SK Telecom Partners with Startups to Lead the Advancement of Rights for People with Disabilities

SKT Strengthens ESG Management by Supporting Startups Innovating Disabled Lives with AI Technology

SKT and Modu Shuttle are providing the mobility service 'Good Shuttle Mobility' to support workers with severe disabilities who face difficulties due to poor commuting conditions.

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] SK Telecom is gaining attention on Disability Day by providing services to strengthen the social safety net for people with disabilities through collaboration with innovative startups.

Since 2019, SK Telecom has been operating the ‘IMPACTUPS’ program to support startups with excellent technological capabilities in achieving both social value realization and business growth simultaneously. In 2019, the first batch of ‘IMPACTUPS’ supported ‘AT Lab,’ which developed a smartphone accessibility enhancement solution for the visually impaired. The second batch collaborated with four companies providing ICT services to improve the rights of people with disabilities, increasing the proportion of partnerships with disability-related companies.

A representative example is the mobility service ‘Good Shuttle Mobility,’ which supports the mobility rights of severely disabled workers facing difficulties due to poor commuting environments. Since October last year, ‘Good Shuttle Mobility,’ jointly operated by SK Telecom and Modu Shuttle, has provided door-to-door shuttle bus service from home to workplace to assist severely disabled individuals who find it difficult to use public transportation.

Modu Shuttle developed a dedicated app for ‘Good Shuttle Mobility’ that allows customers to make real-time reservations, check vehicle locations, and view available seats, and is responsible for actual vehicle operations. SK Telecom and T map Mobility provide optimized safe routes based on T map data analysis for Good Shuttle Mobility.

Furthermore, through future collaboration with Modu Shuttle, the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities, and the social enterprise Happy Connect established by SK Group, plans are being considered to expand the disability shuttle service to socially vulnerable groups such as the elderly and pregnant women. To this end, starting this month, the business model is being segmented so that general companies can also contribute to guaranteeing mobility rights for people with disabilities through donation agreements, encouraging participation from various companies.

Yeojiyoung, head of SK Telecom’s Open Collaboration division, stated, “We will continuously support startups providing ICT services to solve social problems and contribute to strengthening the social safety net and creating new employment opportunities for people with disabilities.”