Center for Korean Innovation and Competitiveness
Korea faces new challenges in the technology and innovation-driven global economy. Its productivity growth has slowed as its worker-to-retiree ratio has plummeted. Too few new innovation-based companies are growing to scale. And Korea has not yet fully transitioned from a “fast follower” to a global innovation leader. Meanwhile, like other industrialized economies, Korea now faces intense competition from China, which is pursuing a state-directed strategy to dominate the world’s advanced industries by any means necessary. These challenges are daunting but not insurmountable. Solving them requires the right policies. To develop and implement such a framework, Korean policymakers need actionable insights derived from deep analysis of Korea’s unique production systems, industry dynamics, and technologies, while incorporating global best practices for effective innovation policy.
That is the mission of the Center for Korean Innovation and Competitiveness. As part of the Washington, DC-based Information Technology and Innovation Foundation—the world’s leading think tank for science and technology policy—the Center conducts research and develops policy solutions to help Korean policymakers drive Korean innovation, productivity, and global competitiveness.
Featured Publications
Why South Korea Should Resist New Digital Platform Laws
Policymakers in South Korea are weighing a raft of digital market provisions inspired by the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Their goal is to rein in allegedly anticompetitive practices by Big Tech firms. But the proposed interventions are unwarranted and risk harming innovation, straining relations with the United States during uncertain times, and opening the door to China.
Time for Korea-US Cooperation to Limit China’s Advanced Tech Gains
Even if Korea implements additional advanced technology policies, it will be increasingly difficult for Korean firms in advanced industries, like electronics, semiconductors, machinery, and autos, to compete against Chinese firms that are backed to the hilt by the Chinese government, writes Rob Atkinson in The Korea Times.
Vice President, Global Innovation Policy, and Director, Center for Life Sciences Innovation
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
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