IT firms promote remote work

China's information technology companies are promoting telecommuting and online education in the face of the novel coronavirus outbreak to ensure the normal work and study of office workers and students during the epidemic prevention and control period.

In response to the government's plan to extend the Spring Festival holiday and support telecommuting and distant education, enterprises are offering online products and services for free so the public are able to work and study at home.

Tencent Cloud, the cloud computing arm of internet giant Tencent, is offering a free video conference product to the public. Using computer software, a mini-program or a mobile app, employees can launch or join a video conference.

The company said that it is also launching other online products and services, such as a collaborative cloud platform and enterprise community, free to all employees across China.

Rokid Co Ltd, a Hangzhou-based artificial intelligence firm, just donated a batch of augmented reality glasses to the front-lines of the antivirus battle in Zhejiang.

Wearing the AR glasses, namely Rokid Glass, front-line medical staff are connected to distant medical professionals, realizing livestreaming diagnosis and treatment from a first-person perspective.

Through telemedicine and AI-assisted medical services, the glasses can make good use of remote medical resources and lower the chance of infection for medical workers. The AR glasses can also be utilized by the supervision departments to track affected patients.

Misa Zhu, chief executive officer of Rokid, said:"The company is also trying to offer the glasses to more areas, including Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak."

Apart from telecommuting, distant education is another focus for IT companies. iTutorGroup, the smart education arm of Ping An Insurance (Group) Co Ltd, opened its online study platform for free. The platform enables students across China to learn effectively at home.

In addition, the platform helps schools digitalize lesson plans, and offer free online courses.

"The epidemic prevention and control period is a key period for Ping An to fulfill social responsibilities. The company will keep an eye on the progress of the epidemic, actively integrate and relocate multiple resources according to actual demands, and spare no efforts in offering supports in fields such as healthcare and insurance," said a statement of Ping An.

Li Yi, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, said distant learning breaks the limitations of time and space, lowers the possibility of infection and offers more flexibility.