[Sponsored Report] SK Telecom gives back in a myriad of ways

Children in Vietnam have received free surgeries to treat facial deformities.

SK Telecom is using its advanced information and communications technology (ICT) to tackle it all: provide the public better telecommunication service; create jobs; establish a social safety network; reduce information gap between generations and the underprivileged; and normalize the culture of sharing in the society.

One of the most noticeable among the contribution activities by SK Telecom is the usage of mobile technology. Since 2004, the company has been offering a chance to participate in easy donation, using mobile donation program, as well as a smartphone donation app dubbed Angel Love Sharing App starting in 2010.

And this year, SK Telecom has developed this app further into the name GiveU and has allowed users to donate using OK Cashbag points and rainbow points of SK Telecom in addition to cash, receiving high marks from the society.

In addition, the company donates 1,000 won ($0.93) to charity each time a user leaves a comment or retweet on SK Telecom’s official social networking services. By enabling a service where anyone can participate in donation, the program normalized the idea of giving.

As the society becomes more diverse, SK Telecom launched a program to support multicultural families. In May the company invited some 400 immigrants and hosted the Multicultural family Hanmaeum Festival, helping the newly adopted Koreans a warm welcome.

Abroad, SK Telecom has been offering free surgery for Vietnamese children suffering from facial deformity since 1996. The company visits Vietnam every year and helped about 3,000 kids a life-changing opportunity.

Meanwhile, the company also donated surgery equipment to the local hospital and supported Vietnamese doctors to receive training in Korea.

The SK Telecom’s student volunteer group Sunny has 4,300 university students as members all over Korea for annual voluntary activities and is one of the largest university student volunteer groups in Korea. The team helps by teaching adults how to use the latest technology and paints murals on walls. In addition, SK Telecom is also concentrating on ICT to help the underprivileged. The Happy ICT Foundation is a social company that plans to create 40 IT jobs to help the needy stand on their own.

One of the most famous programs of SK Telecom to reduce the technology gap is IT Challenge contest the company has been hosting for 14 years. Every year, disabled teenagers gather and compete in information technology usage. It has awarded over 350 teenagers, producing IT experts and contributing in the disabled teenagers’ independence.

SK Telecom even reached out to the neighbors at the traditional market by signing an agreement with Jungkok Jeil Market to raise their market competitiveness using technology. The company plans to revive the old markets using innovative strategies.

These efforts were even acknowledged overseas and the company was included in DJSI World for five years in a row, the first time for an Asian company, and the leader of telecommunication industry for three consecutive years. DJSI World is a sustainable management global standard.

By Lee Ji-hyun [concordia@joongang.co.kr]