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The outbreak of COVID-19 continues unabated all over the world, and many countries have grounded airplanes, closed shops and even gone as far as locking down the whole country. Even though it means economies are in a state of suspended animation, there is only one mutual goal - to stop the virus from spreading. In this darkest of periods, we may be experiencing an unprecedented crisis but it could also prove to be a turning point in the way the human race lives. Actual physical contact between people has obviously become the highest risk of infection and business opportunities of zero contact have developed significantly during the outbreak. According to the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC), business opportunities of zero contact are driven by the constant expansion of data centers all over the world, the large demand for remote services, and the increasing trend of working remotely. The shipment volume of servers in the whole of 2020 is expected to grow, despite the outbreak, by 3% and network communication products are expected to see growth of 4%. One such product, U Meeting launched by CyberLink Corp., received the Taiwan Excellence Award and provides high-quality video conferencing anywhere, at any time, no matter whether it is for working remotely or digital learning.

Zero contact is also a huge priority for hospitals. Infections related to medical care are one of the main causes of death and disability in the world, including infections from medical treatment itself and other curative and therapeutic measures. Moreover, it is not only the infections among patients but also medical personnel that are of great concern. Based on statistics, the contact infection rate in medical institutions accounts for 17% of all infections, while the effectiveness of disinfection through manual cleaning is only 60%. The most critical issue for every country at present is how to reduce the infection rate in their healthcare systems. This leads us to the trend of zero contact and how products awarded the Taiwan Excellence honor in the past few years have focused on solving this problem.

The “254 UVC Disinfection Robot System'' developed by Taiwan Excellence Award winner Mediland Enterprise Corporation can be used to replace the need for manual cleaning. It is able to thoroughly implement the cleaning and disinfection of surfaces that are exposed to frequent contact, including buttons on physiologic monitors, bed rails on hospital beds, and table tops, in order to lower the rate of medical care related infection. According to the Marketing Department at Mediland Enterprise, all products are made and manufactured in Taiwan. At the beginning of the outbreak, five robots were rapidly exported to Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan through green-channel clearance. The product has also been exported to India, Indonesia, Romania, and even South America. The shipment of current orders is scheduled for July.

The pandemic has also highlighted the hidden crisis for people with chronic diseases. Based on the statistics released by the Italian National Institute, the average age of the deaths by patients suffering from COVID-19 is 79.5 and 99% of them suffered from pre-existing chronic diseases. Although the “stay-at-home” lifestyle is on the rise, people with chronic diseases, like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, still need to make regular hospital visits. Taiwan Excellence Award products, “Intelligent healthcare platform: rightest POC device” and “Rightest Precision Healthcare Ecosystem”, developed by Bionime Corporation address this problem effectively. Diabetes patients can upload, on an app, their personal data shown on the blood sugar machine and sync it to medical institutions through the cloud for doctors to diagnose their condition and carry out further treatment via telemedicine.

The effectiveness of epidemic prevention in Taiwan has been highly recognized and praised all over the world, and even the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, singled out Taiwan’s exceptional response. For more Taiwan Excellence award winning products, please visit the official website at https://www.taiwanexcellence.org/tw.