South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korean Society of Management of Technology Economics on Thursday held the "K-Moonshot Policy Promotion Strategy Seminar" to explore directions for science and technology innovation in the artificial intelligence era.

The seminar served as a forum for academia and industry to hold in-depth discussions on the policy direction and tasks of the government's "K-Moonshot Promotion Strategy". K-Moonshot is a nationwide large-scale project that combines AI with science and technology to solve key national challenges and accelerate science and technology innovation.

At the seminar, Il-won Seo (서일원), a professor at Chonnam National University, presented trends in mission-oriented innovation policies in major countries under the theme "Evolution of science and technology policy from the perspective of MOIP (Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy)." Dae-hyun Oh (오대현), director general for future strategy and technology policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, then shared science and technology policies of major countries in line with AI-driven paradigm shifts under the theme "K-Moonshot promotion strategy for a major leap in science and technology competitiveness in the AI era."

In a panel discussion, experts from industry, academia, research institutes and government, including Seok-kyun Son (손석균), a professor at Kyung Hee University, Won-choon Choi (최원춘), a researcher at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Yong-kyun Yoo (유용균), chief executive of AI Friends, and Jeong-gu Kang (강정구), head of AI strategy at Rainer, analysed the achievements and limits of challenge-driven, innovation-type R&D projects. They also held in-depth discussions on directions for systemic innovation to establish the K-Moonshot project.

Oh said, "We will continue close communication with academia, industry and the research community so the project can take root as one that mobilises national AI resources and capabilities in science and technology to actually solve scientific challenges with AI."

Jun-mo Ahn (안준모), president of the Korean Society of Management of Technology Economics, said, "I hope K-Moonshot will go beyond a policy declaration and take root as a substantive research and innovation system." He added, "I hope this seminar will help connect academic knowledge with government policy and contribute to creating a formula for K-Moonshot's success."