Free Technology Transfer Information ‘At a Glance’...Interministerial Guidance Consolidated

[Financial News] The government is consolidating channels for the free transfer of public-sector technologies that had been scattered across different ministries. After businesses repeatedly pointed out that small and medium-sized enterprises found it difficult to determine where to look for technologies and which technologies to seek, despite public institutions holding excellent technologies, the government decided to integrate technology information and application procedures to improve accessibility.
According to the government on the 7th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Intellectual Property are pursuing unified interministerial guidance by October 19 on providing technologies held by public institutions to small and medium-sized enterprises free of charge.
Until now, application periods and required documents for free technology-transfer programs varied by ministry, while technology information was scattered across individual programs. As a result, small and medium-sized enterprises seeking technologies had to check one by one which program could be used to receive the technology, even after finding what they needed.
The government will post the unified guidance simultaneously on the websites of all operating institutions, allowing companies to check all ministries’ free technology-transfer programs at once, regardless of which website they visit.
The programs covered include the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ Technology Transaction Supporters and Private Joint Brokerage Support Program, the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s Unused Patent Sharing program, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Technology Sharing program.
The government plans not only to consolidate the guidance but also to strengthen links between ministries’ technology and patent information. It will expand incentives based on the results of free technology transfers and pursue measures to integrate and simplify the application documents companies must submit.
Hwang Young-ho, Technology Innovation Policy Officer at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "This unified guidance will allow small and medium-sized enterprises to see at a glance the free technology-transfer programs scattered across different ministries. We will continue consulting with relevant ministries to explore ways to promote free technology transfers so that excellent public-sector technologies can reach small and medium-sized enterprises, create new business models, and generate results in the commercialization of national technologies."
[email protected] Kim Hyun-cheol Reporter