Science and Technology Park as Regional Innovation Platform: A Case of Chungnam Techno Park, Korea - Technopolis: Best Practices for Science and Technology Cities - page 381

2.2 Active Innovators
The main actors at the beginning of CTP were professors, provincial and muni-
cipal government officials, and entrepreneurs. There were about 70 professors
involved in the early stage of CTP (Kim 2006 ). Some of them became deans, vice
presidents, and presidents of the local universities. One of them became the
President of CTP. Most of them are still working as advisory groups of CTP and
enterprises. With the spirit of cooperation among 17 universities, there are more
than 300 professors in the CTP's working group in 2010 . They participate in the
four specific industrial advisory committees based on their major fields. The
specific areas include semiconductor and display industry, automobile industry,
multimedia and contents industry, and agricultural bio industry.
Some of the government officials became national congressmen. Some are still
in the government with high ranking positions such as deputy ministers in the
central government and deputy mayors of the local governments. They are still
strong supporters for CTP in terms of policy and budget. The early residents of
CTP were venture businessmen. While many of them disappeared, some of them
became the owners of $100 million companies. They organized the CTP Alumni
Club in 2009. The graduates are active as business mentors and 'angel investors' to
their junior members who are new residents of CTP.
They were dreamers for CTP and became innovators for the region. Due to their
dreams, the farmland became a perfect habitat for innovative business. They are
still dreaming together for the future of the region. They believe that CTP as a
regional innovation platform will make their next dream possible. Their next
dream is to make their region a competitive cluster for high-technology industry.
The high-technology includes green and clean technology, and contents industry.
Chungnam is now a growth engine of Korea's high-tech industries, where the
major manufacturing sites of Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Automobiles are
located. With 36 universities 623 research institutes, Chungnam leads the tech-
nology development and commercialization of the nation. CTP plays a pivotal role
in vitalizing Chungnam economy as a regional innovation platform. The beginning
was the research group of local university professors and government officials in
May 1995.
3 The Main Function of CTP
3.1 Theoretical Background of CTP
Since multiple actors are involved in the project, CTP needs to organize the
working flow among universities/research institutions, enterprises, and govern-
ments. Figure 4 tells how these groups work together. CTP as a regional innovation
platform should be a base to link these groups. Universities and research institutions