The path forward: How entrepreneurs can help combat the coronavirus

Entrepreneurs thrive on solving problems, and when the world faces an invisible enemy that is taking thousands of lives and shutting down the economy, they roll up their sleeves and work together to create an innovative solution.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwanese entrepreneurs are jumping in to contribute to the global community with their innovation, such as a smart vending machine as part of the nation’s mask rationing system that ensures everyone obtains the right amount of masks, or chatbots and maps that inform citizens of the availability of masks in a pharmacy nearby.

As a speaker on a live-streamed pre-event to Techstars’s Global Online Startup Weekend, Minister of Science & Technology Chen Liang-Gee encouraged entrepreneurs to “see the problem, provide the solution, and scale up” so as to blunt the impact of the virus on all aspects of our lives. It goes without saying that we should continue to work on killing the virus, identifying the virus (with test kits and equipments), and treating the infected.

Professor Jason Wang from Stanford University, whose journal article on Taiwan’s response to COVID-19 has garnered international attention, also joined the event to chart the path forward toward a post-pandemic future while highlighting the importance of understanding “where we are now” as a global community.

Taiwan has done an incredible job in containing the spread of the virus and therefore has never seen the necessity to implement mitigation measures like city-wide lockdowns, Wang said. In many parts of the world, however, governments are struggling to flatten the curve, keeping people at home or staying away from each other in public spaces. As these measures harm the economy, they are also considering easing the lockdown, but it remains a question if they can prevent a second wave of infections.

To respond to these challenges, Prof. Wang raised a series of questions: “how much viral load matters for infectivity, how many different types of tests are out there, and how do we do contact tracing and follow-up care at a massive scale now.” It’s only from knowing the answers to these questions can we start to think about solutions, or “find problems worth solving.”

For example, having a clear picture about the wide range of existing test kits, one may go about comparing their levels of sensitivity, specificity, and costs and make testing more accurate and efficient.

As a professor at the School of Medicine, he also called for a better understanding of the biology of the virus disease and its symptoms to be able to produce therapeutics and vaccines. “Are you prevent the binding of the virus [to the cell], disrupt the replication of the virus, or prevent the virus from going out of the cell?” These are all opportunities to tap into, he said, as the world works on the most urgently needed solution.

Overall, he believes it’s most valuable now to “develop an integrated tech package for contact tracing and follow up care” for those seeking solutions to do “plug and play,” and come up with strategies to scale and deliver them to the customers. Ultimately, he expects an “integrated and secure platform” that could put together various solutions that make it to the market.

Meanwhile, as mitigation measures, like lockdown and social distancing, hit the most vulnerable in the society, Prof. Wang also encouraged entrepreneurs come in and offer solutions.

How Taiwan makes it

Techstars’s pre-event has attracted a great number of non-Taiwanese, who are interested to learn about the nation’s success in containing the virus and keeping the economy running. Mr. Chen, the head of the Ministry of Science & Technology (MOST), explained that this is because Taiwan is well-prepared for an epidemic, proactive in tackling the virus, and quick to adapt new technologies, including the monitoring system described as digital fence.

His ministry, notably, has been funding over 300 science labs all around the island since the SARS pandemic, and the discussion on the novel coronavirus has started among medical experts and doctors way before the first case of infection was confirmed.

More broadly, Taiwan is no stranger to disasters, he said. Frequently hit by earthquakes, typhoons, and flooding, Taiwanese citizens are used to taking action in an emergency, such as following orders to wear a mask on public transport.

With flexible regulations in disaster management, the government is also able to respond timely to a sudden crisis; for example, in early April, when visitors were flocking to several tourist attractions during the holiday, the Center for Disaster Reduction under MOST sent a text alert to their phone, asking them to wear a mask and keep distance with other people.

As one of the few countries in the world where the situation is contained, Prof. Wang said there is great opportunity for Taiwan to export its solutions to help developing countries and allies weather the crisis.

〔Original :Meet Startup @ TW〕
https://meet.bnext.com.tw/intl/articles/view/46368