KT Takes  First Step Towards Stopping  Spread of Infectious Disease in Afric : KT Takes the First Step Towards Stopping the Spread of Infectious Disease in Africa

frica was the first in the world to respond to KT's call to use cooperation in big data to stop the spread of infectious disease. On May 29th, KT (CEO Hwang Chang-Gyu, www.kt.com) and Kenya's number one telecommunications provider Safaricom signed an MOU to use big data to stop the spread of infectious disease.

The MOU was signed in Safariacom's headquarters in Nairobi with KOTRA(Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency) observing the deal. Kenya's Safaricom is the first global telecommunications company to collaborate with KT on the Stopping the Spread of Infectious Disease Using Big Data project.

Safaricom is the first telecommunications company in the world to use big data to stop the spread of infectious disease and has about 71.2% of the wireless communications market, with 25 million customers. Banking facilities in Kenya are not well developed, so low-income people use the mobile banking system MPesa. The system is recognized in international society for helping to advance the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, which generates a lot of brand recognition for the system's creator Safaricom.

According to this MOU, KT and Safaricom will construct a system which uses big data to send texts (SMS) to stop the spread of infectious diseases. Both the Kenyan Health Ministry and KOTRA are actively cooperating with the two companies to build a system which uses roaming big data, to use the Korean model, to stop the spread of infectious disease through sending SMS messages. KT is providing technical support and consulting to Safaricom for the construction of the system.

KT and Safaricom are not only collaborating to stop the spread of infectious disease, but agreed to also work together on healthcare, education, agriculture, green energy, public safety and intelligent transportation systems in a variety of fields where they cooperate on pushing forward big data initiatives. At this event KOTRA, KT and Safaricom planned to support each other on various levels for the Stopping the Spread of infectious Disease Using Big Data project. Additionally, during the system construction process KOTRA is supporting small, medium and large domestic companies' entry into the market. This policy improves the employment and invigorates both economies.

More than anything this MOU is a landmark deal because it is the first to take up KT on its offer to work towards the goal of stopping the spread of infectious disease worldwide through the use of big data. In June of 2016 in the U.S. at the UN Global Compact Leaders' Summit, UN and national governments as well as global telecommunications companies, were presented KT's vision for a collaborative effort to Stopping the Spread of infectious Disease Using Big Data. This was followed up in September of 2016 when KT and the UNGC signed an MOU for the Stopping the Spread of infectious Disease Using Big Data project.

KT's Stopping the Spread of infectious Disease Using Big Data project wasn't just presented to the UN, but also to G20 members in a G20 meeting. CEO Hwang Chang-Gyu was a keynote speaker In April of 2017 at the G20 Digital Ministers' Meeting in Dusseldorf Germany. He talked about how ICT can be used to innovatively affect change in this test case, which will use big data to stop the spread of infectious disease. In May of this year in Berlin Germany, alongside the G20 was the B20 Health Initiative, where the Stopping the Spread of infectious Disease Using Big Data policy paper was presented.

Safaricom saw that by using cutting edge ICT technology it could contribute to the problem facing humanity of stopping the spread of infectious disease and so became interested in KT's project. The Kenyan department of health is aware of the danger of infectious diseases in nearby countries, such as the reoccurring disaster of Ebola the Congo, H1N1, MERS, and national catastrophes like the rapid spread of infectious diseases, and did the MOU with this in mind.

Africa has a hot and humid climate with a poor medical environment, so it has become the epicenter of rampaging infectious diseases. Safaricom service area includes Nairobi International Airport (Jomo Kenyatta), is the largest scale airport in central-east Africa and one of the major entranceways into the continent of Africa. Europe, Africa, Asian and the Middle East are connected through hub airports which will be vital to stopping the spread of infectious disease through big data.

KT's Business Support Department leader Gu Hyeon-mo said "We've taken the first concrete step in Stopping the Spread of infectious Disease Using Big Data project, in which KT will provide its own cutting edge technology to Safaricom for the success of this project. By starting this project, and using big data with Safaricom, this advances a solution to one of the problems facing Kenya.

※ Photo DescriptionKT's stopping the spread of infectious disease around the world using big data collaboration proposal gets its first response in Africa. On May 29th, it was announced that KT and Kenya's number one telecommunications provider Safaricom signed an MOU for using big data to stop the spread of infectious disease.

[Picture 1] KT business support department leader Gu Hyeon-mo and Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore concluding the Using Big Data to Stop the Spread of Infectious Disease Project MOU.

[Picture 2] KT Business Support Department leader Gu Hyeon-mo(third from the right) and Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore(fourth from the right) and other executives are having a pleasant conversation about Stopping the Spread of infectious Disease Using Big Data, with KT.

[Picture 3] (Fourth from the left) KOTRA Nairobi trade Minister Son Byeong-il, KT Business Support Department Leader Gu Hyeon-mo, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, Safaricom CTO Thibaud Rerolle and KT and Safaricom executives take a commemorative photo together.

[Picture 4] KT business support department head Gu Hyeon-mo giving an opening statement on the Preventing the Spread of Infectious Disease Using Big Data project

[Picture 5] Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore introducing Safaricom

※ Reference Information

① SMS dispatch system
- Using roaming big data, abroad in areas where infectious disease are contracted, a text message can be sent to visitors about how to prevent infectious disease, with the early prevention of the spread of infectious disease system.
- It first started in November of 2016 with the program targeting KT customers.
- In April of 2017 the program was expanded to include subscribers of SK Telecoms and LG U+.
② Preventing the Spread of Infectious Disease Project Timeline
- June 2016 (UNGC Leaders' Summit 2016) stopping the spread of infectious disease project agenda presentation.
- September 2016, KT signs an MOU with the UNGC for moving forward with its agenda
- November 2016 KT start the SMS messaging for customers on its network
- December 2016 Korean, Chinese and Japanese health ministers meet to discuss the agenda
- April 2017 G20 Digital Minsters Meeting, keynote introduction
- May 2017 B20 Health Initiative Policy Paper presentation
③ Kenya Safaricom Timeline
- Established in 1997 in Nairobi Kenya, and has approximately 3000 employees as of 2016
- Wired and wireless internet banking targeted at Individual, business and government
- About 25 million members and 72.1% market share making it the number one telecommunications provider in the country.(in 2016 Kenya has a about 37 million mobile phone users)
- The first in east Africa to provide 3G, and the latest to provide 4G/LTE
④ MPesa
- The M stands for mobile, and Pesa means money in Swahili. So together, MPesa means mobile money. Send money through text messages, for things such as shopping, bill payment, transportation fee payment and more. Areas with no banks in particular are targeted for the phone payment system which over half of the Kenyan population uses.
⑤ UN Sustainable Development Goals
- UN international leaders' summit which includes governments, companies and NGOs, aims to solve global issues and in 2015 it adopted a global development agenda which it hopes to achieve by the year 2030. There are 17 global goals with 169 specific targets.