Ministry of Industry Begins Drafting 'Digital Growth Promotion Act'..."Aiming for National Assembly Approval by Year-End"

"Accelerating Digital Transformation Using Industrial Data and AI"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] On the 6th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that it held a kickoff meeting for a task force to enact the "Special Act on Promoting Industrial Innovation Growth Based on Digital Technology" (tentative name), chaired by Kim Jeonghoe, Director of the Industrial Technology Convergence Policy Bureau.

The meeting was held to rapidly promote the "Industrial Intelligence Policy," which integrates advanced digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and 5G networks across industries including manufacturing, energy, and distribution to enhance the entire industrial value chain. About 20 experts from industry, academia, and research institutes specializing in manufacturing, AI, big data, and 5G attended the meeting.

The Ministry diagnosed that the global value chain (GVC) is weakening due to recent trends such as major countries' prioritization of their own interests and the spread of COVID-19, while the contactless (untact) economy is emerging rapidly. To promote industrial smartization, eco-friendliness, and convergence, it emphasized the need to apply big data and AI throughout the industrial value chain to achieve "intelligence" in developing intelligent new products and services, production, logistics, and marketing, and is pushing related policies accordingly.

It was noted that for Korea to stand tall as a data and AI powerhouse, effective utilization of industrial data is essential. Industrial data has the advantage of being relatively free from personal information protection issues and can be used to innovate the entire industrial value chain, including customized new product and service development, production, distribution, and logistics.

Korea possesses a world-class manufacturing base in semiconductors, displays, automobiles, and shipbuilding, as well as excellent information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure such as 5G, giving it great potential for industrial data utilization. With the advancement of digital new technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing accelerating the accumulation of industrial data, the importance of industrial data is expected to grow further.

Major manufacturing powerhouses such as Germany and Japan are organizing laws and systems related to industrial data and conducting pilot projects, but Korea lacks properly established related systems. Although interest in the collection and utilization of personal data has increased following the revision of the "Data 3 Act" last February, policies, laws, systems, support frameworks, and infrastructure related to industrial data collection and utilization remain insufficient.

The Ministry plans to accelerate industrial digital transformation using industrial data and AI by promoting the enactment of the Digital Growth Promotion Act. Starting with the kickoff meeting for the legislative task force, three detailed subcommittees?general, system, and support?composed of experts from industry, academia, and research will be operated. They will study and analyze similar domestic and international laws and systems, gather opinions from experts in industry, academia, and the legal field, and prepare a related bill. The goal is to pass the bill through the National Assembly by the end of this year.

Director Kim stated, "To revive our economy, which has been stagnated due to the recent global spread of COVID-19, and to prepare for the reorganization of the GVC and the rise of the contactless economy, it is necessary to fundamentally change the structure of our industry by accelerating innovation across the entire industrial value chain using advanced digital technologies." He added, "The public and private sectors will join forces to rapidly promote the 'Industrial Intelligence Policy.'"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.