The National Science and Technology Advisory Council has opened a venue for discussion aimed at reexamining, from the ground up, the purpose and direction of the national research and development (R&D) that has continued over the past 60 years, and at charting a vision for the 60 years to come. On the afternoon of August 13, at 2 p.m., the Council held the ‘First PACST Science and Technology Forum’ in the Orchid Hall of the Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul.
 [코리안투데이] The First PACST Science and Technology Forum © 장형임 기자 |
The National Science and Technology Advisory Council (chaired by the President, with Vice Chair Lee Kyung-soo) organized the forum jointly with the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI). Amid an environment in which the contest for technological supremacy is intensifying and social challenges are piling up layer upon layer, the aim is to take a fresh look at the rationale and direction behind the nation’s long-standing investment in R&D.
The keynote presentation that opened the forum was delivered by Hong Sung-joo, senior research fellow at STEPI and a deliberation member of the Advisory Council. Under the theme ‘The Historical Path of Korea’s Innovation Ecosystem and Strategies for Future Transition’, Hong traced, period by period, the developmental path that national R&D has followed since Liberation, diagnosed the health of the science and technology innovation ecosystem, and proposed a future national vision for science and technology along with directions for transition.
The ensuing discussion was moderated by Lee Seok-bong, CEO of HelloDD. The panel featured Professor Kim Keun-bae of Jeonbuk National University, Professor Kim So-young of KAIST, and Professor Kwon Ki-seok of Hanbat National University. Following the framing of key issues, the session proceeded in an interactive format of panel discussion and audience questions, offering an in-depth examination of the grounds for pursuing national R&D, the validity of state-level support, and how outcomes should be redefined. The event was attended by private-sector members from the fields of science, technology and economics, researchers from government-funded research institutes under the National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST), figures from industry, and officials from related agencies such as KISTEP.
This forum is the first installment in the four-part ‘PACST Science and Technology Forum’ series running through the end of the year. Where the first forum presented an overview covering the reason for national R&D’s existence and its direction, subsequent sessions will each narrow the discussion to specific themes. The second forum, on September 30, will address ‘R&D Funding Approaches’, examining why and how the state contributes to and invests in research; the third forum, on November 4, will take up the ‘Redefinition of Outcomes’, asking what should be called an achievement; and the fourth forum, on December 16, will focus on the ‘Sustainable Research Environment’. The forums will be held on-site, and recordings are to be released afterward through the Advisory Council’s YouTube channel.
Vice Chair Lee Kyung-soo said, ‘At a time when the environment surrounding national R&D — which has played a pivotal role in driving the development of the nation and society over the years — is changing rapidly, this is the moment to review the purpose and direction of national R&D from the very beginning.’ He added, ‘I hope this forum will serve as a priming water that helps explore ways for national R&D to produce meaningful results.’
Rather than remaining a one-off event, this series, which continues through year-end, carries significance in that it moves beyond past discussions confined to listing achievements and instead invites the public and the research community to jointly reconsider the very direction of national research and development. Given that when the rationale for R&D investment and the criteria for outcomes change, the results return in the form of industrial competitiveness and the technological environment of everyday life, the course of these discussions is also connected to the lives of ordinary citizens.
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