South Korea’s leading mobile carrier KT said Monday it has opened a smart farm with cutting-edge information and communications technology in the United Arab Emirates, marking the company’s first ICT export to the Middle East region.

The KT smart farm, about 600 square meters in size, is located in the Emirate of Sharjah, the third-largest region after Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It was established in cooperation with the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services, which offers rehabilitation and educational programs for disabled citizens. 

It marks the first time KT has built an ICT-based smart farm overseas. It held a launch ceremony attended by around 100 government officials including Sheikh Saeed bin Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi.

Together with the SCHS, KT will help create jobs for the handicapped and provide ICT technologies that increase the productivity of farming and improve the quality of life for the disabled, according to the company.

The UAE region is infamous for low productivity in the agricultural industry due to high temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius and low precipitation.

At the smart farm, physically challenged farmers can remotely monitor the status of the farm and apply necessary solutions by using augmented reality glasses. With the AR glasses, farmers do not need to stay at the farm, as they are able to control the conditions of the farm at home via PCs and mobile devices.

Sensors installed at the farm will collect key information on the conditions, and the information will be stored as big data for the sake of the UAE’s agricultural development, KT said.

“The first global smart farm featuring Korea’s cutting-edge ICT technologies will hopefully help rehabilitation of physically challenged people in the UAE, and improve income and the job situation,” said Hwang Chang-gyu, chairman of KT.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)