KT Koo Hyun-mo: "ICT Utilization for Infectious Disease Management... Regulatory Flexibility Needed"

KT Publishes Report at UN Broadband Commission

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] KT has published a report at the United Nations (UN) Broadband Commission emphasizing the importance of ICT and global cooperation to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to KT on the 23rd, the company presented the contents of the Infectious Disease Management Working Group report titled "The Importance of ICT and Global Cooperation for Infectious Disease Management" at the Broadband Commission's autumn plenary session held online on the 19th. The main contents include ▲ international efforts and best practices for COVID-19 response ▲ valuable lessons learned during the COVID-19 response ▲ suggestions for global cooperation measures to overcome future possible pandemics.

Based on the COVID-19 response strategies and ICT utilization cases analyzed by the Infectious Disease Management Working Group in 14 countries across Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa, KT suggested the need to establish an ICT-based infectious disease response system to cope with new infectious diseases.

Ku Hyun-mo, CEO of KT and chairperson of the Infectious Disease Management Working Group, stated, "For ICT utilization in infectious disease management to be timely and efficient, it is necessary to make regulations on related data and networks flexible," and emphasized, "We should also consider preparing a global public-private cooperative infectious disease response management system for data sharing and inter-country policy coordination."

So far, KT has developed various ICT-based solutions for infectious disease management and contributed to Korea's COVID-19 response through platforms such as the Global Epidemic Prevention Platform and Call Check-in. KT expects this report to contribute to preparing future ICT-based infectious disease countermeasures. After final feedback from Broadband Commission members, the report will be distributed through the Broadband Commission website in October.

The Broadband Commission is an ad hoc international organization launched in 2010, jointly organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and supported by the UN. It includes participation from heads of state, senior government and policy officials, CEOs of ICT companies, representatives of international organizations such as the UN and ITU, and prominent academics. In Korea, CEO Ku is the sole member participating.

The Infectious Disease Management Working Group chaired by CEO Ku includes a total of 16 members, including Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, Huawei, and Singapore government officials, and has conducted an analysis of each country's ICT-based response cases focusing on COVID-19. Based on these results, KT plans to present a concrete direction for a global infectious disease joint response system and has prepared the report through one year of activities.

Additionally, the 2021 Broadband Commission Annual Report, presented together at the online plenary session, included KT’s core initiatives and globally prominent ESG management cases.