City administration establishes Comprehensive Plan to Develop Future Mobility Industry (2022~2026) and puts it into motion
The Incheon Metropolitan City Government has established and announced its “Comprehensive Plan to Develop the Future Mobility Industry (2022~2026)’ to establish an ecosystem featuring technology that can help facilitate the migration of internal combustion engine parts companies to electric vehicle parts companies, and develop core technologies for future vehicles together with Incheon Technopark. Do. By doing so, Incheon plans to quickly reorganize the automobile industry structure for future cars, and promote the technological advancement of Incheon’s automobile industry.
The Comprehensive Plan to Develop the Future Mobility Industry will establish five key initiatives and 25 key projects based on the vision of “Incheon, a leading city for technological innovation in the future.” A total of KRW 110.4 billion (including public and private funds) will be invested in the project by 2026.
▲ The Incheon Metropolitan City Government has established and announced its “Comprehensive Plan to Develop the Future Mobility Industry (2022~2026)’ to establish an ecosystem featuring technology that can help facilitate the migration of internal combustion engine parts companies to electric vehicle parts companies, and develop core technologies for future vehicles together with Incheon Technopark. Do. By doing so, Incheon plans to quickly reorganize the automobile industry structure for future cars, and promote the technological advancement of Incheon’s automobile industry. Picture of an autonomous driving and connected car on the road.
The first key strategic initiative for this Comprehensive Plan will use Korea’s first public connected car materials and parts certification evaluation center, which was built in Cheongna Robot Land last year, to develop specialized connected car technology, support testing and evaluation for certification purposes, identify and develop “new players,” and establish a mid- to long-term training strategy specializing in connected mobility. This way, Incheon plans to focus on fostering the connected car industry as a specialized field for future mobility options unique to Incheon, so that Incheon can become a leader with core technologies in the future car wireless communication field.
Under its second key strategic initiative for the Comprehensive Plan, Incheon plans to carry out an autonomous driving technology development innovation project, which was selected at a national public policy contest last year. Incheon wants to make sure this project proceeds without any setbacks to promote the commercialization of autonomous vehicles by leading the development of autonomous driving technology. In addition, it plans to promote R&D support for autonomous driving technology, build R&D facilities for autonomous driving technology, build testbeds to function as proving grounds for autonomous driving technology, and host public contests to stimulate the development of autonomous driving technology.
▲ Photo of an autonomous driving car and connected car
As part of the third key strategic initiative for the Comprehensive Plan, Incheon plans to establish a system to support the entire cycle of technology transition for future vehicles and promote rapid technology transition of internal combustion engine parts companies facing challenges from a rapidly shrinking market to future mobility systems. For example, Incheon will help create a tear-down structure for future vehicles, offer consulting services to help technological transitions, plan for R&D projects to facilitate the transition to future technology, provide specialized training for conversion to intelligent technology conversion, and develop technology to localize materials and parts. Moreover, Incheon plans to support more than 20 parts companies per year to convert their facilities and systems to suit future cars.
For its fourth key strategic initiative under the Comprehensive Plan, Incheon is looking to support innovations in digital manufacturing technology, support global marketing efforts, nurture unicorn companies, support the development of specialized electronic parts for future vehicles, and help establish a platform for cooperation between large corporations/SMEs to strengthen corporate capabilities through support for innovative growth of auto parts companies.
Finally, for its fifth key strategic initiative, Incheon will establish an integrated future car support center to provide systematic and sustainable future car integrated support platform services, enact a city ordinance to support the future car industry, establish a council for future car parts companies, survey industry-wide conditions, research new policies, and operate a “New Governance system.
▲ Photo of tearing down a future mobility product
This year, Incheon is expected to proceed with the following as its core projects: Win its bid for phase-2 of the national Connected Car Materials/Parts Certification Evaluation Center project; offer Tear Down services; implement the 2nd year of autonomous driving technology development innovation plan; offer R&D support for core technology fields (electrification, autonomous driving, connected) in future mobility; and conduct car industry surveys and offer technology roadmap research services.
In particular, Incheon, in collaboration with the IFEZ Authority and Korea Automobile Research Institute, proposed plans (to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy last year) to expand the function and improve the utilization of the phase-1 Connected Car Materials/Parts Certification Evaluation Center, which is currently under construction in Cheongna (KRW 24.6 billion investment). Under the IFEZ Authority’s leadership, Incheon is looking to secure phase-2 of the project, which involves the development of a connected car wireless communication certification evaluation system (KRW 14 billion investment). In doing so, the city administration plans to lay the groundwork for Incheon to become a Mecca of the connected car industry by not only certifying materials and parts, but also establishing a support system, including a connectivity service platform that covers the entire life cycle of connected cars.
Moreover, this year, Incheon will become the first local government to promote a “Tear Down Project” together with parts companies to dismantle electric vehicles equipped with the latest autonomous driving system and to analyze technical structures and parts. It plans to secure information on core parts and technology for future vehicles such as the powertrain, and operate an integrated support program for the migration of automobile parts companies to future vehicle technologies and systems.
At the same time, Incheon plans to offer a “future car technology roadmap research service” that compares and analyzes future car market trends, core parts and technology trends, and cutting-edge technologies of world-leading companies. Also, by presenting strategies to secure technological competitiveness of core parts by vehicle type, it will help parts companies set the direction for their transition to future vehicle technologies.
