Global CSR by Startup
Ovitz Corporation, a New York-based global startup that develops tiny portable devices to check eyes, is set to support eye care in developing countries.
The K-ICT Born 2 Global Center (Chief Executive Director Kim Jong-gap) said that its member company Ovitz will participate in an eye disease prevention project in Bangladesh. The company has become the first to carry out the project as part of KOICA CTS programs. Also, the project is expected to promote eye health in developing countries in the future. Based on creative and innovative technology, the CTS project is an innovation induction program to seek out ideas to address social problems in developing countries, produce prototypes, and support commercialization.
Kim Joung-yoon, founder and CEO of Ovitz, said, “There are 4.5 billion people across the globe in need of visual correction, and 80 percent of visual impairment cases are preventable with prior eye examination. However, it is actually very difficult for the disadvantaged in developing countries to get proper eye exams, because it is impossible to bring in huge and expensive machines. Ovitz’s device will allow socially disadvantaged people to easily get eye checkups anywhere.”
Ovitz’s initiative is also attracting attention in terms of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) improvement program of a commercial enterprise. In fact, Ovitz is taking part in “Project BOM” led by Severance Hospital of the Yonsei University Health System to prevent loss of eyesight, along with Yoon Sang-chul, a professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine, who was connected with the K-ICT Born 2 Global Center in November of last year. Ovitz plans to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Severance Hospital to provide its devices and services in Malawi, Africa, starting this winter.
Professor Yoon is currently serving at Severance Hospital and carrying out various public eye health projects in Malawi, Bangladesh and Cambodia.
Ovitz CEO and founder Kim Joung-yoon, who studied in the U.S., has developed a portable hand-held device called an EyeProfiler used to conduct eye exams by integrating wavefront sensing technology and subminiature design methods.