Busan Prevents Solitary Deaths with Nation's First Urban Gas Meter Reading

Busan City, Busan City Gas, and SK Telesys Sign Digital Service Agreement for Solitary Death Prevention on the 22nd
Utilizing Big Data Such as City Gas Usage and Refrigerator Door Opening Frequency to Prevent Solitary Deaths

Conceptual Diagram of the Initiative System to Prevent Solitary Deaths Using Urban Gas Meter Reading Big Data.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] A digital service project to prevent solitary deaths by analyzing sudden drops in city gas usage or when the refrigerator door is opened zero times as warning signs will be launched for the first time nationwide in Busan.

Using city gas meter reading big data to prevent solitary deaths is a project rarely seen worldwide.

Busan City, Busan City Gas, and SK Telesys announced on the 21st that they will sign an agreement on the 22nd at 2 p.m. in the small conference room on the 12th floor of City Hall to build a “non-face-to-face solitary death prevention service digital infrastructure” utilizing big data such as remote city gas meter readings for the first time nationwide.

Since last year, the city has applied the “near-distance remote meter reading system for city gas in areas with difficult meter readings such as old downtown” to solve the solitary death problem, conducting a pilot project targeting 100 elderly living alone households. Although the project aimed to prevent solitary deaths by detecting abnormal signs such as a sudden drop in gas usage, there were limitations with the existing weekly inspections.

Accordingly, Busan City, together with Busan City Gas and SK Telesys, will promote a project to monitor in real time the city gas usage and refrigerator door opening sensor information for solitary death risk groups in Busan to detect warning signs early and prevent solitary deaths.

The main contents of the agreement include Busan City providing wireless communication networks to build a social safety net for about 10,000 solitary death risk households in Busan, Busan City Gas supporting social contribution investments and installation operations, and SK Telesys supporting IoT product and software development.

The system will operate by receiving real-time information from remotely installed meters and refrigerator door opening sensors after obtaining consent for personal information use from each household.

The received information will be digitized and shared through an application program with solitary death officers in city, county, and district offices. Starting with a pilot project for 200 households this year, the project will gradually expand over five years.

This project is the first nationwide social safety net construction project utilizing real-time city gas meter readings and aligns with the Korean New Deal’s three major projects: digital infrastructure construction, digitalization of SOC, and fostering non-face-to-face industries.

Byun Sung-wan, Acting Mayor of Busan, said, “We have collaborated with Busan City Gas’s social contribution investment and SK Telesys’s advanced technology to secure a social safety net for solitary death prevention using real-time remote city gas meter reading information for the first time nationwide. We plan to expand the project to 10,000 solitary death risk households starting next year and will ensure the project proceeds quickly and systematically.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.