- Opening of the Autonomous Future Innovation Center, a research support facility for small and medium-sized and startup autonomous driving companies -
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT, Minister Won Hee-ryong) announced on the 28th that it opened the Autonomous Future Innovation Center, a research support facility for small and medium-sized and startup autonomous driving companies at K-City in Hwaseong.
The opening ceremony was attended by Eo Myeong-so, MOLIT Deputy Minister, Eom Sung-bok, President of the Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute, and *promising companies including startups that will lead the development of autonomous driving technology in Korea, and a corporate meeting between autonomous driving companies will also be held.
* (Time) 10:30 ~ 12:00 / (Part 1) Opening Ceremony of the Center for Autonomous Driving Innovation Center, and (Part 2) and a corporate meeting
* The number of 8 companies including 42Dot, AutoA2G, Rideflux, Erae, Naver Labs, Morai, Samsong, and Autocrypt are scheduled to move into the Autonomous Future Innovation Center from October.
➊ Part 1: Opening ceremony of the Autonomous Future Innovation Center
The Autonomous Future Innovation Center located within the Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do was established to support technological innovation of companies through synergy effect with the empirical infrastructure in connection with K-City, the largest autonomous driving test bed in Korea.
Companies using K-City will be able to repeatedly test the developed autonomous vehicle in various driving situations,while conducting R&D and maintenance activities such as data analysis, algorithm amendment by the AI(artificial intelligence) and vehicle / sensor repair.
Into the Autonomous Future Innovation Center, which is scheduled to be pilot-operated free of charge by the end of this year, a total of 8 companies in the autonomous driving-related field selected through a * bidding process will move in from October.
* (Announcement/Application) 7.18 ~ 8.12 → (Evaluation) 8.16 ~ 9.2 → (Final selection) 9.5 → Contract and move-in procedures
Small and medium-sized companies and startups among tenant companies will be given benefits such as rent discounts from next year so that they can develop autonomous driving technology without incurring large costs, and even the companies that are not tenants can use the office space required in the process of using the test facility.
< Overview of the Autonomous Future Innovation Center >
○ Objective: Provide small and medium-sized companies and startups using K-City with workspace and startup support including reduction of vehicle moving costs (development location → test bed) and burden of technology leakage, etc.
○ Project period & fund: April 2019 ∼ June 2022 / KRW6.96 billion (Government-funded)
○ Scale & facilities: Total building area of 1,966㎡, Two-story, occupancy-type offices, shared offices, conference rooms, vehicle maintenance depot, security garages, rest rooms, electric vehicle charging facilities.
○ Progress: After completion (June 2022), interior design and tenant companies (moving in October) will be selected through public contest
➋ Part 2: A meeting with autonomous driving companies
After the opening ceremony of the Autonomous Future Innovation Center, a meeting with autonomous driving companies was held to share opinions with the 8 companies that are due to move to the Center.
This meeting was the first meeting with the autonomous driving mobility industry since the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the “Mobility Innovation Roadmap” back on 19 September and is expected to be an opportunity to listen to the problems that companies are facing in the field and improvement measures to increase the implementation power of the roadmap.
Through this event, future operation plans such as the K-City test facility advancement plan and free operation policies* will be introduced.
* Extension of free operation until the year of 2027 in line with the government’s goal of commercializing Level 4 autonomous vehicles (free operation temporarily until June 2022 for small and medium-sized companies and startups, etc. after the opening of K-City (Dec. 2018)
According to the documents submitted in advance, the companies participating in the conference will suggest that the government make efforts such as establishing political measures to increase public acceptance of autonomous driving, continuous expansion of government investment in Research and Development facilities, and nurturing experts in autonomous driving related fields such as security and telecommunication.
The Deputy Minister of the MOLIT said “We will continue to listen to the voices of the field so that the Autonomous Future Innovation Center will play a role as an incubator that discovers and nurtures companies that will lead mobility innovation,” ;
“The government will spare no effort to provide a foundation for autonomous driving Unicorn companies to be emerged soon in Korea and to stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s leading companies.”
Please refer to the attached PDF.