MKE's 7 Research Institutes Reorganized into KIAT & KEIT

Ex-KOTEF Chairman Kim takes the helm at the KIAT; KETI President Suh takes office as president of KEIT

Seven research institutes under the umbrella of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) have been consolidated into two entities ― the Korea Institute for the Advancement of Technology (KIAT) and the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT).
As a result, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Evaluation and Planning, the Korea Industrial Technology Foundation (KOTEF), the Korea Materials & Components Agency (KMAC) and the Korea Technology Transfer Center (KTTC) were dismantled. The two newly-inaugurated entities have taken over R&D work from the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP) and Korea National Cleaner Production Center.
The KIAT is responsible for mid- and long-term R&D strategies and the spread of outcomes, while the KEIT is charged with the planning, management and evaluation of national R&D.
Kim Yong-geun, chairman of the now-defunct KOTEF, took the helm at the KIAT, while Suh Young-ju, president of Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI), was appointed president of the KEIT.
The combined budget of the newly inaugurated research organizations amounts to 3 trillion won, accounting for 70 percent of the total R&D outlays set aside for the whole of all organizations under the control of the MKE. The number of employees at the two new organizations has been reduced by 12.5 percent from 465 to 407 with the number of team heads and higher positions cut from 97 to 65.
The KIAT, inaugurated after reorganizing six research institutes related to the industrial technology sector, is charged with technology policies, mid- and long-term planning and evaluation of outcomes, the building of industrial infrastructure and industrial technology transfer/commercialization.
The KIAT has two headquarters, two offices, six corps and 23 teams.
KIAT President Kim said in a ceremony to inaugurate the organization, "We'll strive to make sure that R&D work at places ranging from campuses and research institutes to the markets will be effectively converged and the KIAT will contribute to raise competitiveness in such areas as manpower, knowledge and R&D." Kim said the inauguration of the KIAT is an exemplary case and a symbol of promoting efficiency and advancement in the public sector, and he'll do his utmost to make the KIAT one of the nation's top-rated R&D policy support institutions.
He stressed that the KIAT will serve as a planner to present a blueprint of industrial technology in the future, as a coordinator to promote harmony and cooperation among R&D entities, as a facilitator to make design, financing and marketing a virtuous cycle of R&D, and as a link between the government and the R&D field.
A graduate of Seoul National University Economics Department, the KIAT president earned a master's degree in political science at the graduate school of the national university and entered a career in the upper levels of public service after passing the higher administrative exam. He held such positions as the director of the Industry Policy Division at the predecessor of the MKE, the director-general of industrial policy and deputy assistant minister in charge of industrial policy and the chairman of the KOTEF.
KEIT President Suh in a message posted on the KEIT website wrote, "The KEIT is a government funded organization, established to conduct planning and evaluation of national R&D projects under the MKE. We strive to provide creative and effective R&D support services to strengthen the competitiveness of industrial technology." He said, "We will do our best to enhance competiveness by conducting R&D related services to find hidden values and provide necessary support in industrial technology fields, and furthermore, we will work sincerely to be customer-oriented, clean and transparent, and contribute to the people and society." A graduate of Seoul National University's Law Department, Suh earned a master's degree in business administration from Konkuk University. He has held such positions as director-general in charge of SME policies at the Small and Medium Business Administration, the director-general in charge of trade and logistics at the predecessor of the MKE and the KETI president. nw

KIAT President Kim Yong-geun

KEIT President Suh Young-ju