NSTC Inaugurated

Charged with integrating and coordinating divergent R&D outlays

The National Science and Technology Commission (NSTC) was officially inaugurated on March 28 as the "Control tower" to oversee national R&D outlays.
The NSTC is charged with integrating and managing R&D policies, which were divergent among ministries and inefficient in the past, as well as coordinating and distributing R&D budgets that were set aside in specific areas, some of which overlap.
Despite its establishment, the NSTC is now faced with many pressing issues, including the reorganization of government-invested research institutes and the approval of the act on the evaluation and management of research outcomes of national research institutes, which is pending at the National Assembly.
NSTC Chairman Kim Do-yeon said in a meeting with reporters, "The NSTC will get a glimpse into the national R&D sector from a big-picture perspective. There are insufficiencies in the enforcement ordinances of the Act on the Framework Plan of Science and Technology, but now that the construction of a house has just begun, these things are expected to be addressed one by one." The NSTC was originally scheduled for inauguration after the parliament approved a measure to amend the act on the assessment of R&D research outcomes that would give the NSTC authority to coordinate the division of R&D outlays and evaluate research outcomes of state-invested research institutes.
The revision bill, still pending at the National Assembly, would raise the possibility that it could undermine the NSTC's responsibilities for coordinating the division of R&D budgets and executing the right to evaluate research outcomes.
The purpose of establishing the NSTC was to create an authority to coordinate and distribute more than 75 percent of the nation's total R&D outlays.
The NSTC's responsibilities cover mid- and long-term projects lasting more than five years, future growth engine projects, basic science and similar and overlapping science policies in most areas except humanities and national defense.
But experts worry about the fact that the NSTC cannot voice its say to the fullest since the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MINISTER OF STRATEGY AND FINANCE)'s authority over budget allocation has been kept intact. They pointed out that the commission is comprised of few scientists from the private sector. The two standing committee members and the chief of the secretariat, the execution body of the NSTC, are manned by personnel from the MINISTER OF STRATEGY AND FINANCE, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) and the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE).
The government once considered the option of appointing civilian experts at the four departments under the control of the R&D Coordination Bureau, but settled on the final version of the NSTC by reducing the civilian experts to one. Regarding advancing state-financed research institutes, the NSTC chairman said it is an "unhappy" issue to be tackled and the NSTC will devote itself to finding better solutions to that matter.
He stressed the need to enhance efficiency in giving a glimpse into the national R&D sector from the big-picture perspective, coordinating and evaluating R&D outlays and commanding the evaluation and management of R&D research institutes.
Korea ranks seventh in terms of R&D outlays in the world by setting aside 4 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) in the R&D sector for this year. The private sector plans to funnel 37 trillion won into R&D investments on top of the 15 trillion won allocated by the government. nw

Photos on courtesy of MCST, FKI,