Ahead of the full implementation of the ‘Regional Innovation Centered University Support System (Rise)’ that will be promoted nationwide starting this year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is speeding up the final preparations, such as establishing a basic business plan and forming a committee.
RISE is a regional innovation-centered university support system that aims for the shared growth of regions and universities, and ultimately links university competitiveness to regional development through university innovation that reflects regional demand. The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on December 19 that it completed the formation of the ‘Seoul Innovation University Support Committee (Seoul RISE Committee)’ as the highest decision-making body based on the public-private-academic basis to comprehensively support the competitiveness of universities, which are the future growth engine and future innovative growth base of the city.
|
▲[Korean Today] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attending the 33rd Seoul Mayor’s Forum General Assembly held on October 11 |
Mayor Oh Se-hoon previously announced the ‘Seoul Future Innovation Growth Plan with Universities’ in June of last year, with the vision that universities will be the future growth engine of Seoul. Since then, the city has been collecting various opinions from universities through the establishment of a basic plan task force (TF) for promoting the Rise project, holding public hearings for universities in Seoul, and one-on-one meetings.
The Seoul-type Rise Basic Plan submitted to the Ministry of Education consists of 12 core unit tasks based on 5 major projects: ▲Strengthening global university competitiveness ▲Strengthening Seoul’s strategic industry base ▲Joint growth with local communities ▲Strengthening lifelong and vocational education ▲Fostering university entrepreneurship.
The city plans to organically combine and design projects and unit tasks led by universities, thereby promoting joint growth between universities and the region.
The newly formed Seoul Innovation University Support Committee will be comprised of a total of 20 members, including Seoul Metropolitan Government-related department heads, heads of public institutions, university presidents, and private sector experts. The Mayor of Seoul and one university president will serve as co-chairs and operate the committee. The term of office for the committee members is three years, and reappointment is possible.
The city envisions that the committee will serve as a platform for discussing agendas in various fields with participating universities in RISE and sharing the vision and direction of higher education linked to Seoul’s economic and industrial development.
In addition, the city plans to hold the Seoul Innovation University Support Committee to discuss the final plan for the Seoul Rise 5-year (2025-2029) and the plan for the public contest to select participating universities, as soon as the Ministry of Education’s national support budget (city/province Rise incentive budget) is finalized this month.
|
▲[Korean Today] Photo from the RISE public hearing held on November 19, 2024 © Reporter Byun A-rong |
□ Seoul Rise Center within Seoul Research Institute to be launched on January 1st… Support for smooth business progress
Meanwhile, the Seoul Rise Center was established in the Seoul Research Institute, a dedicated organization, to systematically support the smooth operation of the universities participating in the Rise Project. The Seoul Rise Center, which was launched as a regular organization on the 1st of this month, will be operated by 4 teams and 20 people by hiring business experts and dispatching city officials.
The Seoul Rise Center performs the functions of establishing a system for the development of higher education, including ▲developing policies to achieve the vision and goals of innovation for Seoul-university-business ▲establishing an implementation plan for the Regional Innovation-Centered University Support System (RISE) and carrying out policy projects ▲establishing a cooperative network between universities and businesses ▲analyzing the performance of the Regional Innovation-Centered University Support System (RISE), establishing a management system, and building a database (DB).
Oh Gyun, the director of Seoul Rise Center (director of Seoul Research Institute), emphasized that “Seoul City and universities are now a community of shared destiny,” and that “universities will play a key role in Seoul City’s leap forward as a future global city.” He continued, “The Rise project, which will be fully implemented starting this year, is an unprecedented challenge, but if Seoul City and universities cooperate to focus on regional development and invest in innovation as a top priority, the Seoul Rise project will definitely succeed.”
The Seoul Metropolitan Government stated, “Through the Seoul Rise Project, which will be fully implemented starting this year, we will simultaneously strengthen the competitiveness of universities and Seoul as a city, and accelerate our leap forward to become a world-class top 5 city.” It also added, “We will foster Seoul’s strategic industrial ecosystem by making the most of the resources and value possessed by universities, and establish ourselves as a leading model for the national Rise Project through university-led regional revitalization.”
© The Korean Today – All Rights Reserved