The Development and Performance of the KOSBIR Program

The KOSBIR program was introduced in 1998 by the Korean government. The year 1998 holds historical importance for SMEs in Korea. First, the Korean economy has faced the foreign exchange crisis from 1997. The strong movement of open economy since the mid-90s has become one of the main circumstances surrounding the internationalization policy, such as the entrance of the OECD. This has caused SMEs to take a new strategy to boost global competitiveness. The Korean government has also taken the position of searching for a new direction to revitalize the economy in crisis. In this context, the SMBA took upon the idea of introducing the SBIR of U.S. into Korea.From its introduction in 1998, this program has developed with sustenance despite some changes in the operational system. The assistance records of the KOSBIR program have consistently increased. Though there has been some resistance from the participants, the operating system was relatively rooted well. The performances were outstanding not only in the participating organizations but in the SMEs as well.The KOSBIR program has contributed to the increasing interest in SME sector and the spread of SME’s technology innovation at large. However, it is not to say that no tasks remain, as there are some tasks that must be considered to improve the program.The U.S. SBIR program has been developing for the last 32 years. It has been complemented according to the regular evaluation results. The KOSBIR program has also been revised to reflect the evaluation process. As the result of revision, the participating organizations total at 19, including government ministries and public enterprises that manage total R&D budget of 30 billion K₩ and over at present.This paper will seek the historical development and evaluation of the SBIR program as the original model of KOSBIR. Afterwards, it will study the KOSBIR program’s development and performance. Lastly, the tasks of the KOSBIR program and the implications for the other countries will be presented