Bucheon-si and KEPCO Strengthen Identification of Vulnerable Households Using Power Big Data

Bucheon City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 11th that it has signed a business agreement with Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) Bucheon Branch and KEPCO MCS Bucheon Branch to establish a cooperative system for discovering households in crisis.

According to the agreement, the city will continuously monitor electricity data for vulnerable groups such as high-risk single-person households by utilizing KEPCO's electricity big data. If abnormal signals such as sudden changes in electricity usage are detected, prompt intervention will be made to check on their health and well-being.

In addition, electrical technology experts from KEPCO MCS will directly visit households in crisis, such as those with overdue electricity bills, to provide electrical safety-related services including inspection of electrical distribution panels.

Along with this, the Bucheon City online village platform, the Smart On (溫) Bucheon app, will be used to quickly report households in crisis discovered during public service processes to Bucheon City and mutually share the results of their handling.

(From left) An Hoon, Head of Bucheon Branch at KEPCO MCS; Park Hwabok, Director of Welfare and Hygiene Bureau, Bucheon City; Min Hyungseok, Head of Bucheon Branch at KEPCO Power, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing a business agreement to establish a cooperative system for discovering vulnerable households using power big data at Bucheon City Hall on the 10th.
[Photo by Bucheon City]

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety is developing an innovative model that utilizes information and communication technology (ICT) and local community networks at the neighborhood level, the frontline institution for residents, to resolve welfare and safety blind spots.

In line with this government policy direction, Bucheon City has participated in the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s public contest project for two consecutive years since last year, promoting a smart welfare and safety community project. In particular, it is leading citizen participation and collaborating with various related organizations to strengthen a dense welfare and safety net at the village level.

A Bucheon City official stated, "We expect that the welfare and safety net will be further strengthened to efficiently discover and manage households in crisis," adding, "We will provide training on how to identify welfare and safety blind spots to workers of related organizations that signed the business agreement, and continuously monitor whether there are any issues in promoting the cooperative projects."