cooperation for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Daejeon region, we have to compare Deajeon with the Gyeonggi Province. Of 16 cities, the regions with the largest R&D expenditures in 2011 were the region of Gyeonggi with KRW 20.8468 trillion, Seoul with KRW 9.2313 trillion, then Daejeon with KRW 5.57 trillion(KISTEP, 2011, 2012). Gyeonggi Province has the highest R&D expenditure and the best corporate R&D activities occurs in the region. That means approximately 40% R&D investment, 30% R&D organization and 30% R&D manpower situated in Gyeonggi province. Compared to Daejeon region, distinctive R&D investment of Gyeonggi province are as follows; Firstly, Corporate R&D investment is higher than those of the university and public research institutes, in Deajeon, vice versa. Secondly, Corporate R&D is the highest in Korea, however, the majority of SMEs do not invest in R&D. SMES are more than 7 times in number, but less than 1/10 in R&D investment. STI environment of Gyeonggi is firm oriented(GSTEP, 2010). In contrast, Daejeon is public research institutes oriented like figure 5. But, for the development of Deadeok Innopolis, the largest innovation cluster in Korea, in addition to public research institutes, industry-academy cooperation among the venture/SMEs and University is needed. In this reason, through the industry-academia cooperation among the innovation actors, innovation and entrepreneurship should be emphasized.
3.3 Review of Governance of Innovation Activities in Daejeon
Before examining STI policy in Daejeon, innovation agents in Daejeon must be reviewed macroscopically and in detail. Daedeok Innopolis, which is at the heart of technological innovation in Daejeon, should be examined first. The total amount of R&D expenditures in Daedeok Innopolis has been steadily rising since 2005. Total 2011 R&D expenditures of institutes that moved there were KRW 6.8172 trillion, comprising self-financed R&D expenditures of KRW 2.9123 trillion and externally financed R&D expenditures of KRW 3.9049 trillion. Of the 6T fields, ET (environmental technology) had the highest share, as it accounted for 21.7% of total R&D expenditure by institutes within Innopolis, followed by IT (17.1%) and BT (8.2%)(Daejeon TP, 2012; DMC 2013; DIVA, 2013, Daedeok Innopolis Development, 2015).
The number of institutes that moved into Innopolis has increased annually. In 2011, 1,399 institutes, including government-funded research institutes, government and national institutes, educational institutes, public institutes, businesses, and other non-profit corporations, moved in. In 2011, the number of the moved-in businesses associated with these totaled 1,306, and the number of SMEs totaled 1,223, accounting for 93.6% of the whole. When explored according to business type, we find 43 businesses listed on a stock exchange and 30 KOSDAQ-listed businesses, and 610 venture businesses and 420 Innobiz-certified businesses in existence in 2011(Daejeon TP, 2012; DMC 2013; DIVA, 2013, Daedeok Innopolis Development, 2015).
Amid such R&D activities, arrangement of academy-industry cooperation and establishment of Daedeok Innopolis in Daejeon, Daejeon Metropolitan City, began to nurture regional strategic industries after 2002 according to the phase 1 project promotion of nine regions of Project for Regional Strategic Industries (4+9 projects)(Daejeon TP, 2012; DMC 2013; DIVA, 2013, Daedeok Innopolis Development, 2015). The first phase project created biotechnology centers, a high-frequency center, and a robot center; the second phase project selected wireless convergence devices, biomedicine, services/defense robots, and nano/chemical materials. These were chosen as specialized fields of four strategic industries and are now supported. A center specializing in the field of nano/chemical materials, which was not included in the first phase, was established in the second phase. Support services for businesses such as technology support, marketing, and work force were established and are being operated.
By focusing on four strategic industries of Daejeon-information technology, biotechnology, mechatronics, and advanced components and materials-institutes fostering and supporting R&D in Daejeon are ready to provide support as they plan and promote the regional R&D projects in the Daejeon techno-park, Daedeok Innopolis Foundation, Daejeon Business Agency, Chungcheong Leading Industry Office, and many business incubators(Daejeon TP, 2012; DMC 2013; DIVA, 2013, Daedeok Innopolis Development, 2015).
Ⅳ. STI POLICY AND INDUSTRY ACADEMIA COOPERATION FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN DAEJEON
In this study STI Policy and industry-academia cooperation for Innovation and Entrepreneurship was deeply analyzed. From the vision and status of STI Policy in Daejeon, technology development and Venture/SMEs support to Innovation cluster was scrutinized. Case analysis was done as follows; vision and status of STI Policy, Fostering strategic industries, Step-by-Step support for venture businesses/SMEs, Innovation Clusters in Daejeon.
