A Study on the Direction of Research and Development Verification of Convergence Logistics Project in South Korea

The proportion of logistics costs in the national GDP has maintained an annual average of around 8-10% over the past 10 years and is considered one of the high priority targets for policy management/growth in importance and future in Korea’s import and export economic structure. From the era of logistics 1.0 to the era of logistics 4.0 centered on convergence new technologies of the 4th industrial revolution, a paradigm shift that is completely different from the past industrial revolution such as mechanization in all values such as productivity, convenience, and safety is being integrated and developed in the logistics field. Therefore, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is carrying out a total of 10 research projects for each consortium to discover R&D tasks of the convergence logistics business by supporting about 105.4 billion won in government contributions from March 2021 to December 2027. In this study, priority review items (works) that require mid- to long-term response within the logistics industry, including this research and development, were derived by introducing qualitative (FGI) and quantitative (IPA analysis) methods through a real-term review of the technology development outcomes of 10 individual research projects currently being carried out. As a result of the study, the development of standard waybills in the first quadrant, the establishment of an integrated logistics platform, the improvement of cold chain, the reduction of courier work, the cooperation of APIs by private companies in the second quadrant, the use of underground logistics using railroads, blockchain technology in the third quadrant, unmanned delivery of autonomous robots at the end, and the use of RTP or eco-friendly transportation equipment in the fourth quadrant were derived and analyzed. Although it differs depending on the degree of progress of each of the 10 major tasks, in the case of actual verification, efforts are planned to be carried out until the pre-commercialization stage after about four years of empirical and feedback processes. Based on the importance and readiness of each quadrant reviewed in the study, it is expected that the maturity and readiness of growth by sector (elements) can be measured and used as basic research and roadmap data for setting the direction of implementation of the integrated real verification in the future.