The Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups is launching the 'Artificial Intelligence Transformation (AX)' project in line with the new government inauguration.
AX is a key promise made by President Lee Jae-myung. During the presidential election period, President Lee emphasized 'a leap to AI 3rd phase through AX.' In particular, he proposed a blueprint to create a global AI hub by developing a national AI data aggregation cluster. The government also plans to establish a 100 trillion won scale AI investment fund in collaboration with the private sector.
In response, the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups is set to focus on the dissemination of AI among small and medium-sized enterprises. The goal is to strengthen the competitiveness of manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the roots of the Korean economy.
Currently, the Ministry is analyzing President Lee's AI enhancement promise and reviewing the role of the Ministry in the next government's AI 3rd phase plan. An insider familiar with the Ministry's internal situation projected, 'The Ministry will fully launch the AX project about a month after the Minister's inauguration.'
The key point is the improvement of productivity through the dissemination of AI in small and medium-sized enterprises. Last year, the production index of manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises was 101.7, a decrease of 3.3 percentage points compared to 105 in 2018. In a situation where the workforce available for production in small and medium enterprises is declining, the aim is to support the establishment of AI-based smart factories in production sites such as processing and mold sectors to enhance productivity.
The industrial production index is an indicator of production activities, where a production index of 101 based on 2020, which has a baseline of 100, means that production increased by 1% compared to 2020. This is compared to the production index of large corporations, which increased from 98.2 in 2018 to 115.3 last year, an increase of 17.1 percentage points.
The Ministry plans to not only strengthen the 'Digital Transformation (DX)' project supporting smart factories for small and medium-sized enterprises but also to incorporate AI solutions into this project.
A senior official from the Ministry stated, 'The AX for small and medium-sized enterprises is related to the existing DX, but it will focus more on increasing productivity through AI analysis and forecasting.' He also noted, 'There may be issues such as expense and securing production-related data for AX, and we are currently reviewing various detailed plans for AX.'
Recently, it is noteworthy that the Ministry is advancing AX for small and medium-sized enterprises in regions with lower AI utilization compared to small and medium enterprises in the metropolitan area. The Ministry announced on the 28th of last month that it will establish manufacturing AI centers in Daegu, Ulsan, and North Chungcheong Province. Daegu will focus on machine elements and material parts, Ulsan on automotive parts, and North Chungcheong Province on bio and cosmetics, considering the industrial characteristics of each region as well as the differences in AI utilization between the metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas.
There are also suggestions that an organization capable of controlling AI-related projects handled by various departments within the Ministry could be created.
Professor Kim Il-jung from the KAIST Manufacturing AI Big Data Center stated, 'Whether the manufacturing ecosystem of small and medium-sized enterprises transitions to the AI era in 2 to 3 years will clearly reveal differences in manufacturing competitiveness among countries worldwide,' and emphasized, 'It is necessary to consider not only a government-level AI control tower but also the establishment of a core organization within the Ministry to support the AX for small and medium enterprises.'
Professor Kim also highlighted, 'Considering factors like workforce and expense, we cannot support AX for all manufacturing small and medium enterprises,' and stressed, 'We need to focus AI solutions on key processes that align with the objectives of the corporations.'