Telecom giant’s IT-based projects offer more opportunities for the disabled, underprivileged


SK Telecom, the nation’s top mobile carrier, has continued efforts of corporate social responsibility for many years. The company has recently been focusing more on what they can do best ― IT-based social contribution projects.

Apps for the visually-disabled

SK Telecom, together with Korea Blind Union, launched the nation’s first mobile app for visually-disabled people called “Library that Reads Happiness” in September.

The users can enjoy voice services for books and news magazines through the app and it is available for free download on both Android- and iOS-based smartphones.

The company has provided book-reading services last June by introducing a mobile device specially designed for the visually impaired. 

The new smartphone app is the upgraded version of the existing services that the company hopes will benefit more people.

According to the company, the programs within the app are carefully developed by collecting the opinions of potential users in a series of surveys.

A visually impaired researcher was also invited to join the project to create better programs such as more user-friendly interfaces and touch screens, the company said.

Currently, the app has more than 50,000 items of content ranging from books and magazines to the latest news on rehabilitation and welfare.

In order to extend voice services, SK Telecom has employed some 1,000 volunteer workers doing book-recording, including those from the company and its call centers nationwide.

The company said it takes about 20 hours for one volunteer worker to finish recording a book.

For their convenience, the company has recently completed nine recording booths within the company’s call centers, including four in Seoul and five in provincial areas.

When the recording of about 1,000 books is completed within the year, the company plans to donate them to Korea Blind Union, it said.

In a separate move to support disabled people, the company launched in March last year a telecom payment system for visually impaired users for the first time in the industry.

It also developed a mobile device with advanced “text-to-speech” services for severely disabled people and offered some 5,000 devices to those from low-income households last July. 

‘Smart’ blood donation

In 2007, SK Telecom unveiled the world’s first mobile services for blood donors. And in June, the company launched the smartphone app version called “Smart Blood Donation.”

Aimed at raising the public’s awareness toward volunteer blood donation, the company joined hands with the Korea Red Cross for the app development.

The app, which is equipped with the mobile network operator’s original T Map services, finds the fastest route to a nearby blood donation center and shows the way using public transportation.

Thanks to the mobile reservation system, potential donors can reduce their wait time as well, the company said.

The users do not need to carry their blood donation card as the barcode inserted within the app carries that information.

The app provides a daily report of the blood supply situation across the regions and sends an SMS message when there is an urgent need for specific blood types.

Considering about 80 percent of blood donors are in their 20s or younger, Korea Red Cross expected that the mobile app would help further spread the blood donating culture.

The download of the app is also available both for Android- and iOS-based smart devices, the company said. 

IT competition for disabled youths

The IT competition for young disabled people is an event that SK Telecom has continued over the past 13 years.

Co-hosted by Korea Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities, the competition started in 1999 to offer more social participation opportunities to youngsters with disabilities.

During this year’s event held on June 21, 154 people participated in the final round after some 840 middle and high school students competed in the regional preliminary stage in 14 cities nationwide.

The competition consisted of an “e-Life challenge,” in which participants solve 20 questions through Web searching, and an “e-Tool challenge” that evaluates their ability to use office programs.

For severely disabled students, volunteer workers help them carry out the tasks more comfortably and the winners were selected from each category of physical, hearing, intellectual and visual disabilities.

“With the number of smartphone users exceeding the 20 million mark here, the market is getting bigger and bigger. We will continue efforts creating ‘mobile social safety net’ projects, reducing the information gap across social groups,” said Yoo Hang-je, head of CSR at SK Telecom.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)