The Coronavirus is wreaking havoc across the world as Bitcoin’s price falls rapidly, international borders close and large events are cancelled. As the issues mount, more and more solutions are needed to combat them.
One technology that is proving a valuable asset is blockchain with companies and governments increasingly using it. As our previous article on the impact of Coronavirus on technological innovation predicted, it is clear that this outbreak, much like SARs previous, is proving motivation for advancements.
Education
One company which is using blockchain technology for good is Odem. According to its press release, Odem is an “online integrated learning platform and certification management system free for use to schools and educators to continue educating students until it is safe to return to campus.”
Odem was set up to help the education sector in its fight against the Coronavirus. So far, the interest has been large with schools and universities from Italy, Germany and Ireland. The US has been a leading adopter of the technology provided. Oral Roberts University is looking to add 500 courses to the blockchain.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Odem co-founder and COO Johanna Maaghull said:
“We are able to track students’ activity working remotely so that when students go back to school, the institutions are able to track what they’ve accomplished and register that on the blockchain and even bring it back into their traditional accreditation systems.”
Odem is not the only blockchain startup to evolve out of the Coronavirus fight. China, the nation which dealt with the virus first and home of the epicentre in Wuhan have seen numerous additions, especially in the field of governance and medical records.
Governance and medical records
With over 45% of the world’s blockchain startups heralding from China it is of no surprise that the nation is leading the way in terms of using blockchain to tackle the Coronavirus. Xinhua news agency released a report last month stating that 20 blockchain applications had been created to tackle the virus.
The city of Xi’an in Shaanxi Province has been using blockchain to store medical records and organise patient consultations and screenings. Nansha District in Guangzhou has also been using blockchain through its, ‘Epidemic Prevention and Control Collaboration System’ which puts all details and records about the Coronavirus in one place so many departments can access it. Suizhou City in Hubei Province has a similar initiative.
Police are also utilizing blockchain. This is after a company in Shenzhen created the “Vehicle Epidemic Prevention Verification System”, which allows traffic police to track vehicles from epidemic areas.