Telecom giant KT’s disease control platform recently launched in Kenya, widening reach in the African continent.

KT’s Global Epidemic Prevention Platform will be locally serviced by the nation’s biggest telecom provider Safaricom, and will be called Safari Smart, meaning “smart travel” in Swahili. 

KT holds the GEPP launch ceremony at Vila Rosa Kempinski in Nairobi, Kenya, on Friday, local time. (KT)

KT underlined the significance of this collaboration, saying this is the first time for a Korean company to tap Kenya’s national quarantine service. Kenya is a critical hub nation that links Africa with Europe, Asia and Middle East.

Safari Smart operates via speedy information sharing between Safaricom and Kenya’s Health Ministry.

If a Kenyan citizen travels to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Ebola has been a problem, they are given a text message code from Safaricom to access Safari Smart where they can find information on Ebola symptoms and prevention.

Safari Smart also provides epidemic big data to the Kenyan Health Ministry for enforcement of timely and efficient quarantine measures.

Elsewhere, GEPP is in service in Ghana and Laos.

By Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)