KT is offering big database of consumer information

KT has introduced a data platform that offers consumer information to IT companies for incorporation into their products and services.

The website, which was made available from Tuesday, is a one-stop shop offering five categories of data: population, households, companies, time and location. The data comes processed for analysis.

Sixteen institutions will supply raw information for the platform, including BC Card, state-run Korea Internet & Security Agency, Kyonggi University and local start-ups that have data on tourism, nutrition and real estate.

KT was selected as the data provider for telecommunications for the project by the Ministry of Science and ICT in July.

“In a 5G era where data accumulates at an explosive speed, we intend to provide valuable data through this big data platform,” said Yun Hye-jeong, executive vice president for KT’s big data business support unit.

A problem for companies that have wanted to use this sort of data in the past was the structuring and the formatting of the information, as it comes from different databases. It was difficult for them to quickly process and use the information because of the inconsistent categorization and labeling.

The new KT platform makes it easier for end users to process the information.

Apart from data itself, the platform will also offer tools that allow customers to use the website as a one-stop center for purchasing and analyzing data. Software will help clients extract the right information for their purpose and process it in order to gain the needed insights. Consumer goods companies, for example, will receive trend reports that have details like revenues per area and regional comparison by population.

Another service is the Useful Recommendation Case that searches for neighborhoods that have similar conditions to a target region. This will help businesses find new markets for products or services and for government offices expanding public services, KT said.

More than 160 companies have expressed the intention to use the service, according to the mobile carrier. The company also plans to offer free technology support for small businesses and start-ups that wish to purchase and use the platform’s data.

KT also signed an agreement with the Shanghai Data Exchange.

BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]