#1

Who among us has not experienced the frustration of trying to book tickets home ahead of a busy holiday weekend? While some book online from the comfort of their homes, others – many of them elderly – will line up at the break of dawn to reserve tickets in-person at major train and bus stations.

#2

Picture this: Person A recently went to a restaurant, but ended up leaving without ordering anything. Person A uses a wheelchair, and the controls on the restaurant’s self-order kiosk were slightly out of reach. As the staff seemed busy, Person A felt shy about asking for assistance, and chose to visit another restaurant instead.

While at first glance, the two stories above may seem unrelated, they both exemplify the dark side of technology in the digital era. Things like telecommuting, distance learning, autonomous driving, and AI job interviews are proof positive that digital technologies are becoming increasingly prevalent in both business and society. Unfortunately, digitalization is also creating issues.

To help address those issues, digital technology leaders must accept an important new mission: taking on corporate digital responsibility (CDR). In a nutshell, CDR involves developing products and technologies in a manner that protects users’ rights, and taking steps to enable more people to experience the benefits of digital technologies. The pandemic has prompted more sectors to utilize digital technologies, which has led to increasing pressure on businesses to engage in CDR. As a leader in cutting-edge technologies, what is Samsung Electronics doing to become more digitally responsible? Here are several ‘quests’ that Samsung has undertaken with regard to digital responsibility.

QUEST #1 | Consider Users’ Rights When Developing Products

The more useful a product is, the wider the gap between users and non-users becomes. Samsung strives for accessibility in its products, enhancing them with technologies that make it easy for all users, regardless of age, gender, or disability, to utilize them.

Take Samsung’s TVs, for example. The TVs’ Voice Guide function provides an audio guide for TV settings, combining channel and volume controls with tools to help you schedule a viewing, view current and scheduled program information, and browse the internet. When viewing content with sign language, Samsung’s proprietary AI algorithm automatically recognizes the sign language area and can enlarge it by up to 200 percent.

Samsung mobile devices have also introduced a variety of convenient accessibility features. This includes a function that allows those with hearing difficulties to pair a compatible hearing aid to their device via low-power Bluetooth, as well as a fixed-key feature for users with physical disabilities. In addition, Samsung’s Family Hub refrigerator caters to users in wheelchairs with functions that make it possible to move the top of the screen to an easier-to-reach position, adjust the height of the main controls, and launch the menu by tapping anywhere on the screen.

Digital advancements can be incredible, but they can cut both ways. Yes, they tend to make life more comfortable, but they can also create social issues like ‘smombies’¹ and ‘nomophobia’.² From a product design standpoint, helping users enjoy healthy digital lifestyles is a key part of being digitally responsible. Samsung has therefore committed to developing digital well-being tools that are based on five digital well-being values: Digital Detox, Balance, Guard, Wellness, and Safety. For example, Samsung’s App Timer feature (which falls under the Balance category) can help users reduce the amount of time they spend on applications by setting time limits. Focus Mode (Digital Detox) allows users to pause or silence notifications from selected apps temporarily, while the Samsung Kids service (Guard) helps create a safe environment for children to explore, play and develop good digital habits.

Safety is crucial when it comes to smartphones, as we tend to fill them with a wide range of important information, including everything from bank account numbers, contacts and photos. Samsung’s Find My Mobile feature was created to protect that valuable information in the event that you lose your phone. Once activated, it tracks the location of the lost phone, tells the user where it is, and offers them the choice to delete their personal data, including messages and photos, or upload it to Samsung Cloud. The Samsung Knox platform offers defense-grade mobile security, while the smartphones’ Secure Wi-Fi feature allows you to safely browse the internet on public wireless connections without worrying about your personal information being compromised.

QUEST #2 | Share the Benefits of Digital Technology with More People

“I saved two lives that were almost lost.”

“The technology is really useful for finding hidden sparks and embers and putting them out.”

The quotes above are from firefighters who utilized a product of Samsung’s in-house incubation program, C-Lab (Creative Lab), to help protect their community. The product they’re describing is a thermal observation device that uses thermal imaging cameras to help firefighters detect fires’ ignition points and identify and rescue others. It’s just one of many C-Lab innovations that reflect Samsung’s commitments to (1) developing products and services that address social issues, and (2) sharing those technologies with communities that need them.

Lives’Talk, a wearable device for tracking nomadic livestock, is another example of a community-enriching C-Lab innovation. The technology was created to make it easier for nomadic communities in Kazakhstan to find and retrieve their livestock. Once attached to livestock, the device’s GPS transmitter-receiver tracks the animals’ locations in real time. A total of 700 Lives’Talk devices were donated in all, helping farmers in these communities become more self-reliant.

Samsung is also advancing digital education programs that equip young minds with the tools they need to become leaders in creating a better world. The Samsung Smart School initiative provides smart devices and solutions to students in areas with little access to IT equipment, reducing the digital divide while supporting students’ creativity. The Samsung Dream Class program, meanwhile, offers middle school students living in areas with lower access to high-quality education an opportunity to take part in enriching classes covering subjects like math and coding. The Samsung Innovation Campus program offers youth entering the job market for the first time hands-on training in skills that technology-related jobs require, including fields like AI, IoT and data analysis. Together, these initiatives are representative of Samsung’s ongoing efforts to promote digital responsibility worldwide.

QUEST #3 | Uphold the Principles of CDR When Developing New Technologies

Often, when developing AI technology, the ethical beliefs of the people behind the technology will inform the ethics of the AI itself. Having recognized the importance of emphasizing social and ethical responsibility in technology development, Samsung established a set of AI ethics principles to put into practice. The company also established guidelines for employees to raise awareness of AI ethics within its workforce.

Samsung has gone to great lengths to foster an ecosystem of open innovation. Not only has the company introduced more than 130 open source projects, but it also hosts its annual Samsung Open Source Conference (SOSCON) to offer experts a forum to share and discuss new developments.

RESULT | Samsung Ranks in Top Ten of WBA’s 2020 Digital Inclusion Benchmark

Samsung’s consistent, multifaceted efforts to be digitally responsible have earned a ranking in the top ten of the World Benchmarking Alliance’s (WBA) Digital Inclusion Benchmark. Notably, Samsung is the only Korean company to rank in the top ten, and ranks third in Asia and fourth among companies in the hardware sector.

The WBA represents an alliance forged among approximately 176 global, regional and local organizations to shape the private sector’s contributions to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The WBA examines companies with a focus on seven key categories, including human rights, the environment, and digital inclusion. The WBA launched its very first Digital Inclusion Benchmark this year, which evaluated companies’ progress in improving access to technology, enhancing digital skills, fostering trustworthy use, and innovating both openly and ethically.

Samsung was noted for being one of the few companies that had established AI ethics principles. The company’s C-Lab program was singled out for its social contributions, while Samsung’s devotion to the expansion of the open-source ecosystem also earned a positive review. The Samsung Kids feature, which encourages children to have healthy smartphone habits, also received a high rating, as did the company’s various social contribution programs, in particular those that are helping communities close the digital divide.

As a company that develops products and technologies that enhance users’ lives, Samsung is committed to promoting digital responsibility. Going forward, the company will continue to explore ways to make it easier for people to access and utilize a wide range of convenient and meaningful digital technologies.

¹ A ‘smartphone zombie’; one who is constantly staring at his/her smartphone

² A term that describes the fear of being without a mobile device

The idea for a wearable device for nomadic livestock came about through Samsung Tomorrow Solutions (STS), a competition for social contribution endeavors hosted by Samsung Electronics. The winner of the 2017 STS Grand Prize, a project named ‘Lives’Talk’, was proposed by a team of members with previous experience of living in Kazakhstan as a way to mitigate one of the biggest challenges faced by Kazakh nomadic communities, this being the amount of time taken to source and retrieve livestock in rural areas.

Following their 2017 STS win, Lives’Talk launched as its own company in 2018. In order to then make their idea a reality, Lives’Talk worked with a team from the Samsung C-Lab, Samsung Electronics’ internal venture training center. The realized product is a device capable of being attached to the backs of livestock for sturdy transmission.

Keeping Track of Livestock For a Living

Finding livestock that have been put out to pasture in rural Kazakhstan is the primary job of many nomads, but given the expansive terrain of this farmland, many animals are lost to predators if not found by nightfall. Given the arduous nature of these risky yet crucial tasks faced in Kazakh livestock farming, the number of nomadic farmers is fast decreasing.

Once attached to the livestock with a dedicated belt, the wearable GPS transmitter-receiver will track its location in real-time.

In order to help mitigate these problems, the Lives’Talk team came up with a wearable device for livestock that harnesses a GPS transmitter-receiver and relay for real-time livestock tracking and management. Not only does this device effectively reduce the amount of time taken to find livestock but it can also solve the issue of missing livestock. Furthermore, the device also converts livestock information collected in real time into data useful for managing the entire livestock farming process, from raising to selling.

Taking Action

Lives’Talk’s pilot wearable device for livestock project will take place over two months at 50 pastures in Mynjylyk and Boleksaz, the two nomadic areas near Almaty, Kazakhstan, following the donation of the devices by Lives’Talk and Samsung to the nomadic communities there.

Samsung is not only supporting Lives’Talk’s pilot project but has also dispatched employee volunteers to help realize the project. These employee volunteers will train the recipients of the livestock tracking devices on how to use the devices and their wider tech ecosystem, providing entrepreneurial advice to help the farmers in these communities become independent.

“Samsung Electronics endeavors to recognize and promote individual talent and ability to the end of generating solutions that can help people,” noted Sang-woo Han. “With these wearable devices for nomadic livestock and the volunteer efforts of our employees, we hope not only to solve an issue specific to these Kazakh areas but also to make the future of the residents brighter.”

For more information on Lives’Talk, please follow this link.

Mynjylyk, Kazakhstan is a beautifully vast area but for the people keeping animals there, it can be a difficult terrain in which to do their job

“What should we do? Yeldar says his horses are gone….”

It’s the worst thing you can hear at a time like this. It’s particularly concerning for two reasons. Firstly, we wanted the horses to be in shot for the video we’re filming. Secondly, and more importantly, missing horses is a distressing situation for the protagonist of our video, 19-year-old Yeldar. We’re in a field in rural Kazakhstan and the panic on Yeldar’s face is clear to see. The horses that grazed during the night did not return. He’s worried because anything could have happened to them.

The unfortunate fact is that this isn’t an isolated incident. In the mountainous region of Mynjylyk, Kazakhstan where local nomads rely on their livestock to make a living, keeping track of the animals is more or less the equivalent of keeping track of funds in your bank account. Gathering livestock from grasslands, counting their numbers, maintaining their value as commodities and managing these procedures require tremendous physical energy. And in order to sell them, the nomads have to know where their animals are at all times. It’s a task that’s easier said than done.

Just like many Kazakhs, the people of Mynjylyk mainly work in stock-farming. They raise horses and lambs, which are staple foods locally. Because the animals are grazed in open grasslands, you see herds of horses and sheep eating grass everywhere

Many livestock are lost in the process of grazing due to theft, going missing or wolf attack. Their loss is one serious issue to nomads. Also, as their job is very difficult, you can no longer work in livestock farming once you pass a certain age, but today, young people who would like to work in this occupation are decreasing. The biggest reason for such a trend is its inefficiency. With other problems combined, livestock farming, what was once the representative industry of Kazakhstan, is now losing its legacy.

A Helping Hand from Samsung

The reason we’re here in Kazakhstan with our video cameras is to film the tech-led solution in action. Samsung Electronics is partnering with the locals to help them keep track of their animals and it could completely change the way they live and work.

When the ATA team were brought in for reinforcement, they got the opportunity to visit the site for the first time. They were able to get a real understanding of the challenge and work closely with the Lives’Talk team to develop the solution

People in the region already knew that technology had to provide a solution to lost livestock. A group of technology enthusiasts from both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan created a solution that used GPS on wearable devices to help the locals find their animals more easily. They designed a service that involves attaching an identification device to the animals and allowing the owners to see the location and other related information about their animals using communication technology. When this idea is implemented, nomads no longer have to search for their lost animals in kilometers of grassland. This not only saves manpower and time but also decreases potential economic loss that they would suffer from.

To help prevent lost animals, the Lives’Talk team develop a GPS device that sends real time location data to the owner’s smartphone so they always know where their animals are

It was a great idea in principle but in reality, it was difficult to develop and implement. Especially because the team members on the project weren’t professionals and were working with a hard-pressed budget. As innovative as it was, the project, called Lives’Talk, faced failure. But with a last roll of the dice, the team entered the Samsung Tomorrow Solutions contest and won the grand prize.

The Samsung Tomorrow Solutions social contribution contest began in 2013 with the aim of developing ideas for finding inconvenient issues in society and resolving them. The contest covers four areas of education, healthcare, environment safety and local community. Everyone can participate without limits on age or affiliation. For the Lives’Talk team, the win gave them a new lease of life and prize money that they could plough right back into the project. Suddenly, their idea was back on the table.

Initially, the transmitters were too big for the animals to comfortably wear. Working in collaboration, Samsung and Lives’Talk worked to slim down the device and also increase the battery capacity

But it wasn’t all plain sailing from there. The GPS device was too big for the animals to be comfortable with. Water and dust resistance weren’t yet conquered and battery life was also far too short. Even if all these problems were solved, the mountainous topography of the Kazakh grasslands meant that signal often wasn’t as strong as they’d like it to be.

Even with the second wind granted by the Samsung Tomorrow Solutions win, it was still a tall order for the Lives’Talk team to further develop their idea. They still had the passion and belief in their concept, but they just didn’t have the adequate know-how to get things off the ground.

An outside view of a yurt, the common traditional house in the region of Mynjylyk

In the end, the Lives’Talk team asked for help from Samsung Electronics. Still impressed with the idea and with a desire to help develop a solution to the problem, Samsung sent a team called ATA from the Samsung C-Lab, the company’s internal venture training center. The mission for team ATA was reducing the size of the attachment device and increasing the battery life. Also, they had to establish a communication environment for the device to be used smoothly. It was a moment where both Lives’Talk and ATA teams came together under the shared objective of bringing convenience to the Kazakh nomads.

An Everyday Struggle

Another day, another missing animal.

The horses that Yeldar and we were worried about came back to their home half a day later. Later, we learned that horses have a homing instinct that helps them come back home after being missing for a while. But this time, it’s lambs that have gone AWOL.

When his lambs went out on the grasslands for the night and didn’t return, Yeldar was back in panic mode. “We must return the lambs back to their pen before they stray away alone!” There was only one thing we could do. We had to find the lambs. The lambs were nowhere to be seen until the morning of second day.

“We found the lambs! Yeldar found them and he is now coming back!” One of the team members shouted over a smartphone, and we hurrahed. But it was not over. If we were to make up for all the lost time, we had to be quick and efficient to film all the scenes we needed.

The star of our video is 19-year-old herdsman Yeldar. For him, missing animals are a common and frustrating occurrence

We had to battle a number of problems in attempting to shoot the video. It served as a reminder of the difficulties that the nomads face as part of their everyday work. This in turn reinforced the need for the solution that would help people such as Yeldar and stop him using so much of his time looking for animals in such vast grasslands.

Working in Harmony

One thing we noticed about the project to develop the GPS solution is that it is a work of close collaboration. This wasn’t just an opportunity for Samsung to parachute in experts. It was an opportunity to learn from and integrate with the locals to better understand the brief and provide the relevant solution. The video team also got to experience first-hand the hospitality of the locals. Some of the local residents invited us round for dinner. They even gave us Kazakh names.

During our visit, the locals were very accommodating. We were served a traditional Kazakh lamb dish by this welcoming family

The camera director who was the ‘ice breaker’ and became friendly with the locals faster than anyone else received the name ‘Guanci’ (happiness). I, who led the filming process received the name ‘Shokhan’ (a creative person). Despite our language differences, we had a wonderful experience interacting with them. In doing so, we understood why Samsung found it such a worthwhile project to be involved with. And as Samsung Electronics continues to work with the local people in Kazakhstan, there’s a shared optimism that the technology will create new opportunities for those who rely on their livestock and want better ways to carry out their occupation.

Below is the final cut of the video. We hope this helps more people understand the situation these mobile shepherds are in as well as Samsung Electronics’ efforts to help better people’s lives around the world with technology.

* Original article by Jungho Yoon, translated from Korean to English and edited by the Samsung Newsroom team