As you know, the word “Technopark” is formed from the word “technology” and “park”. A technopark refers to an industrial and technological complex where personal, material, and technological resources, which are often scattered to businesses, academic institutions, research facilities, and governments, are gathered into a single  place. It also means a collection of land, buildings, and facilities that are provided by businesses, universities, research labs, and local and central governments. Governments support technoparks as base institutions for nurturing local industries by forming organic cooperative networks with the regions innovative institutions including industry, academy, research institutions, and governments, creating strategies and plans that fit the regions circumstances and characteristics and by discovering knowledge-based and small-but-technologically-capable businesses.
Understanding that a nation’s technological capability is the very core of its competitiveness, advanced countries hurried, since 1970s, to build technoparks. Today there are approximately 1,200 technoparks globally. Namely Science Park in UK, Research Park in America, Sophia Antipolis in France and Ganagawa Science Park in Japan are actively working to achieve technological innovation and to nurture newly created businesses. Started by establishing technical infrastructures that are needed to support businesses, Korea’s technological complexes have been discovered and nurtured small-but-technologically-capable businesses by building networks of local businesses, universities, research institutions, and governments. In 2007, Strategic Business Planning Group and Specialization Center were integrated, centered around technoparks, strengthening functions for strategy and policy planning for nurturing local businesses. They have become pivotal players in fostering local businesses of Korea. After 2010, 18 Technoparks in sixteen cities and provinces are taking the initiative in the development of local industries, faithfully fulfilling their mission: Korea’s Economic Development through the vitalization of local economy.
Technoparks implement local projects promoted by the central government and local governments, form mid- and long-term strategies and policies, and assess and manage regional businesses to ensure the highest results to foster regional industry that fits local circumstances and industrial properties. In addition, technoparks also provide infrastructures, create business environments, and operate various business support programs to incubate small-but-strong businesses and establish an organic and cooperative network with related parties in the region and strengthen relationships and cooperation between them to ensure effective and efficient industry nurturing.
Among eighteen technoparks, Pohang Technopark has focused on nano-electronics material, new metal material, bio-medical material, and energy materialbased on well-equipped R&D infrastructures such as POSTECH, RIST (Research Institute of industrial Science and Technology), and PAL (Pohang Accelerator Laboratory). In the future, technoparks will play a central role as a core of developing Korean technology.