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

Korea Should Not Import the West’s ‘Techlash’

Korea thankfully lags behind the West in its techlash “thinking,” but it is by no means free from this corrosive force. Both the West and Korea need a more positive and balanced perspective that doesn’t make technology the source of today’s societal ills.

US-ROK Data Policy: Challenges and Opportunities

Contributing to a special report from the National Bureau of Asian Research, Nigel Cory and Nohyoung Park examine U.S. and South Korean approaches to data policy, including the barriers that arise from policy differences and the efforts made to find common ground and maximize cooperation.

A Moment of Decision: Wide-ranging Implications of Korea's Proposed Platform Competition Promotion Act

With the Platform Competition Promotion Act, Korea should ensure its continuous development as an innovation leader by rejecting the EU model and instead following the light-touch path of the United States, as Robert Atkinson writes for The Korea Times.

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.

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