CEO Today Magazine June 2020 Edition

40 MASTER www.ceotodaymagazine.com applicable. Researchers at Brussels University have developed a protection mask based on the Decathlon diving mask, which covers the entire face. The masks were a hit last year and very popular for amateur snorkelers but they are now an important medical aid! Unlike humans, robots aren’t at risk People must be protected. Robots and drones can work in our place. They are not at risk. Terra Drone is using unmanned aerial vehicles to transport medical supplies. Drones are also being used by the police throughout this crisis to monitor people’s actions and ensure government measures taken to control the virus are being abided by. In China, robots from the catering industry have been put to work in more than 40 hospitals across the country, moving through the hospital and cleaning the floors to prevent the spread of the virus and save lives. At a smart hospital in Wuhan, where it all began, robots stepped in to take vital signs and deliver meds but also to Track and inform We’re more connected now than ever before. This is key to our ability to track the disease, which is, in turn, key to beating it. Technology companies like BlueDot and Metabiota have helped analyse and predict the virus’s spread – helping to contain it. Facebook has generated maps that display population density, demographics and travel patterns, enabling researchers to decide where to send supplies and how to mitigate the outbreak. Information - and the speed and scale at which information can travel - is also crucial. The Indian Government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have created Whatsapp chatbots to provide real-time information, to not only inform the population about the virus but also to prevent misinformation spreading, which has become a significant problem. This is a simple and highly effective way to share correct information with the population. No doubt other countries will follow. Similarly Google, Facebook and Twitter are working to identify and, most importantly, eliminate misinformation, steering people to reliable sources of information like CDC and WHO. Prevention is better than cure We have learnt that disinfecting is key. We are all washing our hands more often but tech can take care of larger surfaces. Germfalcon, for instance, is a germ-killing robot with smartly placed ultraviolet lamps that can sanitise airplanes from most viruses. It works both on surfaces and in the surrounding air. Danish self-driving disinfecting robots are also saving lives. Protection masks are scarce, way too scarce, yet solutions are on the rise. Two Israeli startups are, for instance, currently working on washable, reusable masks embedded with antiviral and antibacterial agents that could prove more effective than disposable masks and can, of course, be used multiple times rather thrown away. Diving masks are also proving to be quite The Role of Tech in the Fight Against Coronavirus By Marga Hoek