“In China,Robot Delivery Vehicles deployed to help with COVID-19 was selected as top 10 UNIDO feature stories in 2020

ITPO Shanghai's partners actively fought against the COVID-19 through advanced digital production technology during the epidemic, thus inspired ITPO Shanghai to collect and send their stories to UNIDO HQs. The story was selected as the top 10 UNIDO feature stories in 2020 and ranked fourth according to number of views. The stories in this section were viewed 338,362 times over the course of the year, accounting for 12% of total views of the UNIDO website.

UNIDO ITPO Shanghai is committed to building public-private partnerships in the field of ADP technologies. It works with Chinese enterprises in the process of digital transformation to further improve their agility in responding to changes, and to enhance their capacity to integrate into the global supply chain. It also promotes joint efforts among public and private sectors to effectively leverage the potential of ADP technologies to lift people’s standard of living.

During the early stage of coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, the city is under urgent need of advanced technologies, but unmanned vehicles were not allowed in due to the lockdown. ITPO Shanghai used its well- established public-private cooperation network to facilitate the process for White Rhino Auto Company to transfer two unmanned vehicles to work at Wuhan's Guanggu Field Hospital, which not only helped avoid cross-infection but also reduced the workload of medical staffs.

Zhu Lei, CEO of White Rhino Auto, said, “We are very grateful for UNIDO ITPO Shanghai’s help. In this global fight against the epidemic, they (the office staff) actively integrate social resources and the convening efforts of all parties, which shows us the important role of international organizations in establishing a public-private cooperation network in the middle of crisis management.” With Chinese companies keen to share solutions and provide technical assistance, Zhu expressed his company’s willingness to meet global needs and participate in the collective battle against Covid-19.

Another ITPO Shanghai partner that provides AI solutions is CloudMinds tech company. In early March, CloudMinds worked with Wuhan Wunchang Hospital and China Mobile to open the “Smart Field Hospital”, contributing to the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

At the Smart Field Hospital medical services were performed by robots and other devices making use of the Internet of Things. Patients at the facility wore smart bracelets and rings that synced with CloudMinds’ AI platform so their temperature, heart rate and blood oxygen levels could be monitored. Other robots provided patients with food, drinks, medicine and information, while others sprayed disinfectant and cleaned floors.

Zhao Xiaolei, Head of ITPO Shanghai, said, “Through those successful cases of high-tech companies fighting against the epidemic, we have seen the advantage of applying ADP technologies to effectively solve the pain points in containing the virus. ITPO Shanghai will continue to provide these enterprises and local governments seeking industrial upgrading with advisory services on investment match-making and technology cooperation.”