On November 28, four science and engineering universities - KAIST, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) - announced their agreement on the establishment of a joint technology holdings company. The technology holdings company, which is to be established in the first half of 2014, is expected to create and nurture many technology ventures into global enterprises.

The science and engineering universities possess outstanding technologies through research and development, supported by the Korean government with a total annual research fund of 380 billion Korean Won. However, the annual income of royalty is 6.6 billion Korean Won, and the average research and development productivity is 1.75%, while that of American universities is 3.38%.

Through the technology holdings company, the science and engineering universities hope to move away from the existing methods of commercialization that focus on technology transfer to enterprises. The company will create a technology venture to commercialize the universities’ outstanding research achievements by the universities themselves and build the platform for professional caring, merger and acquisition, and initial public offering to facilitate the startup of technology ventures. The company will thereby become the one-stop service window for technologies developed by the institutes by supporting the establishment of joint ventures and the transfer of technology to enterprises.

Ministry of Science and Technology, ICT and Future Planning and the four science and engineering universities will confirm the establishment plan for the joint technology holdings company within this year through the currently operating establishment committee, nominate its chief executive officer in January 2014, and establish the holdings company in March 2014.