Our companies identified 'artificial intelligence (AI)' and 'big data' as fields where standardization is urgently needed to lead the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Large corporations and mid-sized companies cited 'lack of expertise' as the biggest reason for difficulties in standardization activities, while small and medium-sized enterprises cited 'financial burden'.

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Director Lee Sang-hoon) announced on the 16th the results of the 'Industrial Standardization Status Survey' conducted on 1,000 manufacturing companies in new industrial sectors and 1,000 citizens to establish standard policies for the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The detailed survey results showed that companies ranked artificial intelligence (AI) as the top priority (37%) for technology fields requiring urgent standardization to lead the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, followed by big data (24%), the Internet of Things (17%), robotics (17%), and mobile (13%).

When asked about areas requiring standardization, respondents answered in the order of product testing and evaluation standards (40%), product specification standards (37%), and technology convergence standards (29%).

However, analysis showed that the technologies and areas deemed urgent vary by industry, indicating a need to establish differentiated standardization strategies for each sector.

In response to the question asking about the standards primarily utilized by industry, respondents cited German standards (DIN) for electric vehicles, British standards (BS) for offshore plants and drones, and American standards (ANSI) for next-generation processes, indicating that national standards of technology-leading countries are being actively utilized to enter overseas markets.

Our companies are actively engaging in international standardization activities to incorporate their technologies into international standards and secure a leading position in the global market. Regarding the reasons for the difficulties encountered in standardization activities, large and medium-sized enterprises cited a lack of expertise among internal personnel, while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) cited the financial burden of overseas standardization as the biggest reason.

It was found that government support is needed, as all companies cited the difficulty of collecting information as a common challenge.

In the survey Most of the respondents were aware of the Korean Industrial Standards (KS), and 99% of respondents showed a level of trust above average in response to the question of whether they trusted the Korean Industrial Standards (KS).

However, looking at the details, awareness among those in their 20s and 30s was lower than among those in their 50s and 60s, and they also responded relatively low in the trust survey, so it was analyzed that efforts to improve perceptions of the younger generation are needed.

Based on the results of this survey, the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards plans to incorporate them into industry-specific and technology-specific standardization strategies to secure a leading position in the technology market of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, continuously expand the budget to support companies' international standardization activities, and actively promote master's and doctoral degree programs to foster professional personnel in standards.

Lee Sang-hoon, Administrator of the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, stated, “To strengthen the global competitiveness of our companies in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we will actively promote the standardization of key technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, while simultaneously implementing customized support policies tailored to specific industries and company sizes.”