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October 8, 2014

S. Korea Eyes Big Data to Reduce Car Accidents

Among the many striking features of the bustling city of Seoul, South Korea, are its connectedness, a function of its extensive deployment of broadband networks, and its roaring, non-stop traffic. An electronic sign in the city’s shopping district actually keeps track of the number of Korean auto fatalities. The total seemingly increases by the minute.

Hence, the Korean government wants to use spatial, weather and other big data sources to provide drivers with what officials call an accident forecast service to help reduce traffic fatalities.

According to The Korean Times, South Korea’s ranked third among the 34 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in frequency of auto accidents. In 2008, the number of car accidents in South Korea was 120 per 1 million people, compared to the OECD average of 71 per 1 million.

In response, the Korean government plans a cadastral, or boundary, survey to gather traffic and road information like road grades along with weather information as part of a new traffic service. Korea Cadastral Survey Corp. (KCSC) said Oct. 5 it would lead a consortium for a “Pilot Project of Disaster Management Using Big Data.” The project is sponsored by the South Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

Also participating in the big data effort are KT Corp. (formerly Korea Telecom), SK Telecom and the National Information Society Agency, which oversees construction of high-speed networks, government IT and the promotion of broadband access.

Together, they will develop big data models used to calculate the odds of natural disasters like landslides or rockslides on mountainous roads. “This project linking big data with the disaster management sector is expected to raise the disaster response capabilities of Korea and promote other related industries using the data,” Kim Young-pyo, CEO of KCSC, explained in a statement. Kim said more big data efforts targeting spatial information are planned.

KCSC officials said they hope the spatial and weather data would help reduce auto and other casualties caused by the weather-related disasters. The alert service will be offered to residents who live near roads prone to landslides and rockslides. Along with the new service, surface transportation agencies are expected to use the data service to offer systematic road management while increasing disaster response capabilities.

Once the survey is completed, the consortium will offer real-time information about possible rockslides and landslides near roads during periods of heavy rain or snow. The information will be relayed via smartphones and in-car navigation systems, KCSC said.

South Korea is a leader in using geospatial data for emerging applications like “indoor navigation,” which is expected to be among the next big smartphone apps. Chris Gibson, vice president of GPS specialist Trimble Navigation, told a recent industry conference in Seoul, “Spatial information is being utilized in various industries through the use of new information and communication technologies, such as sensors, cloud computing and big data analysis.”

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