The Korea Automotive Technology Institute, or Katech, has agreed to work together with the UK-based automotive consultancy firm Horiba Mira on the early commercialization of autonomous vehicles, the agency said Friday.

Katech Director Heo Nam-yong and Horiba Mira’s Chief Commercial Officer Roisin Hopkins agreed to pursue joint research and development on future vehicle technologies, signing a partnership agreement at the Horiba Mira headquarters in Nuneaton, England, Thursday (Greenwich Mean Time).

According to Katech, Horiba Mira is an automotive engineering and development consultancy with about 600 engineers. The company also has 39 driving and crash-test facilities and the world’s largest proving ground, covering 3.33 million square meters, Katech added.

Under the agreement Katech and Horiba Mira will cooperate on the development of technology and applications for connected and autonomous vehicles, and will also come up with new evaluation tests and standards for the commercialization of the vehicles.

Connected and autonomous vehicles combine connectivity and automated technologies to assist or replace humans while driving.

“From our active partnership with Horiba Mira, we seek to contribute to the local automotive industry’s technological competitiveness,” Katech’s Heo said. “We will also support the efforts of the local auto parts industry to adapt to new mobility technologies, and the government’s policy goals related to autonomous driving technologies.”

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)