KT, South Korea’s largest telecommunications company, is developing a COVID-19 infection risk assessment model, using its Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data-based digital contact tracing technology, adding to global efforts to tackle the escalating pandemic.
The Korean telecom leader’s new pilot project is supported by the Research Investment for Global Health Technology Fund, better known as RIGHT Fund. The global research fund accepted the promising proposal by KT to develop AI-based technology that assesses COVID-19 infection risks.
“KT’s new project will help combat the pandemic globally,” said Kim Chae-Hee, Head of KT’s AI/Big Data division. “We at KT will do our best to help prevent COVID-19 from further spreading and raise the efficacy of medical service, using our AI and Big Data technologies for the sake of humanity.”
KT plans to use the pilot project results to apply for a larger-scale, RIGHT Fund-supported project in 2021. RIGHT Fund is a global health research funding agency established in 2018 with contributions from Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Korean life science companies to promote global public health.
For the pilot project, KT plans to assess COVID-19 infection risks by using AI and Big Data to analyze data on the movement of smartphone users and those who have been tested positive for COVID-19 and made public by the government.
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