Sixteen global mobile telecom companies, including South Korea’s KT and SK Telecom, have joined hands to contribute their big data capabilities to help humanitarian crises.

The GSMA, the organizer of the ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, revealed Monday the “Big Data for Social Good” initiative at this year’s MWC.

It will “leverage mobile operators’ big data capabilities to address humanitarian crises, including epidemics and natural disasters,” the GSMA said.

The initiative brings together 16 of the world’s biggest mobile carriers, which collectively account for over 2 billion connections across more than 100 countries.

The United Nations Foundation will act as a supporting partner to this new project, coordinating integration with the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data and the Digital Impact Alliance, the GSMA said.

“A year ago, the mobile industry became the first sector as a whole to commit to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and … we are already affecting all 17 Goals to varying degrees,” said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA.

“We are now focused on amplifying and accelerating our industry’s impact in achieving the SDGs, and the initiative that we are announcing today will contribute greatly in addressing some of the biggest challenges facing humanity: epidemics and natural disasters.”

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)