Various Welfare Information at a Glance on Smartphones... Songpa-gu Builds Nation's First GIS-Based 'Visiting Welfare Map'

▲ Visualization on map of high-risk solitary death groups ▲ Location of home welfare recipients ▲ Status of welfare facilities
Increased efficiency of household visits through smartphone support... Non-budget development through interdepartmental collaboration also draws attention

Songpa-gu (District Mayor Seo Gang-seok) announced that it has established the nation’s first online home-visit welfare map, ‘Songpa Smart Welfare Map,’ which allows users to view the status of welfare resource information in the area at a glance on a map, and plans to utilize it in practice starting this October.

Currently, the district manages approximately 14,500 households eligible for home-visit welfare services. Among them, about 4,000 households at risk of solitary death are monitored year-round, and surveys are conducted every two months on 3,000 households in welfare blind spots, resulting in a steadily increasing workload for home-visit welfare services.

In response, the district has taken the initiative to build an integrated database based on a Geographic Information System (GIS) for the first time nationwide to enhance the convenience of welfare practitioners and efficiently manage at-risk households. Notably, the system is also compatible with mobile devices, increasing its usability in the field.

Previously, during home visits, staff relied on conventional map apps and lists, which consumed significant time and administrative effort. However, with the development of a map that allows for an at-a-glance understanding of the distribution of welfare recipients, it has become possible to provide more efficient and higher-quality administrative services.

Moreover, the map is even more valuable as it was developed internally through interdepartmental collaboration without any additional budget.

The information included in the ‘Songpa Smart Welfare Map’ consists of ▲ households at risk of solitary death ▲ locations of home-visit welfare recipients within the area ▲ status of welfare facilities, among others. The information is layered and visualized on the map so that users can combine the necessary data according to their viewing purposes.

A district official stated, “With the new system, it will be possible to comprehensively analyze welfare recipients and solitary death risk groups by neighborhood and utilize the data in various ways,” adding, “To protect personal information, security features have been strengthened so that only practitioners can access the system by entering a password.”

The relevant information will be regularly updated by the responsible departments and neighborhood community centers to maintain reliability. The district plans to complete the system construction by the end of September and conduct training for welfare monitoring practitioners at 27 neighborhood community centers in October to enhance the system’s practical use in the field.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “With the GIS-based welfare map ‘Songpa Smart Welfare Map,’ which Songpa-gu has established for the first time nationwide, we will eliminate welfare blind spots and strengthen home-visit welfare services,” and added, “We will continue to pursue proactive administration through advanced technology to create a warm and inclusive city where no one is left behind.”

Seokangseok, Mayor of Songpa District