Ministry of SMEs and Startups Joins Hands with Germany to Lead Global SME Manufacturing Data

Agreement Signed Between Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team Under Ministry of SMEs and Startups and LNI 4.0 Under German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs
Establishing International Cooperation with Germany to Lead Global Manufacturing Data Sector for Our SMEs

Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The government has launched full-scale cooperation with Germany to strengthen the manufacturing competitiveness of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises through smart manufacturing innovation and to lead the world in the field of manufacturing data. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Park Young-sun, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) announced on the 4th that its affiliated organization, the Small and Medium Business Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Group, signed an agreement for cooperation in the 4th Industrial Revolution field with LNI 4.0 under the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs at the Kensington Hotel in Yeouido.

The signing ceremony between the two organizations was held online due to the recent spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with Minister Park Young-sun of the Ministry and Minister Peter Altmaier of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs attending. Henning Kagermann, chairman of the German Academy of Engineering Sciences and known worldwide as a pioneer of Industry 4.0, presided over the event.

Through this agreement, the two countries will promote cooperation in various fields such as digital business model development, international standard development and demonstration in smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and 5G communication. The Ministry plans to utilize Korea's 5G communication infrastructure to build smart factories or manufacturing data centers and cooperate in developing international standards related to manufacturing common equipment industries with manufacturing capability advantages, such as electronics, mold, and press. They also agreed to closely discuss participation in the European Union (EU)-led 'GAIA-X' project to ensure that small and medium enterprises are not dependent on specific countries or platforms when trading or utilizing manufacturing data.

The Ministry also plans to actively utilize the results of cooperation with Germany in building the cloud-based artificial intelligence manufacturing platform (KAMP), which will be fully operational from 2021. Minister Park Young-sun of the Ministry explained, "This agreement is significant as it establishes an international cooperation foundation for our small and medium enterprises to strengthen manufacturing competitiveness through digital transformation." She added, "For 'My Manufacturing Data,' which returns the profits gained from manufacturing data to companies, to function properly, it is important to create a fair trading environment where participating companies receive benefits proportional to their contributions based on mutually agreed rules." She further stated, "Cooperation between the two countries will create an environment where manufacturing data can be freely and transparently shared and traded, providing an opportunity to support a paradigm shift from a platform economy dominated by a few monopolizing data to an open protocol economy where anyone can easily participate."