The Busan Research and Development Special Zone, operated by the Innopolis Foundation, has launched its 2026 special zone development program this year, focusing on deep tech commercialization and support for entering global markets. The plan aims to expand the growth foundation of regional innovative companies by strengthening a full-cycle support system that connects public research outcomes not only to technology development but also to demonstration, commercialization, investment, and export.
The Busan Innopolis headquarters said Thursday it will advance the program through five projects and 20 tasks, including strategic technology discovery and linkage, research and business development (R&BD), Innopolis Campus, and regional innovation demonstration projects. The headquarters shared the plans a day earlier at the "2026 Special Zone Development Program Launch Meeting" held at the Busan Global Tech Biz Center.
The program centers on linking the shipbuilding and marine systems sector, where Busan has strengths, with national strategic technology fields including power semiconductors, secondary batteries, industrial artificial intelligence (AI), software solutions, and advanced materials. In particular, it will expand step-by-step support — covering technology advancement, prototype production, demonstration, and early market entry — so that regional companies can receive technology transfers from public research institutions and commercialize them into actual products and services.
From this year, the Busan Innopolis headquarters plans to accelerate the build-out of an ecosystem spanning deep tech startups, technology commercialization, and global expansion. To this end, it will strengthen cooperation among government-funded research institutes, universities, and startups, and actively pursue global open innovation as well as overseas demonstration and export-linked projects. It will also run industrial technology protection training and regulatory sandbox-linked programs to address technology protection and regulatory issues, aiming to speed up commercialization for companies in emerging industries.
At the launch meeting, officials from participating task organizations shared standards for executing R&D budgets and directions for performance management, and also discussed linkage with follow-up projects and collaboration plans. Participants agreed to strengthen joint research discovery and technology and market information-sharing systems through networking among the organizations.
"We are upgrading the regional innovation ecosystem with technology-based commercialization and global expansion support as our core strategies," said Han Sang-moon, head of the Busan Innopolis headquarters. "Through invigorating public technology-based startups and supporting overseas market entry, we will earnestly cultivate a Busan-style deep tech industry ecosystem."
