Prizes reward solutions that benefit local citizens

Innovation and entrepreneurship do not always have to mean high-end microchips or advanced shipbuilding techniques. Beijing, as China's technological innovation center, is encouraging individuals and companies to come up with innovative products and services that can help in city management and civil affairs, making technology benefit the public.

A nationwide contest held this year saw the government ask for solutions to 30 hot-button issues in sectors such as environmental protection, transportation and healthcare.

Of the 107 entries, 16 were selected to receive financial and policy support at the 2018 National Mass Innovation and Entrepreneurship Week that was held earlier this month.

The winners included an app that provides an intelligent family-doctor service, a street-cleaning robot and a novel technique for clearing snow - all intended to solve the sorts of problems that are common in a megacity like Beijing.

Fangzhuang Community Health Service Center won the grand prize for an app it developed with the help of an internet company that provides medical consultancy and health evaluation services for the elderly and people with chronic diseases.

"There are too few doctors to meet the demands of all patients, but this app can help doctors to serve more people, especially the vulnerable," said Hao Yan, from the center.

The app has already covered about 90,000 people and 30,000 doctors across the city, and is free of charge, she said.

One of the second prize winners was Beijing Rople Tech, which presented its intelligent robots designed for cleaning guardrails.

According to Yuan Xueshan, CEO of the two-year-old startup, human workers each have to risk their lives to clean about 300 meters of guardrail per day, while traditional street-sweeping machines can do more but are wasteful and inefficient.

Guardrail cleaning robots, on the other hand, are small and flexible, and designed to clean as much in a day as 20 humans.

"Being capable of giving solutions to difficult problems brings our team members a strong sense of achievement," said Yuan, adding that the government had helped foster an "atmosphere of innovation and entrepreneurship that gets stronger day by day".

Beijing Salt Industry Corp, another second-prize winner, was honored for developing a new product that can clear snow from roads more efficiently than traditional salt, while also reducing corrosion.

Xiong Kainan, a salesman from the company, said Beijing's roads were prone to freezing over in winter and that using such an environmentally friendly deicing product could decrease street maintenance costs.

After wandering around the exhibition hall, Xiong said he could "see the determination of people to realize the Chinese Dream".

"As a political center, Beijing has a good environment for both salesmen and entrepreneurs to develop their creativity," he added.

chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/18/2018 page18)