Launches an ICT-based Healthcare Business
KT announced on Sept. 21 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Medical Partners Korea (MPK) to jointly promote global digital and bio-health businesses.
The two companies plan to push for global digital healthcare and medical information digitalization projects using Kazakhstan as a base. They also plan to actively promote K-Quarantine by utilizing Korea's ICT capabilities. In addition, they are considering expanding their business to Eurasia by establishing a molecular diagnosis and inspection center in Russia in 2021.
Founded in 2015, MPK is the first Korean company to establish and operate overseas clinics and inspection centers related to infectious diseases. The company has been operating an outpatient general hospital and an inspection center in Almaty, Kazakhstan, since 2018. In March, the hospital became the first private hospital in Kazakhstan to be designated as a state inspection agency for COVID-19 molecular diagnoses. The hospital is taking the lead in preventing the spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
Following the MERS outbreak in 2015, KT developed the Global Epidemic Prevention Platform (GEPP), a system that tracks the path of infectious diseases using communication data, in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The platform has been evaluated as an excellent example of innovation by international organizations such as the World Economic Forum (WEF), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) under the United Nations, and the GSMA, an association of global mobile service providers. It has attracted investments from the Gates Foundation and the Light Fund.
Based on the GEPP, KT plans to promote its digital and bio-health business as the medical environment will change in the post-COVID-19 era. It plans to establish a highly advanced ICT-based health business model in cooperation with Korean health and medical institutions. It will focus on developing countries that have big market potential.