• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.681-685
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• 2022

Including the COVID-19 crisis, humanity is constantly exposed to viral infections, and efforts are being made to prevent the spread of infection by quickly isolating infected people and tracing contacts. Passive epidemiological investigations that confirm contact with an infected person through contact have limitations in terms of accuracy and speed, so automatic tracking methods using various digital technologies are being proposed. This paper verify contact by utilizing Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology and present an algorithm that identifies close contact through analysis and correction of RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) values. Also, propose a system that can prevent the spread of viruses in a centralized server structure.

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.359-373
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• 2022

The new crown pneumonia (COVID-19) has become a global epidemic. The disease has spread to most countries and poses a challenge to the healthcare system. Contact tracing technology is an effective way for public health to deal with diseases. Many experts have studied traditional contact tracing and developed digital contact tracking. In order to better understand the field of contact tracking, it is necessary to analyze the development of contact tracking in the field of computer science by bibliometrics. The purpose of this research is to use literature statistics and topic analysis to characterize the research literature of contact tracking in the field of computer science, to gain an in-depth understanding of the literature development status of contact tracking and the trend of hot topics over the past decade. In order to achieve the aforementioned goals, we conducted a bibliometric study in this paper. The study uses data collected from the Scopus database. Which contains more than 10,000 articles, including more than 2,000 in the field of computer science. For popular trends, we use VOSviewer for visual analysis. The number of contact tracking documents published annually in the computer field is increasing. At present, there are 200 to 300 papers published in the field of computer science each year, and the number of uncited papers is relatively small. Through the visual analysis of the paper, we found that the hot topic of contact tracking has changed from the past "mathematical model," "biological model," and "algorithm" to the current "digital contact tracking," "privacy," and "mobile application" and other topics. Contact tracking is currently a hot research topic. By selecting the most cited papers, we can display high-quality literature in contact tracking and characterize the development trend of the entire field through topic analysis. This is useful for students and researchers new to field of contact tracking ai well as for presenting our results to other subjects. Especially when comprehensive research cannot be conducted due to time constraints or lack of precise research questions, our research analysis can provide value for it.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.176-183
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• 2021

Digital medical technology is very effective and at the same time faces the challenge of protecting privacy. However, for contact tracking and exposure notification apps in COVID-19 environment, there is always a trade-off between privacy measures and the effectiveness of the app's use. Today, many countries have developed and used contact tracking and exposure notification apps in various forms to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but the suspicion of digital surveillance (digital panopticon) is unavoidable. Therefore, this study aims to identify the factors of personal information infringement and dissatisfaction through text mining analysis by extracting user reviews of "Self-Quarantine Safety Protection" in Korea. As a result of the text mining analysis, we derived four groups, 'Address recognition error', 'Exit warning error', 'Access error', and 'App. program error'. Since 'Address recognition error' and 'Exit warning error' can give the app users a strong perception that they are keeping under surveillanc by the app, transparent management of personal information protection and consent procedures related to personal information collection are required. In addition, if the other two groups are not corrected immediately due to an error in an app function or a program bug, the complaints of users can be maximized and a protest against the monitor can be raised.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.4062-4080
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• 2022

COVID-19, a highly infectious disease, has affected the globe tremendously since its outbreak during late 2019 in Wuhan, China. In order to respond to the pandemic, governments around the world introduced a variety of public health measures including contact-tracing, a method to identify individuals who may have come into contact with a confirmed COVID-19 patient, which usually leads to quarantine of certain individuals. Like many other governments, the South Korean health authorities adopted public health measures using latest data technologies. Key data technology-based quarantine measures include:(1) Electronic Entry Log; (2) Self-check App; and (3) COVID-19 Wristband, and heavily relied on individual's personal information for contact-tracing and self-isolation. In fact, during the early stages of the pandemic, South Korea's strategy proved to be highly effective in containing the spread of coronavirus while other countries suffered significantly from the surge of COVID-19 patients. However, while the South Korean COVID-19 policy was hailed as a success, it must be noted that the government achieved this by collecting and processing a wide range of personal information. In collecting and processing personal information, the data minimum principle - one of the widely recognized common data principles between different data protection laws - should be applied. Public health measures have no exceptions, and it is even more crucial when government activities are involved. In this study, we provide an analysis of how the governments around the world reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate whether the South Korean government's digital quarantine measures ensured the protection of its citizen's right to privacy.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.4-16
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• 2024

Smart hospitals involve the use of recent ICT (information and communications technology) technologies to improve healthcare access, efficiency, and effectiveness. Standardization in smart hospital technologies is crucial for interoperability, scalability, policy formulation, quality control, and maintenance. This study reviewed relevant international standards for smart hospitals and the organizations that develop them. Specific attention was paid to robotics in smart hospitals and the potential for standardization in this area. The study used online resources and existing standards to analyze technologies, standards, and practices in smart hospitals. Key technologies of smart hospitals were identified. Relevant standards from ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) were mapped to each core technology. Korea's leadership in smart hospital technology were highlighted. Approaches for standardizing smart hospitals were proposed. Finally, potential new international standard items for robotics in smart hospitals were identified and categorized by function: sampling, remote operation, delivery, disinfection, and movement tracking/contact tracing. Standardization in smart hospital technologies is crucial for ensuring interoperability, scalability, ethical use of artificial intelligence, and quality control. Implementing international standards in smart hospitals is expected to benefit individuals, healthcare institutions, nations, and industry by improving healthcare access, quality, and competitiveness.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.27-46
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is two-fold: first, to discuss the concept of health diplomacy and the Korean government's response to contain the COVID-19 pandemic; second, to assess and compare assumptions of variances about foreigners' perceptions of how Korea is leveraging digital technology in battling the coronavirus spread, and its vaccine campaign; through the lenses of Chinese, Filipino, and Pakistani foreign nationals who are currently living in Korea. A total of 219 foreigners responded to the survey. The collected data were analyzed as percentages, mean averages, t-test, and ANOVA for statistical analysis. Results show that Korea is utilizing its digital technology practices and vaccine campaign in battling the pandemic through efforts of health diplomacy. ANOVA indicated significant results and assumptions of variance across three ethnic groups showing the Pakistani population had higher mean scores than the Chinese and Filipino about Korea's health diplomacy during the pandemic. This study contributes to the literature on Korea's digital technology practices and vaccine campaigns amidst the COVID-19 pandemic by promoting its image through health diplomacy efforts. It projects the country's soft image on a global scale, to save the lives of locals and foreign nationals, by providing insights into health diplomacy in Korea.

• Convergence Security Journal
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.99-108
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• 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic have been spreading continuously across the world, hence it is difficult to expect coming to an end in a short period of time. The use of digital technology has shown tangible results in suppressing COVID-19, but raised privacy and data-protection concerns. In the context of the global efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, various digital technologies are taking on a role in surveillance, monitoring, and forecasting. Also the Korea government manages Corona crisis based on legal basis. In this paper, Korea and each country's response to the Corona 19 pandemic are shown, and suggests ways to protect personal information while using digital tools. Large-scale data collection and processing is essential for the suppression of pandemic, but it should be limited to the level and scope required privacy. Also international cooperation, temporary and transparent use of personal information, the corresponding legal basis are necessary. As the use of data and algorithms is expected to continue to increase, technical and institutional efforts to reinforce privacy protection must continue.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.12 no.3_4
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• pp.363-379
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• 2013

Dynamic displacement of structures is an important index for in-service structural condition and behavior assessment, but accurate measurement of structural displacement for large-scale civil structures such as long-span bridges still remains as a challenging task. In this paper, a vision-based dynamic displacement measurement system with the use of digital image processing technology is developed, which is featured by its distinctive characteristics in non-contact, long-distance, and high-precision structural displacement measurement. The hardware of this system is mainly composed of a high-resolution industrial CCD (charge-coupled-device) digital camera and an extended-range zoom lens. Through continuously tracing and identifying a target on the structure, the structural displacement is derived through cross-correlation analysis between the predefined pattern and the captured digital images with the aid of a pattern matching algorithm. To validate the developed system, MTS tests of sinusoidal motions under different vibration frequencies and amplitudes and shaking table tests with different excitations (the El-Centro earthquake wave and a sinusoidal motion) are carried out. Additionally, in-situ verification experiments are performed to measure the mid-span vertical displacement of the suspension Tsing Ma Bridge in the operational condition and the cable-stayed Stonecutters Bridge during loading tests. The obtained results show that the developed system exhibits an excellent capability in real-time measurement of structural displacement and can serve as a good complement to the traditional sensors.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.135-155
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• 2024

Urban public health monitoring in smart cities focuses on the control of conditions and health challenges in urban environments. Considering the rapid spread of diseases and pandemics, it is important for health authorities to trace people carrying the virus. In smart cities, this tracing must be interoperable and intelligent, especially in indoor surfaces characterized by small distances between people. Therefore, to fight pandemics, it is necessary to start with the already-existing digital equipment of the Internet of Things, such as connected objects and smartphones. In this study, the developed system is employed to provide a social IoT network and suggest a strategy which allows reliable traceability without threatening the privacy of users. This IoT-based system allows respecting the social distance between persons sharing public services in smart cities without applying smartphone applications or severe confinement. It also permits a return to normal life in case of viral pandemic and ensures the much-desired balance between economy and health. The present study analyses previous proposed social distance systems then, unlike these studies, suggests an intelligent and distributed IoT based strategy for positioning students. Two scenarios of static and dynamic optimization-based placement of Bluetooth Low Energy devices are proposed and an experimental study shows the contribution and complementarity of the introduced contact tracing strategy with the applications on smartphones.