Seoul City Supports Citizen Welfare and Safety Through Smart City Services... 'Gwanak-gu' Selected for Pilot Project

Three Advanced ICT-Based Welfare and Safety Services
Using Beacons in Daycare Centers to Prevent Child Disappearance During Outdoor Activities, Introducing Smart Healthcare in Senior Centers

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 5th, Seoul’s Gwanak-gu announced that it will introduce a system using ‘Beacon’ technology to prevent child disappearances at 15 daycare centers within the district. When children wear beacons during outdoor activities or field trips, their location is automatically sent to the district control center in case of a disappearance, and nearby CCTV footage is displayed to immediately identify their whereabouts.

Local senior centers will be transformed into ‘Smart Senior Centers.’ Through wearable devices, seniors’ health information such as body temperature, pulse, and blood sugar levels will be measured daily, and if any abnormalities are detected, registered guardians will be notified via text message. The collected health data will also be used as reference material during hospital visits.

Additionally, the nation’s first ‘urban autonomous patrol robot’ is scheduled for pilot operation. It will patrol dark streets late at night, and if it detects a dangerous situation, the robot’s onboard camera will transmit live footage to the district control center, enabling rapid response to emergencies. This demonstration operation aims to utilize the robot for crime prevention.

Seoul City has selected Gwanak-gu as the final district for the ‘Living Field Smart City Pilot Project,’ which solves various urban issues such as safety through advanced ICT technology in collaboration with districts, companies, and citizens. Over two years (2022?2023), 1.35 billion KRW will be invested to demonstrate future smart city technologies in citizens’ daily lives.

Gwanak-gu will promote smart city services in three areas to address local issues in ‘welfare’ and ‘safety.’ Seoul City will support technology review and the expansion of pilot service outcomes, while Gwanak-gu will implement and manage the projects based on feedback from citizens and experts. Gwanak-gu plans to operate each project through a ‘Living Lab’ composed of officials, social workers, daycare teachers, and citizens as service users, allowing citizens to propose, experience, and improve services themselves.

Meanwhile, in 2019, Seoul designated Seongdong-gu and Yangcheon-gu as special zones for the ‘Living Field Smart City Pilot Project,’ investing 6 billion KRW over three years (2019?2021) to complete creative and highly satisfactory smart services such as ‘Smart Crosswalks’ and ‘Customized Smart Security Lights.’

Park Jong-su, Director of Seoul’s Smart City Policy Division, said, “Seoul aims to move away from public institution-led smart city projects and promote the ‘Living Field Smart City Pilot Project’ so that private new technologies and services needed by citizens in daily life can be commercialized. We will continue to implement citizen-driven, experience-based smart city projects to solve increasingly complex urban problems and improve citizens’ quality of life.”

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