Park Young -sun, Minister of Small and Medium Venture Business Donation, held a meeting to promote the development of 'mask maps' with startup representatives at the Kensington Hotel in Yeouido on the afternoon of 10th. (From left) Yoo Seung -jae, Persona Systems, Bae Eun -seok Tinatsudi CEO, Park Young -sun, Cho Hee -ju, GDG PANGYO Leader, Lee Dong -hoon, CEO of former Sangyeol Now Busking, and Lim Jin -seok Gooddak.

[Small and Medium Business Today Reporter Hwang Bok-hee] Will the inconvenience of waiting in a long line for hours to buy a mask disappear?

The government is actively supporting the development of a so-called “mask map” that shows the stock of masks at 20,000 pharmacies across the country.

On the afternoon of the 10th, Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun held a meeting to promote the development of COVID-19 mask maps in the presence of the heads of seven startups at the Kensington Hotel in Yeouido. At this meeting, Minister Park heard the plans and suggestions for the development of a corona mask map from the representatives of related startups.

At the meeting on this day, startup 'GoodDoc' CEO Im Jin-seok, 'Now Busking' CEO Jeon Sang-yeol, 'Like a Fashionable Lion' Lee Doo-hee, 'Modak' Lee Dong-hoon, 'Tina 3 D' Bae Eun-seok, 'Persona System' Yoo Seung-jae, ' GDG Pangyo' leader Jo Hee-joo and others attended.

In relation to the mask map, startup representatives have various development plans, such as sequential purchase calls through KakaoTalk, implementing mask information on the existing corona map, and partnering with overseas public API (application programming interface) mashup development through the development of a global corona information platform. said

In particular, he emphasized the need for support for access to accurate data, integrated publicity for the corona map, cooperation with government agencies, and collaboration with large companies.

Accordingly, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will prepare specific measures such as customized support for development, operation of a one-stop support desk to promote connection and collaboration, and preferential support for start-up projects and R&D by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Minister Park said, "We will spare no effort to support startups that develop mask maps that alleviate the inconvenience of purchasing masks."

Mask Map is a service that shows the stock of masks in pharmacies nationwide through an app or web. Taiwan's mask map, developed through a public-private partnership, tells not only the stock, but also the business hours and phone number of the vendor.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service held a press conference at the government complex in Seoul on the afternoon of the same day and announced that public mask sales data of pharmacies related to COVID-19 would be opened from 7 pm on the same day.

When 23,000 pharmacies nationwide notify the HIRA of the mask sales status, the HIRA provides the information to the National Information Society Agency (NIA), which reprocesses the data into an API form that can be developed as a web or an app and discloses it.

Second Vice Minister of Science and ICT Jang Seok-young said, “The private sector receives the data it needs through a public data portal and uses it to provide an app or web service. There is,” he said.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, about 22,000 pharmacies out of 23,000 pharmacies have agreed to provide data to the HIRA, and it is known that about 300 have not agreed to provide the information.

Source: Small and Medium Business Today (http://www.sbiztoday.kr)