This study aims to propose policies for the emerging industry in consideration of the competitive landscape of the mobility industry, where the industrial ecosystem is rapidly changing. Firms in the mobility industry can be largely divided into tradit...
This study aims to propose policies for the emerging industry in consideration of the competitive landscape of the mobility industry, where the industrial ecosystem is rapidly changing. Firms in the mobility industry can be largely divided into traditional car-makers, digital-based firms, and mobility service firms. Promotion policies for digital transformation are derived according to the policy needs of each type of firm.
The analysis of this study focused on ① the automobile industry at the technology-firm-industry level, ② the digital transformation policy for the mobility industry, and ③ the needs of the mobility industry.
First, as a result of the industrial ecosystem analysis, this study addresses that the digitalization of traditional car-makers is very urgent in the process of changing the industrial structure centered on electric vehicles and future cars due to electrification and autonomous driving in the traditional automobile industry. In particular, the autonomous driving sector, which is the core of the future automobile industry, is shifting mainly to start-ups, but in the case of the domestic automobile industry, its competitiveness is declining due to its high dependence on OEM firms. Next, as a result of analyzing the evolution of technology, it is unveiled that the transition to electric vehicles was initiated in 2014, and it was confirmed that electric vehicles are at the beginning of the growth phase in the technology life cycle.
Turning to the analysis of the representative firm of each type, Hyundai Motor, Tesla, and Uber, most of them are growing in a direction that invades each others territory. Hyundai Motor had pursued closed ecosystem, but after the industrial transition, it has tried to form an open ecosystem, whereas Tesla gradually shifted to a closed ecosystem. Furthermore, we found that Uber has pursued an open ecosystem as a limitation of service firms.
Next, as a result of analyzing mobility industry support and digital transformation policies, major countries were focusing on the transition to zero-emission vehicles, while the United States and China are spurring autonomous driving technology innovation. In Korea, the mobility industry policy is being promoted by the Ministry of Trade, industry and Energy, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of Environment.
From the interview of experts in each type of firm, we derived several difficulties and needs which is necessary for the successful digital transformation in the mobility industry. First, the regulation related to new technologies has not been fully legitimated. In addition, due to the significances of digital experts, firms are hard to hire new digital experts who is required for digitalization. Even if firms tried to contribute to digitalization pursued by the government, they may fail due to the lack of the common data platform. In addition, mobility infrastructure such as charging station and cities should be designed for the introduction of next-generation mobility. Lastly, they considered that the government should manage the education curriculum for nurturing experts for data analysis and actively expand the employment support business to solve the wage problem of professional manpower.
Finally, this study proposes five policies in response to the transformation of the industrial ecosystem and the policy needs required by firms. First, it is necessary to form a support organization to clarify new industrial technology regulations and review laws and systems. Second, the infrastructure to support the development of new industries should be expanded. Third, a system to support industrial technology development in the long term should be implemented. Fourth, the data platform for inter-firm cooperation needs to be standardized. Lastly, it is necessary to operate a program to support the human resources for new industry transformation and foster professional workers. The