The government has identified 26 candidates for research and development (R&D) themes aimed at leading future industries, including nanorobots, neuromorphic semiconductors, self-healing intelligent materials, and ultra-low-power space computing. By the end of the year, three new themes for the 2027 'Future Key Technologies Project' will be selected from these candidates.
On September 8, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the launch ceremony for the 'Grand Challenge Committee' at the Seoul Chamber of Commerce and discussed the planning direction and candidate themes for the 2027 Future Key Technologies Project.
The Grand Challenge Committee, chaired by Hong Soon-guk, Executive Vice President of the Korean Academy of Engineering, consists of 22 experts from academia, industry, and research in the fields of technology, economy, future studies, and policy.
The Future Key Technologies Project is an R&D initiative that aims to tackle highly advanced technologies that could change the landscape of future industries, even if the risk of failure is high. A total budget of 302.6 billion won will be allocated from 2025 to 2035, with 272.6 billion won coming from the national government.
Rather than pre-selecting specific technologies, the project will choose broad technology areas as 'themes' that allow various research teams to compete. Multiple research teams will compete within each theme, and promising research will receive focused support through staged evaluations.
The project will not only focus on developing core technologies but will also link to demonstration, production processes, and the creation of initial markets. Support will also be provided for establishing intellectual property roadmaps, commercialization strategies, and private investment connections.
The Ministry has analyzed domestic and international trends in future technologies, markets, and policies, considering changes in technology and markets over the next decade. They reviewed 67 promising technology areas and 925 core technology elements.
Through technology demand surveys, interviews with experts from academia and industry, and analysis of over 600 domestic and international science fiction (SF) content, the committee identified 26 candidates, including nanorobots, X-Brain neuromorphic semiconductors, self-healing and adaptive intelligent materials, and ultra-low-power space computing.
The Grand Challenge Committee will evaluate these candidates based on their potential to create new industries and markets and their likelihood of leading the global market, with three new themes to be finalized by the end of December.
Last year, the committee selected three initial themes: artificial muscle full-body robots, PFAS-Free Transformation, and End-to-End 3D spatial intelligence, which began technology development this year.
These projects include developing next-generation robots that move flexibly and precisely like humans using artificial muscles, materials and processes to replace harmful fluorinated substances (PFAS) used in advanced industries, and 3D spatial intelligence technology that allows AI to autonomously recognize, judge, and control spatial information.
Lee Min-woo, head of the Ministry's Industrial Growth Office, stated, "The Future Key Technologies Project is not about technologies that are currently performing well, but rather about proactively identifying and challenging technologies that will determine our industrial competitiveness in ten years. We will boldly support the discovery of technologies that can change the landscape of global industries."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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