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SK Telecom (017670) is developing a methodology to objectively measure the social value created by AI and ICT technologies in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).
SKT announced on the 9th that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Japan's SoftBank and the Center for Social Value Enhancement Studies (CSES) at SKT Tower in Euljiro, Seoul, to measure social value and strengthen mutual cooperation. CSES is a nonprofit foundation established by SK Group.
The three companies signed their first MOU in 2024 and have since cooperated in measuring social value. As AI has recently been applied across industries and its impact has grown, they concluded that companies need to objectively measure the social benefits created by AI technology, prompting the additional MOU. SKT explained, "We will advance our social value measurement model based on the achievements accumulated over the past two years."
The three companies plan to measure the social value created by each firm's AI and ICT products and services, such as strengthening social safety nets, digital inclusion, and increasing customer benefits. Based on this, they will also jointly develop a standard measurement methodology that can be applied in various ways in global markets. In addition, to spread social value measurement methodologies in global markets such as Korea and Japan, they agreed to cooperate in areas including case studies, joint report publications, and forum hosting.
In the process of concretizing measurement indicators, each company's business experience, data, and measurement know-how will be utilized. SKT, for example, has measured the social value created across its overall corporate activities, including AI and ICT-based services, since 2018. In particular, it has continuously identified the social value of services that contribute to strengthening social safety nets, such as care for the vulnerable, disaster response, and crime prevention, and since 2021 it has raised the level of performance disclosure, specifically revealing even the measurement formulas for detailed indicators. CSES also developed the Double Bottom Line (DBL), SK Group's social value measurement system.
