”Creative Pohang Technology Market” opens and collaboration between businesses heats up

On June 9, the “Second Creative Pohang Technology Market” was held in Pohang Creative Economy Innovation Center, Pohang. The market aims to help businesses enhance their technological competitiveness by giving companies the opportunity to buy patented technologies born from R&D projects of academic and research institutions.

The event, which was held jointly by Pohang’s Center for Creative Economy & Innovation and Pohang Techno Park in April as a part of the “Technology Commercialization Market Promotion Project” selected by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy as their open entry enterprise, was busy with approximately 300 attendees from academic/research institutions with portfolios of completed/owned patents and local businesses seeking their transfer.

During the event, contracts were signed for patent technology transfer between the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology of Pohang and Genolab as providers and Mirae Pohang Tech and Ecodefore Co. as buyers, and there was a session showcasing successful cases of technology transfer.

The announcement from the Korea Technology Finance Corporation on its plans to support firms taking part in transfers with government subsidies generated quite an interest.

The host, Pohang’s Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, the only privately run Creative Economy & Innovation Center in the country, was jointly started by Pohang city (whose aim for the sixth elected local congress was diversification of local industrial structure and economic boost through development of small-yet-solid companies) and locally based steel giant Posco. It opened its doors in December 2014 and since then has been promoting a Technology Commercialization Market Promotion Project to assist in the transfer of patent technology from domestic academic/research institutions to willing companies in the hopes of enhancing business competitiveness.

Last year, 25 companies applied for transfer of 28 different patent technologies and one local firm managed to earn a contract worth 14 billion won from a foreign firm with a product based on the technology it had transferred thanks to the project.

Lee Kang-deok, mayor of the city, said, “Through Pohang Technology Market, businesses actually benefit as they can save the cost and time of technology development and having to source a qualified work force. Thanks to the prospect of reinforcing their technological competitiveness, firms from other regions as well as local outputs are very keen on the support scheme and take part in no small numbers.”