Technology innovations lagging

The Science and Technology Policy Institute yesterday said that about 53 percent of 3,800 local manufacturing companies have not developed new technology since 2000. Out of these 3,800 companies, less than 20 percent did not show interest in building more Internet-friendly infrastructures, such as constructing an online commerce network. Of those companies that tried to update technology, 43 percent said they succeeded in making profits from the new technologies, while 4.5 percent did not earn income from the technology they had developed. "The institute found out that the firms that participated in the survey did not even try to patent new developments," said Shin Tae-young, a researcher at the Science and Technology Policy Institute. "The quality of the technology is not as good as what is created in foreign countries." About 30 percent of the local manufacturers surveyed said they did not innovate their technology because they lack enough money for research and development. These companies also showed a low quality of online infrastructures, out of which 16 percent used the Internet to sell their products or to make business transactions with other companies. by Kwon Hyuck-joo