The South Korean capital Seoul hopes to have a citywide public IoT network by 2023.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government also plans to build an operating platform that will serve as a central control tower at Seoul City Hall by the end of this year.

The citywide IoT network will be able to collect data on traffic, safety, environment, health, facility management, crime prevention and disaster control, among other things, through IoT sensors installed all over the city. Seoul City Hall and 24 district offices will also be able to transmit data through the network.

The establishment of the network will allow collected data to be swiftly transmitted, expedite the rollout of related services, and be used through big data processing and convergence technologies. IoT services, which have been provided through mobile telecommunication networks, will be made available to the public for free.

For example, IoT sensors can be applied to the affairs of citizens’ everyday life, such as remote water meter checks, fire detection through remote monitoring of power use in traditional markets, and lonely death prevention using motion detection sensors installed in the houses of home-alone senior citizens.

The government’s goal is to create added values by providing the data to start-ups and research institutions, and develop various services to improve citizens’ quality of life.

Along with the IoT network establishment, the government will sequentially start pilot IoT services in safety, administrative and environmental fields in three districts – Eunpyeong-gu, Guro-gu and Seocho-gu – this year.