Korea sets up M.AX data division and plans KRW 115.8bn factory data library from 2027

Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR) said in a press release on Oct 29 that it had launched the data division of the M.AX Alliance, its public-private manufacturing-AI coalition, at the Manufacturing AI Solution Center in Pangyo, with KEIT, KIAT and KETI among the agencies attending.

The ministry presented what it called the first comprehensive strategy for manufacturing data. It covers four steps: staged standardisation so that data generated by different equipment, processes and environments can be linked; strategic collection based on a manufacturing data reference map; safe management through a national manufacturing data library with quality and security controls designed to protect companies' trade secrets and data sovereignty; and use of the accumulated data to develop manufacturing foundation models and grow specialist AI firms. The library project runs from 2027 to 2031, and the government's 2027 budget proposal includes KRW 115.8 billion for it.

Minister Kim Jung-kwan said turning the know-how built up on factory floors into high-quality data is the key to manufacturing-AI competitiveness, and promised common standards and secure infrastructure.

MEKAWIRE context: the data division follows the shipbuilding M.AX alliance plan of Oct 12 and the SME ministry's KRW 5 trillion smart-manufacturing and physical-AI plan announced the same day, Oct 29. The ministry gave no list of participating companies and no target volume for the library, so the scale of data that manufacturers will actually contribute is the open question.