KT is going to enter the halal certification market in earnest. KT signed an agreement with Korea Muslim Federation (KMF), a halal certification institution, and B-square Lab, a company specializing in developing blockchain technologies, on Oct. 7 for halal certification trust platform business.
As of 2020, the world's halal population is estimated to be about 1.9 billion and the total market size will reach about 4,348 trillion won. As of the first half of 2019, 1,000 items from 300 companies have been certified through the KMF Halal Committee, and the demand for certification has been on the rise as halal foods have recently received attention as a safety and well-being food for production and distribution.
KT is planning to develop "halal certification trust platform" based on blockchain with KMF and B-square Lab by the end of this year.
The platform is a service that provides the entire process of processing, issuing and verifying halal certification in the form of a smartphone app or web page. It is easy to use QR code scanning method by applying blockchain and strengthening security.
Further, consumers were allowed to check the necessary post-management status even after certification, such as expiration date and product packaging.
KT and KMF expect the halal-certified trust platform to compensate for the shortcomings held by the existing certificate issuing system. It is pointed out that the existing halal certification was issued in a written form and marked with the certification logo on the package, so there were limitations such as the ease of forgery and the issue of managing the validity of the certification.
KT and KMF are also planning to take the lead in boosting the blockchain-based global halal certification industry, including information link services between international halal certification agencies.
"KT is providing blockchain platforms that are specialized in various fields based on GiGA Chain," said CEO Lee Dong-myun of KT's Future Platform Business Division. "Based on successful operation of halal certification business, we will actively contribute to vitalizing ecosystem of smart trust certification by finding new models."
