Ministry of Trade Industry and Resources

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR, Minister Kim Jung-kwan) announced that it co-hosted the 2nd Korea–Germany Industrial Data Space Forum on Thursday, October 23, at the Nine Tree Premier ROKAUS Hotel in Yongsan, Seoul, together with Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWE). The event brought together around 100 experts from industry, academia, and research, including representatives from the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT), the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation (KICOX), and AI solution companies.

Overview of the 2nd Korea–Germany Industrial Data Space Forum

Date/Venue: October 23, 2025 (Thu), 09:15 / Nine Tree Premier ROKAUS Hotel, Yongsan, Seoul
Host/Organizer: MOTIR / KIAT
Key Participants: [Korea] MOTIR (including the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards), KIAT, KICOX; [Germany] BMWE, Embassy of Germany in Korea, and organizations related to Manufacturing-X
Main Agenda: Sharing of Korea–Germany industrial data utilization cases, policy cooperation discussions among MOTIR, KIAT, and KICOX, and consultations on the Korean Manufacturing-X initiative.

Following the first forum held in October 2024, this year’s event was organized to discuss bilateral cooperation strategies and share best practices as the Korean government plans to include the “Industrial Data Space Standard Model Project” in the 2026 national budget.

To drive manufacturing digital transformation (AX) by integrating AI across manufacturing processes and the entire upstream and downstream value chains, collecting and utilizing reliable industrial data is crucial. Reflecting this need, MOTIR signed an MOU with ten major industry associations at the 1st Industrial AI EXPO on September 3 to establish a voluntary data-sharing framework among companies.

At the forum, participants discussed strategies for building industrial data spaces tailored to Korea’s industrial environment to enable manufacturing data sharing across key sectors. They also explored standardization and interoperability between Korean and German data spaces. Korean companies presented their technologies and pilot cases in industrial data space development, while the German side introduced the progress and best practices of Catena-X, the automotive industry’s leading data space initiative.

Kang Kam-chan, Director General for Industrial Policy at MOTIR, stated, “If Korea can leverage Germany’s experience and expertise gained from successfully implementing Catena-X to build an industrial data ecosystem suited to our industries, it will greatly benefit Korean manufacturers. We will continue regular cooperation with Germany, a global leader in industrial data spaces, to jointly build a global industrial data ecosystem through strong public–private collaboration.”