The government will identify and foster small and startup corporations that will apply advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), drones, robots, and space and cyber to the defense and security fields. It also plans to create a system in which corporations verify their technologies using actual military data and test ranges, and the military and public institutions purchase verified products.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 3rd that it will hold the second meeting of the "new security innovation corporations support working council" in Seoul with relevant ministries.
The meeting was prepared to flesh out follow-up tasks for the plan to nurture new security innovation corporations and to review the progress and collaboration tasks of each ministry. Presided over by Park Yong-sun, director general for small and medium enterprise policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of National Defense, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, and the Korea AeroSpace Administration will attend.
The meeting will discuss plans to build a "new security innovation corporations pool (POOL)" to identify small and startup corporations with technological prowess and growth potential. The idea is to form a candidate group from corporations selected for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS)'s "Challenge for All: Defense Industry," defense innovation corporations of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, public technology and product certification corporations, and corporations participating in government projects related to security and defense.
It will also review detailed criteria, including recommendations from relevant ministries and associations and groups, direct applications from corporations for the composition method of the corporations pool, the share of sales in the security field, whether they hold patents, and research and development (R&D) track records.
The meeting will also address ways to expand opportunities for technology demonstration by innovative corporations by opening military data and testbeds. Using the Ministry of National Defense's military-industry-academia cooperation centers and defense data safe zones, it aims to improve corporations' access to key military data and expand the data that can be released to the private sector. It will also discuss ways to verify the performance of developed products and the feasibility of military use by utilizing dedicated demonstration units, innovation labs, and military test ranges.
It will check the status of enacting and revising related laws to support rapid procurement and the fostering of corporations. The Ministry of Economy and Finance plans to establish a rapid procurement system in the National Contract Act that simultaneously pursues R&D agreements and purchase contracts. The Ministry of National Defense and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration will review ways to apply new acquisition methods—such as mission-oriented requirements, competition-based acquisition, and agile development—to the military application of private advanced technologies based on the Act on Defense Advanced Power Projects.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will also share a draft special act on supporting new security innovation corporations, which includes the designation and cancellation of innovative corporations and related support and special provisions. Based on this discussion, it plans to work with relevant ministries to flesh out a full-cycle support system that runs from identifying corporations to investment and R&D, demonstration, and procurement and market entry.
Park Yong-sun, director general for small and medium enterprise policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "To secure future new security competitiveness, it is important to identify innovative technologies held by the private sector and link them so they can be used in real defense and security settings," adding, "In cooperation with relevant ministries, we will build an ecosystem in which innovative small and startup corporations can overcome barriers to investment, R&D, demonstration, and procurement and grow into key corporations leading the future new security field."