An international conference held on November 17 shed light on the prospect of turning research activities into lucrative businesses, and the establishment of a technology holding company at the state-owned Seoul National University.

Experts, professors and top global CEOs of tech-related holding firms took part in the conference at the school and discussed ways to link research and development with businesses.

SNU has invested about seven billion won ($6 million) to establish the tech holding company through its Research and Business Development Foundation, a move to diversify the school's income sources.

``Capitalizing on SNU's world-class state-of-the-art technology, our company will generate profits and intensify research capability maximizing our marketing skills,'' said Roh Jung-ik, president of the school's holding firm Seoul Techno Holdings.

The 1st international conference invited holding companies of other overseas universities, including TsingHua, Auckland, Tokyo and Kyoto, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Exploit Technologies in Singapore.

Song Jun, chairman of TsingHua Holdings, Peter Lee, CEO of Auckland University and Swan Foo Boon, executive chairman of Exploit Technologies gave keynote speeches at the conference.

SNU, which has about 3,000 technology patents, has long worked to make profits from its research achievements. The holding firm will develop new technologies and set up five to six subsidiary firms annually. It aims to establish about 50 by 2017, with total revenue reaching one trillion won.

The school will reinvest the profits made at the holding firm into research and development activities, creating a virtuous cycle.

SNU has formulated internal rules to clarify the ownership of research results and the ways the profits are shared fairly. The National Assembly, last year, passed a bill allowing universities to set up profit-oriented companies to help them diversify their revenue sources and to be globally competitive.

November 18, 2008
SNU PR Office