The event was prepared to sign the business cooperation of 'Digital Contents R&D Global Expansion Program', which is being prepared by Facebook and the government to help domestic virtual and augmented reality (VR·AR) companies advance overseas. The event was progressed with the participation of Byun Jae-il, a member of the Minjoo Party attached to Future Korea Communications Commission, Choi Jae-yu, a 2nd vice minister of Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP), Lee Sang-hong, a head of Institute for Information & Communications Technology Promotion (IITP), Lee Heon-soo, a head of Korea Innovation Center (KIC) Silicon Valley, and Alex Stamos, a chief security officer of Facebook.
Alex Stamos, a chief security officer of Facebook, said "Korea already has the best internet technology and it gives us a lot of insights on where to go." And, "Facebook is progressing a lot of programs to help Korean start-ups create an autonomous ecological environment, and I believe this program will also help Korean virtual and augmented reality companies (VR·AR) go abroad."
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▲ Digital Contents R&D Global Expansion Program MOU Signing Ceremony was progressed.
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▲ A tablet with contents of the partnership was delivered.
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▲ Alex Stamos, introduced the significance of this program.
According to the announcement, this cooperation is aimed at creating a global market for domestic VR and AR digital contents and supporting ecosystem preemption. It is also a pilot project of ‘TRT (Technology Revolution Together) Project with Global Companies’. Through the program, engineers from Oculus, a subsidiary of Facebook, will provide mentoring for commercialization and technology development for the best VR and AR companies with innovative services and technologies that will stand out in the global market.
Especially, it is the first time Oculus promises business mentoring to abroad government agencies.
The partnership between Facebook and MSIP, KIC, and IITP will be held for about 10 companies selected through the public contest. A joint panel consisting of domestic technology, marketing experts, and Facebook experts will select based on the core technology, localization, and business possibility.
The selected companies will collaborate with local partners including Oculus in Silicon Valley, the U.S. for 10 weeks. With the companies that completed the collaboration, 'Performance Demo Day' will be held in July, and the best company will be selected as a Facebook’s cooperation partner to strengthen cooperation such as investment and purchase.
Meanwhile, starting with the Facebook marketing boot camp in Seoul, Daegu and Ulsan in 2015, Facebook has been carrying out various projects to consistently help domestic SMEs advance overseas by utilizing Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook has been supporting the education of women business entrepreneurs through ‘#SheMeansBusiness’ program in collaboration with the Seoul city since last September. In November, it launched 'Facebook Korea Business Hub', which is aimed at SMEs and start-up education. Since March, it has been progressing SME export related education program with KOTRA, ‘#MadeByKorea,’ and about 100 SMEs are receiving education every week.
Vice-minister Choi Jae-yu, who attended the event, declared that "I hope this VR·AR company's global expansion support project will be a momentum for establishing a virtuous cycle ecosystem of overseas expansion of digital contents." And, "I will spare no effort for the government more effectively supporting global expansion of the star-ups leading the 4th industrial revolution."
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▲ The main content of the program is introduced.
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▲ Possible start-ups in AR and VR sectors are the targets of this program.
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▲ The selected companies will have collaboration with local partners for 10 weeks in Silicon Valley, the U.S.
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▲ Various companies and organizations as well as Facebook cooperate for this program.
