The innovation race is heating up.
The South Korean government has announced plans to invest 5% of the nation's GDP into R&D by 2012, one of the highest rates in the world, according to reports.
Funds are expected to target priority sectors such as information technology, energy and environmental technology, nanotechnology and biotechnology.
South Korea has strengthened emphasis on green technologies. According to reports, the government plans to invest $46 billion over the next five years in clean energy technology R&D, manufacturing, and deployment.
In the past, South Korea successfully implemented a nationwide buildout of broadband infrastructure and became one of the world's leaders in broadband availability. It could have similar success with smart grid technology.
"South Korean smart grid firms are competing directly against the companies in Silicon Valley that are developing the next-generation of smart grid tools," according to a report in earth2tech.
"While the investment from the South Korean government isn't huge at this point, I wouldn't discount its goal to acquire a 30% share of the global market as unreachable."
In the private sector, leading tech companies have been spending more on R&D projects to strengthen their technology leadership, according to the Korea Times.
The combined R&D spending by South Korea's top five tech companies came to 7.7 trillion won during the first nine months of this year, up 4.6% from a year earlier, the paper said.
LG Display increased R&D spending by a huge 158% to 561 billion won.
``We are heavily betting on next-growth engines such as solar cells, light emitting diodes (LEDs) and electronic paper. The increased R&D spending reflects our strategy to focus on new areas,'' a company spokesman said.
The South Korean government has announced plans to invest 5% of the nation's GDP into R&D by 2012, one of the highest rates in the world, according to reports.
Funds are expected to target priority sectors such as information technology, energy and environmental technology, nanotechnology and biotechnology.
South Korea has strengthened emphasis on green technologies. According to reports, the government plans to invest $46 billion over the next five years in clean energy technology R&D, manufacturing, and deployment.
In the past, South Korea successfully implemented a nationwide buildout of broadband infrastructure and became one of the world's leaders in broadband availability. It could have similar success with smart grid technology.
"South Korean smart grid firms are competing directly against the companies in Silicon Valley that are developing the next-generation of smart grid tools," according to a report in earth2tech.
"While the investment from the South Korean government isn't huge at this point, I wouldn't discount its goal to acquire a 30% share of the global market as unreachable."
In the private sector, leading tech companies have been spending more on R&D projects to strengthen their technology leadership, according to the Korea Times.
The combined R&D spending by South Korea's top five tech companies came to 7.7 trillion won during the first nine months of this year, up 4.6% from a year earlier, the paper said.
LG Display increased R&D spending by a huge 158% to 561 billion won.
``We are heavily betting on next-growth engines such as solar cells, light emitting diodes (LEDs) and electronic paper. The increased R&D spending reflects our strategy to focus on new areas,'' a company spokesman said.
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