The business-academic collaboration to build the most-advanced ICT campus
KU-SKT, laying out a plan for the IoT campus project that taps into cutting-edge technologies
KU-SKT sign an MoU on the PI (л) Campus Project, applying latest global technological trends
The project aims to build an open ICT ecosystem using IoT technologies…drawing attention as a best practice for business-academic collaboration

▲ KU President Jaeho Yeom (left) and SK Telecom's Network Operations Division President Hyung-hee Lee (right) posed together after signing a memorandum of understanding on cooperating for the PI(л) Campus Project.

After finishing his first class and leaving the classroom, Mr. Lee, a KU student, aged 22, takes out his smartphone to book a lecture room and equipment for a small-group activity. When he receives notice that the shuttle bus is approaching the campus of science and engineering, Lee suddenly remembers that the lights of his club’s room were on late last night. He checks the room on his smartphone and finds its door is open and the lights are on. He can access the room on his smartphone as he took a class to develop an IoT service and implemented it in the room. After locking the door and turning off the lights via his smartphone, he begins to study the previous day’s lessons on his smartphone.

Mr. Kim, a second year resident of KU hospital, aged 29, receives an alert on his smartphone, saying a seriously ill patient is not in his room and his heartbeat is weaker than before. After searching for the location of the patient on smartphone, Mr. Kim clicks an indoor navigation app and finds that the patient has fainted in the bathroom. Mr. Kim presses the emergency call button on a smartphone app to send out an urgent message to nearby medical staff.

KU has embarked on building the most-advanced smart campus in the world using the IoT, in conjunction with SK Telecom (President and CEO Dong-hyun Jang).

KU and SKT signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate for the PI (л) Campus Project on Wednesday, March 30 at 11:30 am in the KU Main Hall KU. SK Telecom's Network Operations Division President Hyung-hee Lee and KU President Jaeho Yeom attended the signing ceremony. Under the agreement, the two will apply the latest global network technologies, including ICBM (IoT, Cloud storage, Big Data and Mobility), to build a smart campus with an open ICT ecosystem.
* PI (л)-Campus: PI stands both for “Pioneering Intellectuals,” KU’s slogan, and “Projection of IoTs on the campus.”

SKT will define KU as a small city that provides access to education, healthcare, administrative affairs, transportation, and communities and rebuild its campus into a smart life place tapping into IoT technologies

To this end, SK Telecom will build a network dedicated to IoT services at KU’s Anam campus and the neighboring KU Hospital, and connect its IoT platform ThingPlug to integrate sensor systems throughout the campus. It will also establish a precise positioning system using beacon technology and install its Cloud BEMS solution, a building energy management system, aiming at allowing more efficient energy management.

* Cloud BEMS (Building Energy Management System): A sensor- and network-based system that helps to manage, control and monitor distributed building technical services (HVAC, lighting, etc.). It provides the information and the tools that building managers need both to understand the energy usage of their buildings in real time and to control and improve their buildings’ energy performance automatically.

SK Telecom and Korea University also agreed to organize IoT-related seminars and competitions and jointly develop diverse IoT services needed on the campus. The collaboration work will include building relevant curriculum concerning the global standard IoT platform ‘ThingPlug’.

Unlike other smart campus projects that unilaterally provide services for students, the PI (л) Campus will adopt an open ecosystem to ensure opportunities for students to develop IoT services on their own. SK Telecom explained the business-academic collaboration drew attention as a best practice as it will provide a viable ICT ecosystem using IoT technologies, thus realizing the genuine smart-campus model.

 “Under our slogan, “Pioneering Intellectuals”, we will establish a new space that combines the latest ICT trends with a creative university culture," Korea University President Yeom Jaeho said. "We expect the project will help us create an environment where we can join the ranks of the world's top 50 universities in the near future."

"We will actively help KU build an open ICT ecosystem by tapping into our IoT technologies and capabilities, thus offering the best model for business-academic collaboration," SK Telecom's Network Operations Division President Hyung-hee Lee.