KT Adds Technology to Social Economy Enterprise Ideas

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] KT is partnering with the Korea Social Value Solidarity Fund to hold a contest called the "Warm Technology Plus Challenge" to foster social economy enterprises.

According to KT on the 27th, the "Warm Technology Plus Challenge" is a contest that selects social economy enterprises aiming to create social value through technology, providing business realization funds along with opportunities to utilize KT's intangible and tangible assets such as application programming interfaces (APIs) and management consulting. This contest was organized to help social economy enterprises, which mostly consist of labor-intensive businesses and face difficulties in integrating technology, by leveraging KT's technology and expertise.

The contest is divided into two categories: ▲ Adding Technology to Impact: enterprises currently addressing social issues without technological elements but seeking to create greater social value by adding technology ▲ Adding Impact to Technology: enterprises that possess technology but want to further develop their existing technology.

Any social economy enterprise such as social enterprises, cooperatives, and social ventures can participate in the contest, and consortium participation is also allowed. Non-registered businesses and individuals are not eligible. The application period is until November 15. KT plans to select a total of six enterprises through document and interview evaluations. Selected enterprises will receive up to 100 million KRW in business realization funds and technical mentoring for six months. After six months, outstanding teams will be selected to receive an additional business realization fund of up to 100 million KRW.

On the 27th at 2 p.m., KT will hold a business briefing session at the Community House Masil in Jung-gu, Seoul, for pre-registered companies. The session will introduce KT’s reasons for launching the contest, evaluation criteria, successful cases of social value, and KT’s technology. Yang Yul-mo, KT’s Head of Public Relations (Executive Director), said, “We expect that the combination of KT’s technological capabilities and the ideas of social economy enterprises will bring warm changes to society,” adding, “KT will be a reliable supporter of social economy enterprises through continuous technological support rather than one-time, showy assistance.”

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