
Inside China Tech: Privacy vs urgency in Covid-19 contact tracing
- Smartphones now have the power to streamline contact tracing, but governments are using this to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in very different ways
- China’s start-up ecosystem is rising up the ranks, while several tech firms launched new initiatives to help street stalls and small businesses this week
Good morning, this is Melissa Zhu from the SCMP tech desk in Hong Kong rounding up some of our key stories from the week.
In the past, contact tracing was done through in-person interviews with medical professionals. Now smartphones have the power to streamline and automate that process, making it a plausible way to help tackle the global coronavirus pandemic that has sickened millions and brought the world economy to its knees.
The one problem? Data privacy.
In contrast, the approach to contact tracing inside the privacy-conscious US has been fragmented and slow to launch, with no national programme in place and every state left to decide whether, or how, to pursue the technology.
Read more about how governments have been implementing contact tracing:
Contact tracing – privacy vs urgency in the fight against Covid-19
Start-up / upstart?
China is climbing up the ranks when it comes to its start-up ecosystem, which rose from 27th last year to 14th place this year in a report by StartupBlink, an Israeli-Swiss start-up ecosystem map and research centre.
StartupBlink said the rankings were compiled by algorithms that looked at the quantity, quality, and business environment of start-ups.
“In the long run, China is the only country other than the US that can directly contend for global entrepreneurial leadership,” the report said. However, it can only do that by “opening its internet and reducing geopolitical tensions”, it added.
Wondering which countries were rated the top globally for start-ups? Read the full article to find out:
China jumps to No 14 in global start-up ecosystem on Beijing’s tech focus
Kindling the flame
Chinese premier’s comments spark new wave of tech aid for small vendors
