- Senior Presidential Secretary for AI joins first on-site roundtable to shape the R&D Innovation Roadmap

- MSIT unveils “Everyone’s R&D,” an online platform enabling researchers and citizens to contribute ideas



The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT, Minister Bae Kyung-hoon) held an On-site Roundtable on R&D Innovation at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in Daejeon on 16 July. More than 30 early-career, mid-career and student researchers—including keynote speaker Professor Cheon Seung-hyun of Sejong University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy—took part in an open discussion on the new administration’s basic-research policy and its broader innovation agenda. Ha Jung-woo, Senior Presidential Secretary for AI Future Planning, also attended.



MSIT is preparing a provisional “R&D Ecosystem Innovation Roadmap” that will be finalized in September. The plan is aimed at improving not only the scale of R&D investment but also its quality and efficiency. Throughout the drafting process, the ministry will actively gather and reflect the diverse voices of researchers working on the ground. Although numerous reform measures have been introduced over the years, researchers still cite long-standing pain points: a government-driven, supply-side approach to project planning and management; excessive paperwork imposed in the name of misconduct prevention; and unpredictable, project-based funding. To break this cycle, the forthcoming roadmap will be drafted through direct engagement with the field, with the private sector taking the lead from problem identification to solution design.



Starting with the IBS visit, MSIT will make regular regional visits to research institutions to collect balanced feedback across disciplines and locales. It will also set up a private advisory body—tentatively titled the “Genuine R&D Promotion Committee”—bringing together experts from industry, academia and research institutes for in-depth, critical discussions.



At the same time, MSIT today opened “Everyone’s R&D,” an online platform that allows anyone—whether a researcher or a member of the public—to submit ideas with a few clicks. Moving beyond a one-way policy-proposal model, the platform lets users refine their suggestions through open debate, while an AI-powered analytics engine converts input into a format readily applicable to policy. Anyone with an opinion on R&D innovation can submit a proposal on the Integrated R&D Information System (IRIS) website (https://www.iris.go.kr/modu) from 16 July onward, after a simple identity-verification step— no account required.



Minister Bae Kyung-hoon commented, “We must move away from a government-centric R&D regime and adopt a private-sector-led system in which researchers participate from the very first step—deciding what to study—through planning, investment and evaluation. We will continue to listen closely to the field and deliver practical measures that will make a real difference in researchers’ day-to-day work.”





For further information, please contact the Public Relations Division (Phone: +82-44-202-4034, E-mail: msitmedia@korea.kr) of the Ministry of Science and ICT.



Please refer to the attached PDF.