Government to Make Preemptive Investments in World-Changing BCI Technology Seven Core Mission R&D Strategies to Launch in Earnest Next Year
The Sejong Government Complex office of the Ministry of Science and ICT, located in a private building in Eojin-dong, Sejong City. 2019.08.19. [Sejong=NEWSIS]
The government has launched a national research and development (R&D) project on brain-computer interfaces (BCI) that directly connect the brain and machines. With Elon Musk’s Neuralink leading clinical trials and China accelerating commercialization, the government aims to secure leadership in technological hegemony through preemptive investment.
The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 18th that it held the 44th Comprehensive Biotechnology Policy Deliberation Committee meeting and unveiled the joint “National R&D Strategy for the Future Brain Industry” with related ministries. Under the goal of emerging as a leading country in the global brain industry by 2030, the government will fully implement a BCI project centered on seven key missions starting in 2027.
The seven missions include technologies that allow patients with quadriplegia to control machines using only their thoughts, deep brain stimulation implants for the treatment of dementia and Parkinson’s disease, and sensory restoration implants that revive damaged optic nerves. Wearable robots and artificial body parts, ultra-immersive entertainment devices, and brainwave-based defense and security systems are also included.
The government will also work to secure a brain nervous system pipeline (drug candidates). As new drugs for brain diseases have lower development success rates than for other diseases, investment will be concentrated on universal platform technologies such as blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration technologies that open pathways for drugs, rejuvenation of the brain nervous system, and brain organoids (laboratory-grown mini-brains).
In addition, Daegu, Daejeon–Osong, and Hongneung in Seoul will be linked as brain industry clusters and developed into commercialization hubs. The Korea Brain Research Institute (Daegu), KAIST and the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (Daejeon–Osong), and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (Hongneung) will lead each hub. Bae Kyung-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, stated, “A new era will open in which artificial intelligence (AI) is used not via keyboards or smartphones but through direct connection to the brain,” adding, “By preemptively investing in BCI technologies that will change the world in 10 to 20 years, the government will secure leadership in future technology competition.”
Kim Jae-hyung
AI-translated with ChatGPT. Provided as is; original Korean text prevails.
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