The government is pursuing smart care innovation that uses artificial intelligence and Internet of Things -IoT- technologies to manage the health and emotional wellbeing of care recipients while easing the repetitive workload of care workers. Against this backdrop, People and Technology, a specialist in AI/DX-based smart hospital service platforms, has been selected as the lead agency of the consortium for the Smart Social Welfare Facility track of the Ministry of Health and Welfare's 'AI Application Rapid Commercialization Support Project -AX Sprint', drawing significant attention.
The project, led by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, is a national support initiative designed to improve operational efficiency in care settings and reduce the workload of care staff through an AX shift powered by AI and IoT technology, while simultaneously strengthening the safety and health management of facility residents.
The consortium, centered on People and Technology, brings together specialist firms including HAHAEHO, Cleverus, Eden T&S, Big Wave Robotics, and Glocare, along with the industry-academic cooperation foundations of Kyung Hee University, Cheongam College, and Korea University, as well as National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, National Health Insurance Service Seoul Nursing Home, and Suwon Municipal Nursing Home for the Elderly - eleven institutions in total. Through the 'K-Care 10-10' project, the consortium will build a sustainable and scalable AX transformation model for smart long-term care facilities. The government will provide KRW 5.7 billion in funding for the project, which will run from the date of the agreement's execution through December 31, 2027.
The consortium plans to build a smart long-term care facility model based on an open, integrated platform, connecting a variety of IoT devices and AI services to develop and pilot the following:
- Automated ADL recording service - tracking activities of daily living without manual logging
- Vital-sign monitoring and health risk-detection service
- AI-based fall and sleep monitoring service
- AI hazard-zone access and wandering/elopement monitoring service
- AI care-log generation service
- AI automated benefit-claims processing service
- AI autonomous-robot-based cleaning and night safety patrol service
- AI/RPA-based automated care administration service
In particular, this project focuses not merely on technology development but on solving real problems on the ground in care settings. The core aim is to simultaneously reduce the repetitive documentation and administrative burden on long-term care staff, address workforce shortages, and improve the quality of care.
In addition, building on a customized training curriculum aligned with Ministry of Justice standards and Korean-language proficiency training, the project will help IT-literate foreign care workers quickly adapt to AI/IoT-based smart welfare facility environments. Using an AI/IoT training lab, the consortium will conduct demonstration research that applies technology to real care tasks (such as automated monitoring of elderly residents and automated care-log generation) while also targeting expanded employment of foreign care workers in residential and home-care settings and verifying tangible reductions in workload for care workers and social workers.
Demonstrations will be conducted primarily at two public long-term care facilities: National Health Insurance Service Seoul Nursing Home and Suwon Municipal Nursing Home for the Elderly. The National Health Insurance Service Seoul Nursing Home is the National Health Insurance Service's official benchmark nursing home, while Suwon Municipal Nursing Home for the Elderly is a facility certified Grade A in the long-term care institution evaluation and recognized as a long-standing excellent institution.
As the lead agency, People and Technology will oversee the construction of an integrated smart long-term care facility platform. Built on an open, integrated platform independent of any specific smart device manufacturer or care management system developer, the platform will provide standardized interfaces across the IoT, big data, and AI service layers. People and Technology will build a scalable platform incorporating a real-time location system, an integrated IoT platform, an intelligent integrated control system, and a long-term-care-specialized AI foundation model, supporting the creation of a smart care environment that integrates diverse heterogeneous devices and data.
With experience operating integrated medical and healthcare platforms at more than 80 hospitals domestically and internationally, and technical capability connecting more than 150 types of medical, healthcare, and IoT devices, People and Technology plans to bring this expertise fully into the long-term care field through this project.
