SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM, hereinafter referred to as “SKT”) today announced that it received two awards at the 2023 GSMA Global Mobile Awards (GLOMO Awards) in the categories of ‘Best Mobile Innovation for Cities’ and ‘Best Use of Mobile for Accessibility & Inclusion.’
The GLOMO Awards, chaired by Shaun Collins, Executive Chairman of CCS Insight, are adjudicated by over 200 independent industry experts, analysts, journalists, academics, mobile operator representatives, and CTOs; and are widely recognized as the most prestigious accolade in the mobile industry.
SKT claimed the ‘Best Mobile Innovation for Cities’ for its Location Intelligent Solution, ‘LITMUS.’ The award honors the best mobile, digital and 5G innovations that help resolve various urban challenges in the areas of citizen services, transportation, environmental protection, security, and more.
‘LITMUS’ has been introduced to cities to drive down social costs and alleviate GHG emissions by analyzing users’ de-identified location data. Built with big data and AI technologies, this innovative solution reduces traffic congestion by supplying real-time traffic volume to both the Intelligent Traffic System (ITS) and smart interchange system. It also helps prevent accidents at road intersections by linking people’s real-time location information to traffic light data. By applying LITMUS to diverse city projects set up to solve traffic, environment, and safety issues, the company created social value worth KRW 40 billion in 2022.
Together with barrier-free smart city platform LBStech and AI semiconductor chip developer SAPEON Korea, SKT also took home the ‘Best Use of Mobile for Accessibility & Inclusion’ award for its ‘G-EYE PLUS Powered by Visual Localization and Mapping Technology (VLAM).’ This achievement underlines the importance of universal design innovations in mobile products, applications, services, devices, initiatives and projects, as they take inclusivity to a whole new level.
As the world’s first VLAM-based high-precision location-based navigation service, ‘G-EYE PLUS Powered by VLAM’ enables blind and low vision people to get to destinations in a safe and efficient manner by providing route guidance based on a more accurate estimate of their location. Upon turning on the camera and capturing the surroundings by moving around half a circle, the service pinpoints the user’s current location within a 1-meter margin of error. G-EYE PLUS Powered by VLAM is unique and innovative in that it is the only navigation service that can lead blind and low vision people right up to the entrance of their destinations.
The companies plan to develop G-EYE Plus Powered by VLAM into an integrated barrier-free navigation platform through constant technology upgrades to enable the transportation vulnerable to travel the whole journey independently without any help.
Through diverse efforts to create an inclusive society through the use of advanced AI technologies, SKT has received awards in this category for four straight years.
“We are delighted to receive these prestigious awards as they recognize our efforts to drive innovations through AI technologies and services,” said Ryu Young-sang, CEO of SKT. “We will continue to introduce AI-based services that can create greater social value.”
