Jeju is promoting a project to use smartphone apps to share umbrellas and solve the problem of waste.

Jeju Special Self-governing Province and Jeju Technopark recruited companies last month to participate in the “Adding Value” project, a digital participation platform that uses smartphone apps to solve the problem of disposable vinyl umbrella waste.

This community solidarity project will seek to realize ESG (environmental, social, and governance) values and solve an environmental problem under the theme of “Freeing Jeju of plastic waste from disposable vinyl umbrellas through smart umbrella sharing.”

The project goals include: Spreading the culture of environmental protection through the introduction of smart umbrella sharing services; collecting data on occurrence by time and region and sharing it through the Jeju Data Hub; and establishing a sustainable follow-up management plan.

Selected companies can receive support worth up to 50 million won depending on the project plan. For more information, please refer to the Jeju Technopark website (www.jejutp.or.kr) or contact the ICT Convergence Planning Team at the Jeju Technopark Digital Convergence Center (064-720-3753).

“Adding Value” is a digital participation platform created by the Jeju Special Self-governing Province to solve problems by directly proposing local issues and utilizing digital technology, and has been promoting projects to solve local problems through public-private collaboration.

In particular, the community solidarity project designates sub-projects on issues selected through the deliberation committee for public interest project candidates among proposals that have received more than 500 cumulative votes on the Adding Value website (https://www.jejudsi.kr/), and selects companies to carry out the sub-projects.

Jeju Technopark, which has been operating Adding Value, is holding events such as the Problem-solvers Team Challenge from the 7th to the 10th of this month and the Hackathon Competition from the 21st to the 23rd of next month, with the aim to spread awareness of Adding Value and attract more participation proposals.

A staff member at the Jeju Technopark Digital Convergence Center commented, “Through Adding Value, we’ve already seen various cases where Jeju residents have proposed and implemented solutions to issues in various sectors such as the environment, transport, and tourism, as well as companies participating to present alternatives,” and added, “We will strive to make Adding Value a bridge to solve the problems facing the Jeju community through a new form of democracy.”