How Big Tech and global innovators are tackling COVID-19
Innovators are problem solvers, and COVID-19 has presented quite possibly one of the most difficult problems they may ever try to tackle. But it has also presented a rare opportunity to produce some of the most in-demand solutions within such a high-pressure critical time frame. In what ways can innovation help?
Innovation doesn’t just have a role in understanding and eliminating the virus altogether, but in managing various stakeholders and factors involved in the entire process. Let’s take a look at how some of the greatest innovators are working toward a COVID-19 safe future:
Calumino: Symptom detection with thermal imaging
Calumino is an Australian tech company pioneering in low-cost thermal sensing technology both locally and globally. Calumino’s core product is their Rapid Thermal Pre-screeners (RTP). RTPs are thermal imagers which are small, compact and can detect faces from distances of up to 1.2m.
How does Calumino differentiate itself from its competitors?
Unlike conventional devices used for thermal imaging, RTPs are portable and compact —making it easier to ship and cheaper to produce than its competitors. Calumino aided an efficient deployment of the device to government border forces and airports who contacted them specifically about their product.
With virus and symptom detection being such a critical process in stopping the spread, Calumino has successfully re-vamped existing technology — resulting in a more efficient, accurate and affordable delivery to meet the high-pressure nature and tight time-frame of the pandemic.
Airbnb: Maintenance of healthcare workers
While some innovators, like Calumino, have developed a product/service which directly tackles the pandemic, others are in the position to leverage their existing market positioning and platform to help indirectly — this is exactly what Airbnb has done.
Our healthcare workers and first responders are undoubtedly bearing the brutal brunt of COVID-19. While finding solutions to identify and minimise cases is a priority, the compromise of our healthcare systems and workers would result in a fatal blow to the recovery from COVID-19. Airbnb has ensured our frontline workers aren’t forgotten by providing them with free accommodation around the world.
Home listers can now opt into Airbnb’s Open Homes program which allows them to offer their homes for free or at a discount to healthcare workers, so long as they comply with special COVID-19 cleaning and maintenance procedures. Airbnb has also partnered with government agencies, businesses and not-for-profits, such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to network with healthcare workers in need of accommodation and care. Additionally, BnB has agreed to waive fees for the first 100 000 stays booked through this initiative!
Microsoft — limiting demand in healthcare systems
Overwhelming healthcare systems has been one of the greatest risks and concerns of COVID-19. To mitigate such risks, Microsoft has launched a Healthcare Bot, powered by their Azure platform, available to the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) to be used on their website. The chatbot uses AI to assess an individual’s symptoms and potential risk factors (e.g old age) to advise the user of the most appropriate course of action — for example, to see a doctor or to manage their health at home where it is more suitable.
In a situation where the assessment of resource allocation is difficult, Microsoft’s technology assists in ensuring that healthcare staff and medical resources are used when and where it is needed most. The Healthcare Bot is also a scalable service and has been used by other businesses and organisations, due to its customizability, to adapt to the needs of each business and their respective patients/customers.
Covid-19 High-Performance Computing Consortium — accelerating scientific research
Innovation is critical to understanding the virus itself and its management. The speed at which the virus has spread and its potency in many groups of individuals have not made this an easy task.
A consortium of US government agencies and Big Tech companies like AWS, Microsoft, Google and IBM have banded together to tackle this mission, creating the COVID-19 HPC Consortium. Working alongside US universities and academic leaders, the conglomerate aims to provide technical and computing infrastructure to accelerate academic research of COVID-19 through various projects.
For example, one project seeks to understand how the virus behaves within indoor environments and its transmission patterns. It specifically aims to develop ways to mitigate transmission in medical facilities and hospitals to provide a safer environment for healthcare professionals. Another project aims to determine how to efficiently allocate scarce resources (e.g healthcare staff and ventilators) to reduce the need for ad-hoc decision making in high-pressure situations. You can read more about their other projects here.
Check out more stories like this at Textbook Ventures’ Medium publication.
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