Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) formerly Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) is an organization under the South Korean Ministry of Welfare and Health that is responsible for the advancement of public health by managing prevention, survey, quarantine, trial, and research on infectious diseases, chronic and rare illnesses and injuries. 

Business Challenges

Since 2019, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has been providing up-to-date information on COVID-19 trends, as well as guidance on reporting procedures to healthcare institutions, and quickly disseminating guidelines for disease prevention. In particular, to establish and improve the COVID-19 vaccine reservation system, the KDCA introduced NetFUNNEL. At that time, COVID-19 vaccination was a significant health issue for the country, but practically speaking, there was not enough time and human resources to build a new system to resolve this issue. ‍

44.8 million lives saved together with NetFUNNEL & KDCA so far

NetFUNNEL allowed for the control of all access requests in line with the service situation, with simple source code insertion without changing the logic of the existing system or service. 

To ensure personal security during COVID-19 vaccine reservation, an authentication process was required. So, NetFUNNEL's unit-by-unit access control was implemented to adjust entry permission based on the system's processing capabilities. This optimized the utilization of system resources and enhanced its stability and efficiency, even in cloud environments. 

Although traffic resources can be adjusted via auto scale feature in cloud environments, adding resources takes time, rendering it challenging to respond to sudden traffic spikes. Moreover, the budget for the extra capacities, even if adjusted in advance, is charged and wasted due to pricing policies tailored to traffic spikes.

The COVID-19 vaccine reservation service successfully provided a seamless digital experience for a significant number of users, with NetFUNNEL's virtual waiting room solution efficiently handling sudden surges in traffic. These achievements were recognized by the Korea Ministry of Science and ICT and KDCA, who commended our efforts in 2021.

Results

• Providing public services for COVID-19 vaccination within limited IT resources and budget 
• With simple code insertion without changing the service logic, all access requests can be controlled according to the service situation
• COVID-19 related information can be quickly disseminated along with seamless digital service