"KT Research Reveals Information on COVID-19 Infection Spread Routes"

A study has found that the COVID-19 infection rate among users whose KT base station coverage overlapped was higher than that of groups without such overlap. It was confirmed that the location of base stations between users is meaningful information indicating the possibility of contact with confirmed cases. It is expected to be utilized as a means of predicting infection risk in the future.

KT Healthcare Business Group Leader Lim Seung-hyuk is presenting on the topic of mobile surveillance systems at the 'Next-Generation Quarantine Research for Infectious Disease Preparedness' performance sharing meeting. (Photo by KT)

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On the 30th, KT announced that it had completed the "Next-Generation Quarantine Research for Infectious Disease Preparedness," reaching this conclusion. Some of the data collected in this study will be anonymized and made publicly available. The research, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (hereinafter the Gates Foundation), has been conducted over three years since 2020. KT has completed the development of an "AI-based infectious disease self-diagnosis algorithm," which was the goal of the study, and an "infectious disease spread route prediction model" using communication data.

KT held a performance sharing session with four consortium members: Korea University Guro Hospital, Mobile Doctor, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), and MediBloc, to share the research results. During the research process, KT launched the research app "SHINE" in 2021. Approximately 50,000 citizens participated in collecting COVID-19 related data through this app. Analysis showed that among users who registered PCR test results on the SHINE app last year, the COVID-19 infection rate (87.8%) between users whose base station coverage overlapped was 27.5% higher than that of groups without such overlap (60.3%).

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Thus, the location of base stations between users is meaningful information indicating the possibility of contact with confirmed cases and is expected to be used as a means of predicting infection risk going forward. Additionally, the research team anticipated that the infectious disease monitoring method using the app will be utilized to proactively detect newly emerging pandemics in the future. This method involves analyzing health status and symptom data entered by individuals to derive the possibility of a pandemic.

In the future, KT and Korea University Guro Hospital plan to publish detailed research results on the topic of "Mobile Surveillance and Communication Data Utilization for COVID-19 Spread Prediction Analysis" in a professional academic journal. KT will anonymize and release some of the data collected through the SHINE app, including △ COVID-19 self-check data and △ symptom data after COVID-19 vaccination, on the SHINE website (www.shineforall.org). Institutions wishing to use this data for separate research purposes can apply by filling out the data request form on the SHINE website.

Song Jae-ho, Vice President of KT’s AI/DX Convergence Business Division, said, “This research conducted with the Gates Foundation confirmed the possibility of proactive infectious disease response using a mobile app,” adding, “We hope that the data released through the SHINE website will be actively utilized and contribute to the advancement of infectious disease response research domestically and internationally in the future.”

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