8 Trailblazing Tech Companies That Are Tackling Coronavirus

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Eight is one of the luckiest numbers in Chinese culture, signifying prosperity. With the current crisis the world is facing in undertaking coronavirus, innovative technology is thriving. Indeed, in climates such as these, you either halt and catch fire or set out to blaze new trails.

New advances in technology are signaling a prosperous future with the support of disruptive innovation. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, with 98,078 confirmed cases, the present crisis is a call to arms for China's tech industry. Behind closed doors, eight obscure tech companies are quietly fighting tooth and nail against COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease is spreading rapidly and as of March 5, 2020, has been reported in 89 countries globally. Indeed, China has more than enough resources to be able to revolutionize crisis response by taking advantage of the latest trends in technology. The thriving tech industry in China, together with engineers around the world, are disrupting the structure of how global crises such as coronavirus are handled. From tracking and successfully delivering charitable donations and medical supplies, to consolidating patient information and reducing healthcare bureaucracy, there is plenty that can be done to help manage humanitarian crises both now and in the future.

The burning question everyone should be asking at this moment is: What can be done to make things better?

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Local authorities in China are already onboarding the latest in AI and ground-breaking technology within various applications to handle patient identity information and donation platforms. The financial industry is also issuing blockchain-powered corporate loans, with the goal of reducing the virus' economic impact. There are over 50 innovative tech startups dedicated to fighting Coronavirus that have been released since the beginning of this year, each one proving valuable in its own way. 8 of them are particularly noteworthy.

These 8 Tech companies are actively contributing to the fight against coronavirus:

1. The web-based app Close Contact Detector allows users to check whether they have been in contact with anyone who has been infected by coronavirus, by opting to submit their information so they can receive digital records of any pertinent travel history.

2. The “Blockchain Dis­ease Gath­er­ing and Mon­i­tor­ing Sys­tem” co-developed by the Shandong University of Finance and Alibaba Cloud, lets government agencies keep track of affected patients by keeping a transparent record on detailed illness information. The app, which was provided free of charge to hospitals across China, enables physicians to review patient symptoms and monitor real-time diagnostic data.

3. Singapore’s AI startup Antworks has launched the first ‘urban air transportation channel’ powered by Drones, to deliver medical supplies between Xinchang County People’s Hospital and the county’s disease control center, both located in Zhejiang, one of the most severely coronavirus hit provinces.

4. Yikuang, the brainchild of several independent developers and app review site Sspai is one of the first WeChat-based services to map neighborhoods with confirmed cases using official data from local governments.

5. Xiang Hu Bao, a platform owned by Chinese company Ant Financial is utilizing blockchain for insurance claims and already boasts over 100 million registered and active users. The platform takes advantage of blockchain transparency to prevent fraud and allow for faster claim processing.

6. With the spread of coronavirus, the management, allocation and donation of relief supplies have been a challenge. Payment platform Alipay launched an information platform on its mobile app to enable collaboration with transparency and efficiency.

7. Insilico is an A.I.-based system which took just four days to identify thousands of new molecules that could be turned into potential medications to treat coronavirus.

8. Acoer provides blockchain technology to healthcare and life sciences institutes to easily track and visualize the virus outbreak around the world. They even provide a link on their site which shows updated statistics, and is updated daily.

Once crises occur, they are of a large scale by nature, occurring suddenly and becoming more catastrophic the longer it takes for an effective response to emerge. This is by no means an end. We need to learn quickly. As highlighted above, mass adoption of new technology, such as AI and blockchain, is making a big impact. Thanks to these tech start-ups and many others, there is a bright future ahead.

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