The Ministry of Science and ICT deliberated at the National Science and Technology Advisory Council on the 28th of last month. It is a data that reveals where the R & D budget of 24.7 trillion won will be used according to the principle.

It is the first R & D budget of the Yoon Seok-yeol government. The priority of the science and technology policy pursued by the new government is reflected. There is a noticeable expression in the next year’s budget distribution adjustment with this meaning. It is ‘ mission-oriented R & D ‘.

Next year, the goal of the R & D budget allocation is the 2030 Leading Country (G5) with the future leading and mission-oriented R & D. The expression ‘mission-oriented R & D’ is attached to the door. The Ministry of Science and Technology cited one of the differences in the government’s major R & D budget adjustments, ‘strengthening mission-oriented R & D to solve national social problems’.

■ What is the mission-oriented R & D?

Mission-oriented R & D means setting a ‘mission’ ** to solve the problems of the country and society, and focuses on research and development planning and execution on the achievement of this mission.

The European Union recently began to reflect in domestic policies under the influence of the Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy.

The mission here is The difficulty of and the difficulty of the difficulty is solved. Examples include climate change, carbon neutral, dementia, nuclear waste management, and fine dust.

According to a report by the Institute of Science and Technology Policy (STEPI), according to a report from the ‘Mission-oriented Innovation Policy’, the social problem-solving research and development policy report is at the core of innovation policies. Theory and policy.

It is an approach to suggest ‘what should be done’ or to solve the problem to solve the task, and to foster existing technologies and industries to implement it, and to solve social problems and create new growth engines.

Nowadays, the EU’s mission-type innovation policy is different from the mission-oriented policy that first appeared in the United States in the 1960s. At the time, the United States promoted the Moon-shot project, which spends people on the moon, and landed the manned spaceship Apollo 11 in the 1969 moon.

At this time, the ‘mission’ is a achievement of a huge scientific task that seems difficult to achieve. The government presented its goals and organized the capacity of government agencies, as well as related companies and academics. An internet research that started with the military purpose of the US army is a similar example.

Although the personality of the ‘mission’ with Europe and the US policy is slightly different, the government can see the commonalities that the government is trying to bring down the collaboration between various sectors to solve the ‘challenge’ with social necessity.

■ Our time ‘challenge’ to solve the mission-oriented R & D

In the background of mission-oriented R & D, the problem of modern society is extremely complicated, and many stakeholders are intertwined and cannot be easily solved.

Existing science and technology policies have a premise that basic science research, which follows scientists’ curiosity, naturally contributes to social problems. However, with the development of science and technology, problems such as climate change and polarization become more serious.

These modern challenges are closely related to other fields such as the industry, civil society, government and international community as well as the scientific community. In order to solve the problem, we need to discuss and cooperate with each other with various fields. This is why the recent mission-oriented and intensive policy recommends participation in various areas, including ** civil society from the beginning of the research.

In addition, the government needs to be more flexible and competent to induce collaboration by encouraging these various areas and to attract the desired results. In order to do this, the government also needs to be transformed into an organization that can be more entrepreneurial and practiced.

The government must create a new market to solve the challenges that are focused and faced with the passive role that supports the market failure and corrects the failure of the market.

The mission-oriented policy is also an attempt to justify the government’s R & D budget and launch a policy that can be felt by the people. As the recent competition for technology hegemony has increased, the importance of securing core strategic technologies has increased, the reason for mission-based R & D is attracting attention. The mission also suggests the direction of ‘selection and concentration’ of R & D budget.

Joo Young-chang, head of the Ministry of Science and Technology Innovation Division, the Ministry of Science and Technology Innovation Division, said in a pre-briefing before the announcement of the 2023 National R & D Project Budget Form. I said. He said, In the case of carbon neutrality, the national greenhouse reduction target (NDC) is given from the outside, he said..

■ National feeling, super gap… Yun government mission-oriented R & D policy direction

The Yoon Seok-yeol government plans to strengthen the mission-oriented R & D, which systematizes the entire R & D management such as policy, investment and evaluation to solve problems at national and social levels such as carbon neutral.

The goal is to create a achievement that the people feel by supporting the Green War (GX) and Digital Conversion (DX) for Carbon Neutral . It also invests in research and development to create a society where the people can live with confidence, to respond to disasters, security and firefighting, to respond to infectious diseases, and to support social vulnerable people.

Another axis of the new government’s policy policy, such as semiconductors, next-generation nuclear power plants, and advanced bios, is expected to emphasize mission directions in the field of strategic strategic technology **. Sohn Byung-ho, head of the Korea Science and Technology Planning and Evaluation Institute (KISTEP), said at the Symposium of the Korea Science and Technology Annual Competition on the 29th of last month, The government knows that it is going to give a clear mission for each strategic technology based on the gap between the supervision and replacement price..

Nam Ki-tae, a professor of materials engineering at Seoul National University, who worked at the President’s Acquisition Committee, said, The mission-oriented R & D has improved the physical strength of basic science.

The Ministry of Science and Technology, along with the ‘mission-oriented R & D’, as well as the principle of adjusting the new government’s major R & D budget, is also related to the mission. Mission-oriented R & D is important in that ‘choice and concentration’ is important in that it is necessary to set key missions among various tasks, and ‘public-private cooperation’ is emphasized in that various sectors are together. In addition, since the mission of complex personality is the first priority rather than the division of business by ministries, ‘integrated budget adjustment’ that encompasses the ministry is needed.

■ If the Buddha’s wall is blocked and the conflict is not adjusted, it is difficult to expect a performance

Some voices point out the limitations of mission-oriented R & D. In the end, the government is concerned that the issue of bureaucratic inefficiency will be reproduced by the involvement of R & D.

As social interests are complicated and the R & D paradigm changes from pursuit type to leading type, there is also a prospect that it is difficult to reach an agreement on what tasks that should be prioritized. The problem of government departments with high partitions is also a problem. Ryu Young-soo, head of the KISTEP Business Coordination Division, said, In the current situation of R & D and budgeting according to the function of the ministry, we cannot be sure whether the mission of each ministry is consistent with the national priority. I said.

In fact, the mission-oriented personality has been reflected in Korea’s science and technology policy. Since the 2010s, the necessity of science and technology to solve social problems has begun to be discussed. In 2018, the Second Science and Technology-based Social Problem Resolution Plan is linked to science and technology and social innovation policies for the creation of an innovation ecosystem to solve social problems, solving local problems, national balanced development, and job creation. It is included.

If you go backwards, since the 1960s, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), the establishment of KAIST, and the policy stance that emphasizes the economic role of science and technology are all in mind.

If the existing policy is close to the task of the pursuit of the pursuit and the implementation of the science system, now flexibly flexibly in the tasks that are more difficult, such as adjustment of social interests and the global security environment. The ability to respond and willingness to change is important.

Professor Nam Ki-tae said, We need to enact special laws for national strategic technology to foster megatech for the success of mission-oriented R & D, and to promote preliminary feasibility study flexibility and installation of strategic technology development funds. We need to support collaboration platforms that enable originality, digital platforms to spread performance, global collaboration and support for the best researchers.