In this photo from June 28, an SK telecom employee shows an AI semiconductor. Courtesy of SK telecom
SK Group will share 171 patented technologies in the fields of semiconductors, IT and chemistry with local small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to support their growth, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Monday.
The patented technologies were developed by SK Group's subsidiaries: SK innovation, SK hynix, SK telecom and SK siltron. The technologies are to be shared for free. The patented technologies include a fuel cell system for apartments; an interfacing-based semiconductor manufacturing system; a system for measuring a floating population in a specific area and a method for polishing both sides of a semiconductor wafer.
The technologies will be demonstrated to the public at this year's Korea Tech Fair in Seoul on Nov. 28.
The ministry and the state-run Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) have begun advertising the group's initiative. National Tech-Bank, run by KIAT, is accepting applications from companies interested in the giveaway until Jan. 5. Applicants who pass the screening by an audit committee will receive the right to exploit the IP in their businesses.
"These domestic technologies shared by SK in various industrial sectors will certainly help our SMEs venture into new businesses," said an official from the ministry's director general for industrial technology convergence policy. "Next year's event will be broadened further to introduce technologies from state-run agencies like the Korea Electronics Technology Institute and the Korea Photonics Technology Institute."
Representatives from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, SK Group, the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology and local small-to-medium-size companies pose after the government, the company and the state-run agency signed a tripartite partnership for sharing SK's technology patents with the companies, in Seoul, Jan. 10, 2023. Courtesy of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy
The ministry has been organizing the annual event since 2013 to put unused technologies developed by conglomerates or state-run companies to better use. Sharing them with SMEs spurs mutual growth while the smaller firms earn technological competitiveness, according to the ministry.
So far, 35 large firms and state-run companies have shared over 15,000 technology patents up to this year. Over 1,500 SMEs have selected 3,203 technology patents to adopt. This year, nearly 1,200 patents were available and 155 SMEs took 224 of them.
Technologies for semiconductor manufacturing and relevant tools accounted for most of the technologies shared by SK this year at 37 percent, followed by those for mobile communication (21 percent), semiconductor devices (17 percent) and network technologies (15 percent).
Some of the SMEs with the endowed technologies have achieved notable performances. Flex, an education content developer, advanced its smartphone app product, Kids Diary, using technologies from SK telecom and SK planet. Sales of the product, targeting students from kindergarten to high school age, reached over 270 million won ($210,000) in 2021 and 2022.
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