What Tacit Knowledge Is and Why It Became a Policy Priority
Tacit knowledge is the know-how skilled workers build up over years on the job: techniques, judgment calls, and a feel for the work. Examples include judging a weld by the sound of the bead, reading temperature from the color of a casting, and sensing a bad fit through the resistance in their fingertips. This knowledge is hard to put into documents, so it has mostly been handed down through apprenticeship.
That model is breaking down. As the workforce ages and veteran workers retire, their know-how is at risk of disappearing. Meanwhile, reported figures put manufacturing AI adoption among Korean SMEs in the 0.1% range.
Earlier smart factory and AI programs focused mainly on sensor and equipment data. The tacit knowledge program is different because it aims to turn human judgment into data.
From the 2026 Pilot to the 2027 Full Program
Which Companies and Processes Are Best Positioned
Four Steps You Can Take Before the Call Opens
Step 1: Map Your Tacit Knowledge
For each process, list the decisions that only a particular person can make. Compare that list with your defect and rework history. This shows which judgments are tied directly to losses and tells you where to start.
Step 2: Run a Data Collection Pilot
Record work video synchronized with sensor data, and interview your experts so they explain their reasoning out loud. Before any filming, put consent procedures for personal data and image rights in place.
Step 3: Settle Data Rights
Agree in writing on data ownership, scope of use, and compensation among the individual workers, your company, and the AI developer. If you plan to contribute data to the national library, decide in advance how much you can share without exposing confidential know-how.
Step 4: Explore Consortium Partners
Work out how roles will be split among AI vendors, research institutes, and large buyer companies.
Common Mistakes and Risks
How KITIM Can Help
KITIM assesses tacit knowledge process by process to set your priorities, then plans your application around them. We also map overlaps and links with AI-focused smart factory programs and M.AX-linked initiatives, and we manage your preparation timeline for the 2027 calls.
If you are concerned about losing know-how as experienced workers retire, now is the time to prepare, before the call is announced. Request a consultation with KITIM to build a tacit knowledge AI strategy that fits your processes.