Technology foresight in Korea: a review of recent government exercises

Purpose - Accurate and timely foresight of future trends and changes in science and technology (S&T) is a key to national competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to describe recent technological foresight conducted by the Technology Foresight Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Te...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inCompetitiveness review Vol. 21; no. 5; pp. 418 - 427
Main Authors Hwang, JiHo, Kim, YoungJun, Son, Soekho, Han, Jongmin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bingley Emerald Group Publishing Limited 01.01.2011
Subjects
Bibliometrics
Competition
R&D
Research & development
Science
Strategic planning
Studies
SWOT analysis
Technological change
Technology
Trends
Korea
Technology foresight
Global mega trends
Sciences
Technology led strategy
Public science and technology policy
Government policy
Korea
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Purpose - Accurate and timely foresight of future trends and changes in science and technology (S&T) is a key to national competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to describe recent technological foresight conducted by the Technology Foresight Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning. The authors also address current issues and problems encountered in the process of technology foresight (TF) in Korea.Design methodology approach - The authors used TF methodologies which included bibliometrics, expert panels, SWOT analysis, and conferences seminars.Findings - The authors derived 20 future issues and 40 future needs in S&T from the five areas of global mega trends; then 200 future technologies were suggested with a time horizon of 40 years, from 2010 to 2050, for solving those future issues and needs. Finally, the authors suggested outlooks for technological development in the years 2020 and 2050.Research limitations implications - It is time to evaluate Korean TF exercises which were started 15 years ago. The evaluation of TF will help guide TF and inform policy and decision makers.Practical implications - The findings can help policy makers shape future governmental S&T policy in Korea. The final result of this work was applied to the second S&T Framework Plan in Korea, in which 90 technologies were identified as national key technologies for the next five years, from 2008 to 2012.Originality value - To the best of the authors' knowledge, there are no studies suggesting not only future technologies based on solving future issues and needs but also outlooks for technology development in the years 2020 and 2050.
ISSN:1059-5422
2051-3143
DOI:10.1108/10595421111171920