A Single Pill to Stop Many Viruses? Researchers Say It’s Possible

Scientists have identified a potential pathway to a universal antiviral drug by targeting common structures on viruses, offering hope for broad-spectrum protection against future pandemics.

Adam Braunschweig, Professor of Chemistry at Hunter College, CUNY (New York) and his team at the Nanoscience Initiative, Advanced Science Research Center (CUNY Graduate Center) discovered compounds that block infections from multiple viruses.

What the Breakthrough Is About

• Targeting sugars on viral surfaces: Researchers discovered that many viruses share similar carbohydrate structures on their outer shells. By designing small molecules that bind to these sugars, they were able to block infections across multiple virus families.
• RNA-protein interactions: Another team uncovered how enteroviruses replicate using a structured RNA element. This insight could lead to drugs that disrupt viral replication at a fundamental level.
• Broad-spectrum potential: Unlike current antivirals that are virus-specific (e.g., HIV or influenza drugs), this approach aims to work against many different viruses at once, including those we haven’t encountered yet.

Why This Matters

• Pandemic preparedness: Right now, when a new virus emerges, scientists scramble to develop vaccines or treatments. A universal antiviral could serve as an immediate first line of defense.
• Comparison to antibiotics: Just as broad-spectrum antibiotics revolutionized bacterial infection treatment, a universal antiviral could transform how we fight viral diseases.
• Versatility: The compounds tested so far blocked infections from at least seven different viruses, showing promise for wide applicability.

Challenges Ahead

• Safety & toxicity: Any drug that broadly targets viral structures must be proven safe for human cells.
• Resistance risk: Viruses evolve quickly, so researchers must ensure these antivirals don’t lose effectiveness over time.
• Clinical trials: The breakthrough is still in the lab stage. It will take years of testing before such drugs could be approved for human use.

Quick Comparison

Feature	Current Antivirals (e.g., HIV, flu)	Universal Antiviral (in research)
Target	Specific viral proteins	Shared sugars / RNA structures
Scope	One virus family	Multiple virus families
Availability	Approved & in use	Still experimental
Pandemic readiness	Slow response (new drug/vaccine needed)	Immediate broad-spectrum defense

This is a huge conceptual leap: instead of chasing each virus individually, scientists are trying to hit the common weak spots that all viruses share. If successful, it could be one of the most important medical advances of the century.

India’s COVID-19 Resurgence: What the Numbers Reveal and Why Vigilance Matters

India is witnessing a fresh uptick in COVID-19 cases, with 257 active infections reported across nine states as of May 19, 2025. While the numbers remain relatively low compared to previous waves, health experts urge caution, particularly as new Omicron subvariants— JN.1 and its descendants LF.7 and NB.1.8 —drive infections

Where Are Cases Rising?

The states reporting the highest increases include:

• Kerala: 95 cases (sharpest rise)
• Maharashtra: 56 cases
• Tamil Nadu: 66 cases
• Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Sikkim: Smaller clusters.

Despite the rise, experts emphasize that no new variant of concern has emerged, and hospitalizations remain low. However, the actual number of infections may be higher than reported, as many individuals with mild symptoms are not getting tested.

Why Are Cases Rising Again?

Several factors contribute to the resurgence:

• Waning immunity: Many people have not received booster doses.
• Relaxed preventive behavior: Mask-wearing and social distancing have declined.
• Seasonal effects: Increased travel and gatherings may be fueling transmission.
• Global trends: Countries like Singapore and Hong Kong have seen spikes due to Omicron subvariants.

What Symptoms Should You Watch For?

The dominant JN.1 subvariant typically causes mild symptoms, including:

• Fever
• Sore throat
• Cough
• Fatigue
• Runny nose
• Occasional shortness of breath (in vulnerable individuals).

What Can You Do?

Health officials recommend:

1. Wearing masks in crowded places and enclosed spaces.
2. Avoiding unnecessary travel if symptomatic.
3. Getting tested promptly if symptoms appear.
4. Following hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette.
5. Staying up to date with vaccinations and booster doses.

The Bigger Picture: Lessons from the Pandemic

While India’s current COVID-19 situation is not alarming, it serves as a reminder that pandemic preparedness must remain a priority. The rise in cases highlights the importance of genomic surveillance, public health infrastructure, and community awareness in managing future outbreaks.

As the world moves beyond the peak of the pandemic, vigilance—not panic—is key. Staying informed and adopting basic preventive measures can help curb the spread and protect vulnerable populations.

How the Pandemic Accelerated the Shift to Digital Reading

A Sudden Pause That Reshaped Reading Habits

When the world ground to a halt libraries shuttered and bookshops closed their doors without notice. What had been a slow and steady rise in digital reading suddenly became a tidal shift. Readers old and new turned to screens not out of preference but necessity. For many this marked the first time they considered e-books a practical option rather than a novelty. Devices were dusted off apps downloaded and online catalogues scoured for anything to break the silence.

With physical books out of reach entire households adjusted their routines. Children attended virtual school while parents browsed e-libraries in the same room. "War and Peace" sat beside grocery lists on tablets while thrillers filled up lunch breaks. In this sudden shift z-lib stays popular in the same way as Open Library and Library Genesis because it bridged the gap between need and access when traditional routes were blocked. The urgency of the moment nudged even the most reluctant readers toward screens turning a moment of crisis into an unexpected turning point.

The Growth of Digital Shelves and Virtual Stacks

Libraries responded with remarkable flexibility. Without waiting for bureaucracy to catch up many expanded digital lending rights or partnered with e-reading services to grant temporary access. Instead of the usual long lines for new releases titles were delivered with a single click. Readers found themselves diving into entire series without leaving their kitchen chairs. The quiet hum of a download replaced the rustle of paper.

This new convenience did more than meet the moment. It redefined expectations. Those who had resisted digital reading began to enjoy the ease of carrying a library in a pocket. Books once delayed by shipping or out-of-stock alerts became instantly available. What started as emergency adaptation grew into lasting preference. Many who once clung to paperbacks now think twice before going back.

Where Comfort Meets Curiosity: The New Digital Routine

E-books turned reading into something that fit around life not the other way around. Late-night reads under covers brightened by phone screens early morning pages before meetings mid-commute deep dives without the weight of a hardcover in tow. This blend of spontaneity and access created a comfort zone that continues to expand.

Readers started exploring beyond bestsellers and classics. Niche topics obscure titles and hard-to-find texts became just as easy to read as popular novels. This openness brought a quiet revolution in taste and discovery. The diversity once hidden behind limited shelf space now stands front and centre. Before the pandemic few could imagine finding rare philosophy books or old travelogues on demand. Now it's commonplace.

The shift went deeper than format and function. It changed how reading fits into the day and what stories people choose. In the middle of this transformation one can notice some standout shifts in behaviour and access:

• Portable Reading Changed the Game : Digital books allowed people to read on their own terms. Long waits in queues or moments between tasks became mini reading sessions. A phone or tablet offered a chance to step into a novel without carrying extra weight. This new portability didn’t just make books easier to reach it made them harder to put down. In households where space is tight digital reading also freed up shelves for other essentials. The ease of syncing across devices meant a story picked up on the bus could continue in bed that night.
• Discovery Became More Democratic: Readers no longer had to rely on store displays or word-of-mouth to find something new. Algorithms gave suggestions that were surprisingly on point but beyond that forums reviews and personal lists helped guide fresh choices. Someone stumbling across an old title might find it leads them to an author they’d never heard of before. z-lib.qa played a role here offering access to a wide mix of books without walls. This access helped boost the confidence of readers who wanted to try new things without risking a bad purchase.
• Digital Libraries Grew More Human : Though driven by code and screens e-libraries started feeling more personal. They began to offer tools that mimicked the experience of browsing in person from highlighting text to borrowing suggestions based on history. Readers found themselves making digital annotations or saving quotes just like they might dog-ear a paperback. This familiarity made the digital experience less cold and more tactile even without the scent of old paper.

These shifts left a lasting impression. People no longer ask whether e-books are “real” books. They simply read and move on. There’s a kind of quiet normalcy now in opening an e-reader while waiting at the dentist or listening to an audiobook during a jog. These once-niche behaviours have become a new rhythm.

Where Do We Go From Here

The world has returned to motion but some habits refuse to vanish. Digital reading has carved out a space that paper alone can no longer reclaim. It complements rather than competes. Book lovers still browse shops and enjoy physical pages yet many now expect both formats to exist side by side.

This shift is not about replacing tradition but building on it. Readers now live in a world where literature is only ever a few taps away. The path to stories has grown wider and quicker. What started as a response to global uncertainty has grown into a habit that sticks. The shelves may look different but the words still carry their power.

Pandemic Has Accelerated Digital Upskilling, But Key Groups Still Miss Out - PwC survey

While 40% of workers say their digital skills improved during the lockdown, data shows unequal access to career and training opportunities

LONDON, March 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the largest-ever studies of the global workforce shows:

• Two in five believe their job will be obsolete within 5 years
• Half of the global workforce report missing out on career opportunities due to bias
• Training opportunities focused on those who already have high levels of skills
• Younger people report being more focused on maximising income than 'making a difference'
• Only 1 in 10 of those who can work remotely want to go back to a traditional commute and work environment full time
• But people are taking their future into their own hands: 77% are ready to learn new skills or completely re-train and 49% would like to set up their own business.

A new survey of 32,500 workers in 19 countries paints a picture of a global workforce that sees the shift to remote working as just the tip of the iceberg. Reflecting the fact the pandemic has accelerated a number of workforce trends, 60% are worried that automation is putting many jobs at risk; 48% believe 'traditional employment won't be around in the future' and 39% think it is likely that their job will be obsolete within 5 years.

However, this is not a counsel of despair, as 40% of workers say their digital skills have been improved through the prolonged period of lockdown, and claim they'll continue to embrace training and skill development. 77% are 'ready to learn new skills or completely re-train' and 74% see training as a matter of personal responsibility. And, 80% are confident they can adapt to new technologies entering their workplace, with a large majority of those asked in India (69%) and in South Africa (66%) saying they are 'very' confident.

In addition, 49% of respondents are focused on building entrepreneurial skills with an interest in setting up their own business.

Half of workforce report missing out on career opportunities or training due to prejudice

The survey also found that 50% of workers say they've faced discrimination at work which led to them missing out on career advancement or training. 13% report missing out on opportunities as a result of ethnicity and 14% of workers have experienced discrimination on the grounds of gender, with women twice as likely to report gender discrimination as men. 13% report discrimination on the basis of class, with post-graduates and others with higher qualifications more likely to report prejudice. Younger people are as likely as older people to report discrimination based on age.

On top of that, the survey found there are disparities in access to upskilling opportunities. While 46% of people with postgraduate degrees say their employer gives them many opportunities to improve their digital skills, just 28% of people with school-leaver qualifications say the same. Industries like retail or transport, which are most at risk of disruption, score just 25% and 20% respectively; while banking scores 42%.

"If current patterns in access to training persist, upskilling will increase social inequality when it should be doing precisely the opposite," said Bhushan Sethi, Joint Global Leader of PwC's People and Organization Practice. "Government and business leaders need to work together to intensify efforts to ensure people in the most-at risk industries and groups get the opportunities they need. Automation and technological disruption are inevitable, but we can control whether its negative effects are managed or not."

Younger people more focused on maximising income than 'making a difference' if forced to choose.

Three-quarters of workers globally (75%) say they want to work for an organisation that will make a 'positive contribution to society.' This feeling was especially acute in China (87%), India (90%), and South Africa (90%).

However, economic insecurity is limiting people's ability to pursue purpose driven careers, with younger people particularly affected. Overall, 54% of those polled said, if forced to choose, they would prefer a job that enabled them to 'take every opportunity to maximise their income' over a job that 'makes a difference' (46%).

Interestingly, those between 18 and 34 are more likely than other generations to prioritise income over purpose in their job with 57% prioritising 'maximising their income' over 'making a difference' (43%), a margin of 14 points. Those over 55 prioritise making a difference by a margin of 8 points, which rises to 22 points amongst workers over 65.

"As the world continues to grapple with a global health crisis and economic uncertainty, we've seen workers come to demand more from the business community, expecting their employers to make a positive contribution to society," said Peter Brown, Joint Global Leader of PwC's People and Organization Practice. "Fortunately, focusing on societal impact and maximising profit are not mutually exclusive, and being a purpose-led business can actually help boost your bottom line."

Employees want the option to work remotely moving forward

The survey concludes that remote working will persist post-lockdown. Of those who can work remotely, 72% of say they prefer a mixture of in-person and remote working, with only 9% stating they'd like to go back to their traditional work environment full-time. This is particularly true of professionals, office workers, business owners and the self-employed, all of whom are able to perform their jobs remotely using technology. Home working need not be limited to professional jobs. 43% of manual workers and 45% of semi-skilled workers say there are many elements of their job that they are able to do remotely.

People's attitudes to working from home also change by location, providing further evidence of how the pandemic has increased the global digital divide. Workers in metropolitan areas (66%) are more likely to work in roles that could allow remote working than those who live in rural areas (44%).

Workers torn on privacy and technology

44% of workers globally would agree to let their employer use technology to monitor their performance at work including sensors and wearable devices, with 31% against. However, many would not go as far as allowing their employers access to their personal data. 41% of respondents said that they were unwilling to give their employer access to their personal data including social media profiles, with only 35% willing.

Between 26 January, 2021 and 8 February, 2021, PwC commissioned a survey of 32,517 members of the general public. Respondents included workers, business owners, contract workers, students, unemployed people looking for work, and those on furlough or who were temporarily laid off. The survey polled workers in 19 countries: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, UAE, UK, and the US.

About PwC

At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. We're a network of firms in 155 countries with over 284,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com.

PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.

© 2021 PwC. All rights reserved

Online Symposium by JETRO - Future Society After the Pandemic, Expectations for EXPO 2025, and the Potential of the Osaka Kansai Region

Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition will hold an online symposium “Future Society after the Pandemic, Expectations for EXPO 2025, and the Potential of the Osaka Kansai Region” on March 3, 2021.

 

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210219005225/en/

 

(Graphic: Business Wire)

In addition to climate change, environmental issues and economic disparity, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has become a prominent global challenge. In this symposium, participants will discuss how EXPO 2025 Osaka Kansai can contribute to the resolution of these issues.

 

In the first part, the symposium will review the role and significance of EXPO 2025 Osaka Kansai in addition to predictions for the near future after the COVID-19 pandemic. The second part will focus on the ecosystem and innovation function of the Kansai region.

 

EVENT SUMMARY
Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2021, 14:00-16:30 (JST)
Place: Online (Zoom live stream)
Language: Japanese, English (Simultaneous interpretation)
Organizers: Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
Co-Organizer: The Kansai Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry
Registration: From the website (https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/events/20210303.html)

 

Agenda:
[Opening Remarks]
Hiroyuki Ishige, Secretary-General, Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
Nobuhiko Sasaki, Chairman and CEO, JETRO
[Keynote Speech]
"The future is unknowable but inevitable – cooperation is the solution”
Richard Baldwin, Professor of International Economics, Graduate Institute, Geneva
"Future Society and EXPO 2025 Osaka Kansai"
Hiroshi Ishiguro, Professor at Osaka University and ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories
[Presentations & Panel Discussion]
Presentation 1: "Innovation and the SDGs"
Jonas Svensson, Head of Global Innovation and Technology, UNOPS
Presentation 2: “A Living Laboratory Model to Co-create Sustainable Innovations”
Matt van Leeuwen, Chief Innovation Officer, SUNWAY group
Panel Discussion: “As an Open-innovation Platform, how the Kansai Region Collaborates with Global Society and Contributes to the Achievement of SDGs”
Panelists:
-Yasuo Kitaoka, Executive Assistant to the Director, Co-creation Bureau, Osaka University
Director, Innovation Division
-Yoshimasa Sakai, Director-General of Public Relations Strategy Bureau, Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
-Jonas Svensson, Head of Global Innovation and Technology, UNOPS
-Chikara Takagishi, Senior General Manager of Urban Management Division, Hankyu Hanshin Properties Corp.
-Shogoro Fujiki, Founder & CEO, Biome Inc.
[Closing Remarks]
Takeshi Yonemura, Director-General, Kansai Bureau of Economy Trade and Industry

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210219005225/en/

Pandemic propels proptech in Asia

SINGAPORE, Feb. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Real estate companies have ramped up their investment in technology in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, finds a survey of some of the biggest property players in Asia. The survey by independent news source Mingtiandi, in collaboration with technology company Yardi Systems, finds 70 percent of real estate companies are scaling up their investment in property technology, or proptech.

The results of the survey, Tech adoption in Asian real estate, builds on a similar report from Mingtiandi in 2017.

"Our latest survey results unearth a major shift towards proptech adoption in our region," says Yardi's Regional Director, Bernie Devine.

"Change was underway well before 2020, but COVID-19 has heightened the urgency and amplified the risks of inaction."

Proptech – innovative technology that reimagines property's core processes and business models – is turning real estate on its head. Metaprop, one of the world's largest early-stage proptech venture capital firm, predicts that proptech innovation will deliver $205 billion of new value to the global real estate industry over the next five years alone.

"Real estate leaders are rolling out technology to support more frequent and accurate reporting, deeper data analysis, and technology that underpins safety and efficiency," Devine explains.

A total of 180 real estate specialists – more than a third with assets valued at over US$1 billion – took part in the survey in August 2020. Thirty-nine percent of respondents were from Hong Kong, 26 percent from Singapore and 12 percent from China.

Among the key findings, 35 percent said Asia was still trailing the West in terms of tech adoption, but this was down from 56 percent in 2017. Thirty percent said the region was leading the way – up from 12 percent three years previously.

"There's a growing perception that Asia is closing the gap with the West. Location shapes perceptions more than any other factor, with just six percent of respondents in mainland China believing that Asia lagged the world's leaders," Devine says.

Respondents named big data analytics (55%), artificial intelligence (42%), business process automation (32%) and the Internet of Things (32%) as the top technology plays for Asia's property industry over the next five years.

However, Mingtiandi's survey also suggests some quarters of the real estate sector remain skeptical of the power of technology as an agent of change, with 77 percent believing real estate trails other industries.

The region's real estate companies, many of them family-owned, are still slow to adopt new tools. In the era of big data, 56 percent are still reliant on Excel spreadsheets for their work processes.

"But as we start to achieve far superior levels of efficiency and insight from more sophisticated software, digital will dominate. We expect the property companies that seize the lead now will establish an unassailable position in the market in the years ahead," Devine concludes.

Download Tech adoption in Asian real estate

About Mingtiandi

Mingtiandi is the independent source for Asia real estate intelligence, helping more than 100,000 unique visitors per month make informed decisions and gain an edge over the competition. Since beginning daily distribution in 2012, Mingtiandi's list of newsletter subscribers has grown to more than 10,000 decision makers from companies including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and more.

About Yardi

Established in 1984, Yardi has grown over the last three decades to become the leading provider of high-performance software solutions for the real estate industry. Today, Yardi employs 7,000-plus dedicated professionals working in more than 40 offices throughout Asia, Australia, North America, Europe and the Middle East.

Pandemic Pushes 89 Percent of Indian IT Leaders to Protect Organizational Data from Ransomware According to New Survey

Druva Inc., the leader in Cloud Data Protection and Management, today announced further results from its inaugural 2020 Value of Data Report, highlighting the rising enterprise technology trends in India. The global survey, commissioned by Druva, offers insights from over 1,000 IT decision makers (ITDMs) in India, the US and UK, and underpins the importance of maximizing the value of data as businesses continue to navigate an unprecedented worldwide situation.

 

As organizational reliance on data continues to rise amid the pandemic, the survey uncovered rising concerns among Indian businesses about data protection, the growing need to enhance resilience, and the role data agility plays in enabling organizational operations and connecting with customers. Of the more than 300 ITDMs surveyed in India, approximately one third (31 percent) report an increase in ransomware attacks on the organization since the pandemic began, and overall 89 percent of ITDMs being more concerned now with protecting their organizational data from ransomware than before the pandemic. It’s clear data has never been more valuable to organizational success, yet 44 percent of organizations do not have the data they collect readily available when needed for decision making.

 

With data being created, stored, and shared in more ways than ever before, IT leaders in India are confronted with unprecedented challenges. The survey reveals that protecting data from outside threats, unauthorised internal access and ensuring business resiliency are becoming key priorities for organisations as they accelerate their cloud migration and digital transformation plans.

 

Other key India findings:

 

• Accelerated digital transformation - 76 percent of respondents said that their digital transformation plans have accelerated due to the pandemic.
• Expanding threat surface - since the pandemic began 42 percent reported an increase in video conferencing attacks, malware (40 percent), phishing (35 percent), user error / accidental tampering or deletion (32 percent) and insider attack (31 percent)
• Data Recovery a concern - 67 percent reported that the time to recover data is still an issue and has increased since the pandemic
• Data access crucial for business survival - 25 percent reported that their company can only go 3 to 4 hours without access to data before causing serious harm to their business

“The pandemic, and possibilities of an emergence in the coming months, has forced organizations across India to re-evaluate the health of their data, potential security vulnerabilities, and their level of preparedness”, said Milind Borate, Co-founder and Chief Development Officer, Druva. “The ability to unlock the value of data, rapidly adapt to changing demands, and delight customers will increasingly be determined by their cloud strategy. Cloud data protection plays a pivotal role in this journey, and Druva Cloud Platform is designed to help organizations accelerate their digital transformation, while ensuring data security and compliance.

 

Additional Information

 

• Read more about Druva’s Value of Data survey

About Druva

 

Druva delivers Data Protection and Management for the cloud era. Druva Cloud Platform is built on AWS and offered as-a-Service; customers drive down costs by up to 50 percent by freeing themselves from the burden of unnecessary hardware, capacity planning, and software management. Druva is trusted worldwide by over 4,000 companies at the forefront of embracing the cloud. Druva is a privately held company headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and is funded by Sequoia Capital, Viking Global Investors, Tenaya Capital, Riverwood Capital and Nexus Partners. Visit Druva and follow us @druvainc.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127006011/en/

Despite Pandemic, Patent Demand Remains Strong, According to Analysis by IFI CLAIMS

• Samsung Holds More Active Patent Assets Than Any Company in the World;
• Canon Leads from Japan, Samsung from South Korea, and Huawei from China;
• IBM Again Received Most U.S. Patent Grants in 2020 

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Jan. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Demand for global patents remains strong despite the pandemic according to IFI CLAIMS Patent Services which just published its annual analysis of the world's patent leaders. Two studies were released today including the IFI Global 250 which looks across the world's major patent authorities to reveal the top holders of active patent assets and the IFI U.S. Top 50 patent recipients which uses calendar year patent grants from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Samsung holds by far the most active patent assets in the world with 80,577, 5 percent more than in 2019 and more than twice that of IBM, which ranks second on the IFI Global 250 with 38,541. Canon, with 36,161, is a close third, and Microsoft and Robert Bosch GmbH round out the top 5. In addition to Samsung and Canon, other notable Asia-based companies on the Global 250 include Panasonic at No. 6, LG at No. 7, Toyota at No. 11, and Sony at No. 12. Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry is No. 17 and Huawei at No. 24 is the top firm representing China.

U.S. patent grants ticked downward only slightly in 2020 from the prior year, despite the global pandemic. Total U.S. patent grants declined less than 1 percent from 2019, going from 354,428 to 352,013. Patent applications, however, rose nearly 5 percent from 2019 to 2020, continuing an upward trend over the past four years. Highlights from the full analysis and an overview of trends appear on the IFI website.

IBM Leads 2020 U.S. Top 50

IBM, the perpetual leader in U.S. patents, once again topped the IFI U.S. Top 50, with 9,130 grants, down 1 percent from 2019. Among companies based outside America, Samsung Electronics earned the most U.S. patents, 6,415, placing it No. 2 on the list. Canon Inc., Microsoft, Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor, LG Electronics, Apple, Huawei Technologies, and Qualcomm rounded out the top 10 patent assignees during the past year.

All except Taiwan Semiconductor and Qualcomm were in the top 10 last year. Amazon stood just outside the elite 10, rising four spots from 15th place in 2019 to 11th place in 2020, with 2,244 patent grants.

Kia Motors, the South Korean car manufacturer, was one of only 19 companies on the list to increase its patent count during the past 12 months, going from 921 grants in 2019 to 1,322 in 2020. That 43 percent leap led the pack, with Sharp (ranked 32nd) rising sharply by 27 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor (ranked 6th) increasing its patent count by 21 percent. Huawei, the only representative of China in the Top 10 (ranked 9th), logged 14 percent more patents in 2020.

While Kia had the most upward movement on the U.S. list, moving from 41st place in 2019 to 24th in 2020, GM Global Technology Operations slipped furthest, from 25th to the 48th spot, a 39 percent drop in grants. Halliburton Energy Services and Toshiba were second and third worst performers, slipping by 24 percent and 18 percent respectively. Amazon's patent activity declined 7 percent.

Cumulatively, non-U.S. companies and organizations had the majority share of new U.S. patent grants last year at 53 percent. The U.S. received the lion's share of any single country though with 164,379 overall. That was 47 percent of all patents granted and more than three times the number earned by Japanese companies (No. 2 with 52,429). South Korea held the No. 3 slot with 22,400, while Chinese concerns ranked fourth on the list, with 18,792 grants.

Fastest Growing Technologies

The fastest growing technology based on U.S. patent applications – a strong indicator of what's coming down the pike – is Computer Systems Based on Biological Models, which saw a 67 percent increase from 2016-20. This hot area of computing uses brain biology as an inspiration and includes Big Tech stalwarts such as Google, Microsoft and Intel. Another area, Electrical Smoking Devices, saw a 55 percent increase over the same period. Other fast-movers include Machine Learning, Quantum Computing, Auto-pilots/Navigation for Vehicles, and 3D Printing. To view the full report, visit the 2020 Top 10 Fastest-Growing Technologies published today.

"Overall, U.S. patent activity was down slightly last year, despite the pandemic. This is a minor downward tick in what's been a largely upward trajectory we've seen over the past decade, and it's still 13 percent higher than what we saw in 2018," said Mike Baycroft, CEO of IFI CLAIMS Patent Services. "Another positive indicator is that published pre-grant applications saw a nominal increase in 2020. But we'll have to wait at least another year before we can determine if the pandemic had any impact."

About the IFI Global 250

IFI's Global 250 ranking is based on currently held active patent assets as of December 31, 2020. It includes patent assets held in all of the major patent jurisdictions including the U.S., Europe, China, Japan and others. It also is based on "ultimate ownership" where subsidiaries and other owned entities are rolled up under the parent. Using this methodology, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd is not a single entity but a collection of 155 subsidiaries owned by Samsung. Another distinction is that it looks at active patent families where a family is a collection of global patent filings related to a single invention. As a result, a patent for the same invention filed in multiple jurisdictions is only counted once.

Patent activity is a valuable financial indicator for researchers, analysts, and investors who seek insight into companies' R&D productivity and clues to IP strategy, as well as technology trends and the competitive landscape within various industries. Often the true value of a company lies with its intellectual properties. Examining patent assets is a key tool in gauging the intangible assets of publicly traded companies.

To create your own analysis, visit the IFI CLAIMS Top 1000, a free tool which uses data from the top 1000 companies that received U.S. patents in 2020. The tool shows live data for 2021 and offers interactive features that allow users to create and sort their own lists using a variety of filters.

About IFI CLAIMS Patent Services/Fairview Research

IFI CLAIMS Patent Services uses proprietary data architecture to produce the industry's most accurate patent database. The CLAIMS Direct platform allows for the easy integration of applications, other data sets, and analysis software. Headquartered in New Haven, Conn., U.S., with a satellite office in Barcelona, Spain, IFI CLAIMS is a division of Fairview Research. For more information, visit www.ificlaims.com.

Pandemic fuels Augmented Reality (AR) buzz in Local and Global markets

• Augmented Reality” buzz shot through the roof in AC at 14x in India and 6x at the global level in AMJ’20
• Top newsmakers associated with the term include Venture Capitalist Vinod Khosla and Businessmen like Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd, Eric Yuan - CEO and Founder of Zoom Video Communications
• Wizikey Augmented Reality report reveals that AR startup named BlinkIn emerges as the Buzz Maker followed by Immaginate and Queppelin in India

The Augmented Reality Report by Wizikey, Asia’s fastest-growing PR- SAAS Startup, highlights that Augmented Reality (AR) moved center stage in the after COVID-19 world. In an analysis of a million+ news articles, AR hit its high-point in the AC era. In AMJ’20, the AR buzz index moved 14x compared to the pre-COVID index in India. The global index moved 6x compared to the pre-COVID levels. 

Top newsmakers associated with the term AR include Venture Capitalist Vinod Khosla and celebrated businessmen like Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd, Eric Yuan - CEO and Founder of Zoom Video Communications and Byju Raveendran - Founder of BYJU’s.

The report also revealed that AR association with business & technology has exploded. While BC, AR was more associated with entertainment and sports, in AC it is with Business and Technology.

Commenting on the AR report, Anshul Sushil CEO & Co-founder at Wizikey said, “AR technology is now a vaccine for a faster recovery of companies. As highlighted in the report, it’s noteworthy how the overall buzz of AR has grown in global and local markets in the age of social-distancing. The cutting-edge innovation in the AR space by global leaders and Indian startups is surely sprouting a new normal.”

According to the Wizikey AR Report, the increase in safe remote assistance, customer live walk-through, contact-less supports, visual-guided support catapulted buzz of AR amongst start-ups during the pandemic. BlinkIn emerges as the Buzz Maker followed by Immaginate and Queppelin. 

The top-drawers in the AR product category are Aarogya Setu App, Apple’s ARkit, Google’s ARCore, Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft HoloLens 2. In the BC era, Google Maps, iPhone XS/ XR, Pokemon Go, and Microsoft Zoho gained maximum buzz.

Report Methodology

Wizikey’s proprietary tech was used indexing all the category news chronologically and as per their average audience views. After this, the articles were indexed according to their headline and byline to see which organizations were mentioned the most in the indexed articles and what was the frequency of the names used. Once the top buzz-makers were identified, the volume of news made by each of them was analyzed and information was drawn on the following aspects. Their share in the cumulative amount of news created by all the top 10 participants.

The Data Analytics Team at Wizikey identified the top trending words in the AR space  through analysing 156776 from leading publications from March 2019 to June 2020. The report highlighted the buzz and buzz makers  in the AR space in the local and global market before and after the outbreak. The timeline of the news created by them and when did they get the most amount of media attention. The report does a comparative analysis of the before & after COVID-19 era to understand the overall adoption of AR in the key domains.

About Wizikey

Wizikey is a subscription-based Communication SaaS that helps businesses identify and connect with relevant media influencers and subject matter experts. With Wizikey's data intelligence, companies can create campaigns, target and engage influencers and journalists, measure and optimize to scale their brand-building efforts. Launched in 2019, it has garnered 1000+ users over 250+ businesses who have created more than 2500 stories in over 9 languages. With investors like Ajai Chowdhry (Co-founder, HCL), Alok Mittal (Co-founder and CEO, Indifi), Ambarish Raghuvanshi (ex-CFO, Info Edge), Keshav R Murugesh (CEO, WNS), Raman Roy (Chairman, NASSCOM and Chairman, Quattro), Sanjiv Bajaj (CEO, Bajaj Finserv) and the Indian Angel Fund among others, it is striving every day to ensure businesses can get the credibility and trust which they deserve.

Wipro Collaborates with Intel to Drive Business Continuity

Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announced that it will join forces with Intel to enable Wipro's LIVE Workspace™, Wipro's digital workspace solution with the Intel vPro^® platform. This joint collaboration will help customers drive business continuity by enabling remote IT support and solutions, as they seek to keep employees productive amid social distancing boundaries and other remote-work limitations that have become the new normal.

Wipro integrated the Intel vPro^® platform into LIVE Workspace™, a suite of digital workplace services to provide remote manageability of devices. This extends to users at home or in the office and provides enhanced protection and security against firmware-level attacks. The combined solution provides practical business continuity services to enable enterprises to rapidly design, deploy, and manage a true remote work experience. Intel recently introduced its 10th Gen Intel^® Core™ vPro^® processors that are built for business to power next generation business computing needs. Wipro will leverage the Intel vPro^® platform which features Intel^® Active Management Technology (it) and Intel^® Endpoint Management Assistant (Intel^® EMA). This will enable remote work and drive seamless productivity and collaboration while giving employees the flexibility to work from anywhere in a safe, more secure and reliable manner.

Satish Yadavalli, Vice President, Cloud and Infrastructure Services, Wipro Limited said, “The collaboration is a testament of our strength and our joint resolve to enhance the value we can create for our customers. We intend to bring together our strong complementary capabilities on remote working tools & platforms, desktop & application integration and managed services, to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic. Wipro is a leader in workplace management services and Intel in client computing solutions. Together, we can equip enterprises to enhance employee experiences and connectivity to help achieve strategic business outcomes.”

“Our partnership with Wipro has been strong and we applaud Wipro’s laser focus on driving customer value. The Intel^® vPro^® platform is built for business, and Wipro’s digital workspace solution is perfect for customers adapting to the new normal of remote workplace management. Together we are delivering on a vision for seamless productivity and collaboration, so people can contribute at the highest level regardless of where they are.” said Stephanie Hallford, Intel Vice President of the Client Computing Group and General Manager of Business Client Platforms.

Intel, the Intel logo, and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries.

78% Indian MSMEs Shutdown During Covid-19 Pandemic - Study

• Spocto conducted study on Loan Moratorium for lending organizations, titled "The Ground Truth - Voice of Indian Borrowers”,
•  Study reveals support customers need, its current awareness and understanding of Moratorium & its impact on their payment amount

As the coronavirus pandemic unleashes a devastating impact on businesses, institutions and society, Spocto, one of India’s leading big data analytics-based banking and financial services company, has initiated a comprehensive well detailed study entitled ‘The Ground Truth – Voice of Indian borrowers’. It consists of views and insights from 1.800 account holders across cities pan India such as Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad etc., wherein the study presents actual and actionable insights from the consumers on moratorium

The pandemic left countless working professionals bereft of employment opportunities, and factors like layoffs, salary cuts and reduced earnings have resulted in a mass exodus of both skilled and unskilled workers from the big cities to their hometowns. In this light, the data received from these retail loan account holders brings in insights pertinent to the ground reality, the support they need, their current awareness and understanding of Moratorium & its impact on their payment amount. 

The study primarily revealed the following key findings; 

• 59% of consumers witnessed complete loss of income due to COVID-19
• 34% employees from present workforce pool have lost their jobs
• As a result of the fiscal depravity, a staggering 78% of the MSMEs were forced to shut down operations due to zero revenue generation.
• 76% of the overall account holders have taken small-ticket loans amounting to Rs 50,000 in EMIs while it is mostly the unsecured loans that have contributed to the plunge in repayments than secured loans
• 78% of the consumers opted in for the initial Moratorium period (March to May), which implies that 22% either willingly chose to opt out or did not OPT IN from their bank’s Moratorium offer.
• 75% of the borrowers highlighted the need for more clarity and education surrounding moratorium. In a similar vein, 64% of the borrowers affirmed that they are aware regarding the interest that is levied on availing the moratorium clause.  
• 38% consumers prefer to speak or interact with a human interface to get their queries resolved
• Digital is the new de-facto medium for 62% of the loan borrowers reflecting on their need for real time, bias free, consistent & authentic resolutions
•  In another frame, about 28% consumers were discontented with the level of conversation with their banks 46% only are satisfied with the banks efforts on explaining the terms of Moratorium to its customers
• 37% consumers stated that they require support from the financial system in the form of essential loans for personal expenditure in the next 12 months
• Lastly, more than 56% customers are now yearning to opt out of the Moratorium 

Commenting on the revelations of this diligent and eye-opening study, the spokesperson for Spocto Solutions, Mr. SumeetSrivastava, Founder and CEO said, “The year 2020 has proven to be the proverbial Black swan event for all industries and their professionals. This period has also unfolded a few valuable takeaways, namely, that it is time the banking and lending ecosystem revamp their engagement policies and strategies, as their customers may not have the means to pay back their loans within the allotted time-frame. But this also on the other end implies that, they may have the willingness, but not the ability to pay right now. The banks must also keep in mind that these customers who are victims of the market inertia with all probability shall return to the financing space in the span of a year or two with at least 15-20 years of potential service. Hence banks should rather value the long term customer rather than smite down a short term defaulter. The banks too should focus on the heightened optimization of digital and efficient pathways of loan disbursement and recovery to generate greater consumer traction and engagement. This will not only help the ailing sector get back to its feet in due time but will also catalyze the re-building and recuperation of the considerable hammering that the sector experienced due to the catastrophic contagion. “

Lending organizations that prioritizes consumer engagement and digital collections, will witness the resurgence of revenue flows and hopefully carve a better and ebullient future in contrast to the present doldrums of the stifling post-pandemic scenario.

Pandemic Leads to A Bicycle Boom, and Shortage, around World

Fitness junkies locked out of gyms, commuters fearful of public transit, and families going stir crazy inside their homes during the coronavirus pandemic have created a boom in bicycle sales unseen in decades.

In the United States, bicycle aisles at mass merchandisers like Walmart and Target have been swept clean, and independent shops are doing a brisk business and are selling out of affordable “family” bikes.

Bicycle sales over the past two months saw their biggest spike in the US since the oil crisis of the 1970s, said Jay Townley, who analyses cycling industry trends at Human Powered Solutions.

“People quite frankly have panicked, and they're buying bikes like toilet paper,” Townley said, referring to the rush to buy essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer that stores saw at the beginning of the pandemic.

The trend is mirrored around the globe, as cities better known for car-clogged streets, like Manila and Rome, install bike lanes to accommodate surging interest in cycling while public transport remains curtailed.

In London, municipal authorities plan to go further by banning cars from some central thoroughfares.

Bike shop owners in the Philippine capital say demand is stronger than at Christmas.

Financial incentives are boosting sales in Italy, where the government's post-lockdown stimulus last month included a 500-euro ($575) “bici bonus” rebate for up to 60% of the cost of a bike.

But that's if you can get your hands on one. The craze has led to shortages that will take some weeks, maybe months, to resolve, particularly in the US, which relies on China for about 90% of its bicycles, Townley said.

Production there was largely shut down due to the coronavirus and is just resuming.

The bicycle rush kicked off in mid-March around the time countries were shutting their borders, businesses were closing, and stay-at-home orders were being imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus that has infected millions of people and killed more than 450,000.

Sales of adult leisure bikes tripled in April while overall US bike sales, including kids' and electric-assist bicycles, doubled from the year before, according to market research firm NPD Group, which tracks retail bike sales.

It's a far cry from what was anticipated in the US. The $6 billion industry had projected lower sales based on lower volume in 2019 in which punitive tariffs on bicycles produced in China reached 25%.

There are multiple reasons for the pandemic bicycle boom.

Around the world, many workers were looking for an alternative to buses and subways.



People unable to go to their gyms looked for another way to exercise. And shut-in families scrambled to find a way to keep kids active during stay-at-home orders.

“Kids are looking for something to do. They've probably reached the end of the internet by now, so you've got to get out and do something,” said Dave Palese at Gorham Bike and Ski, a Maine shop where there are slim pickings for family-oriented, leisure bikes.

Bar Harbour restaurateur Brian Smith bought a new bike for one of his daughters, a competitive swimmer, who was unable to get into the pool.

On a recent day, he was heading back to his local bike shop to outfit his youngest daughter, who'd just learned how to ride.

His three daughters use their bikes every day, and the entire family goes for rides a couple of times a week.

The fact that they're getting exercise and enjoying fresh air is a bonus.

“It's fun. Maybe that's the bottom line. It's really fun to ride bikes,” Smith said as he and his 7-year-old daughter, Ellery, pedaled to the bicycle shop.

The pandemic is also driving a boom in electric-assist bikes, called e-bikes, which were a niche part of the overall market until now. Most e-bikes require a cyclist to pedal, but electric motors provide extra oomph.

VanMoof, a Dutch e-bike maker, is seeing “unlimited demand” since the pandemic began, resulting in a 10-week order backlog for its commuter electric bikes, compared with typical one-day delivery time, said co-founder Taco Carlier. The company's sales surged 138% in the US and rocketed 184% in Britain in the February-April period over last year, with big gains in other European countries.

The company is scrambling to ramp up production as fast as it can, but it will take two to three months to meet the demand, Carlier said.

“We did have some issues with our supply chain back in January, February when the crisis hit first in Asia,” said Carlier.

But “the issue is now with demand, not supply.”

Sales at Cowboy, a Belgian e-bike maker, tripled in the January-April period from last year. Notably, they spiked in Britain and France at around the same time in May that those countries started easing lockdown restrictions, said Chief Marketing Officer Benoit Simeray.

“It's now becoming very obvious for most of us living in and around cities that we don't want to go back into public transportation,” said Simeray.

But people may still need to buy groceries or commute to the office one or two days a week, so “then they're starting to really, really think about electric bikes as the only solution they've got."(AP)

Pandemic Drives Zoom to Make Profit of $27 Mn Up from Just $198K A Year Ago

Zoom Video Communications is rapidly emerging as the latest internet gold mine as millions of people flock to its conferencing service to see colleagues, friends and family while tethered to their homes during the pandemic.

Tuesday's release of the once-obscure company's financial results for the February-April period provided a window into the astronomical growth that has turned it into a Wall Street star.

Zoom's revenue for its fiscal first-quarter more than doubled from the same time last year to $328 million, resulting a profit of $27 million — up from just $198,000 a year ago.

The numbers exceeded analysts' already heightened expectations, providing another lift to a rocketing stock that has more than tripled in price so far this year. After a big run-up leading up to Tuesday's highly anticipated announcement, Zoom's stock edged up another 3.5% in extended trading.

The surge has left Zoom with a market value of about $59 billion — greater than the combined market values of four largest U.S. airlines, which have seen their businesses hammered by the coronavirus outbreak that has dramatically curtailed travel.

"We were humbled by the accelerated adoption of the Zoom platform around the globe,” said CEO Eric Yuan, who co-founded the company nine years ago.

Zoom's boom has come despite privacy problems that enabled outsiders to make uninvited — and sometimes crude — appearances during other people's video conferences.

The concerns prompted some schools to stop using Zoom for online classes that have become widespread since February, although the company's efforts to introduce more security protection has brought some back to the service. More than 100,000 schools worldwide are now using Zoom for online classes, according to the company.

But the once-weak privacy controls also helped make Zoom extremely easy to use, one of the reasons it became such a popular way to hold online classes, business meetings and virtual cocktail hours after most of the U.S. began ordering people to stay at home in effort to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Zoom also offers a free version of its service, another factor in its popularity at a time when about 40 million people in the U.S. have lost their jobs since mid-March, raising the specter of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression ended in the 1930s.

The San Jose, California, company has always made most of its money from companies that subscribe to a more sophisticated version of its service that traditionally has been used for business meetings among employees working in offices far apart from each other.

But the pandemic-driven shutdown turned Zoom into a tool for employees who once worked alongside each other, but have been doing their jobs from home during the past few months.

Zoom ended April with 265,400 corporate customers with at least 10 employees, more than quadrupling from the same time last year. (AP)

For Telangana Govt, Nasscom Task Force Develops A Tech Platform for Industry Recovery

IT body Nasscom on Monday said its COVID-19 task force has developed a platform for the Telangana government to help it take informed decisions in managing the lockdown and its phased release across the state.

The open architecture technology platform brings together multiple solutions and delivers more than 100 dashboards, across over 30 government and public datasets, with thousands of data points to support the central and state governments in fighting this pandemic, a statement said.

Working closely with the Telangana government, the platform will assist in sustainable industry recovery and will help them in taking informed decision in managing lockdown and phased opening across the state, it added.

"As part of this Nasscom task force, we have built a technology-driven vision of a Pandemic Response Platform for India,” Nivruti Rai, Country Head Intel India and VP Data Center Group, Intel and Lead Nasscom Task Force, said.

The platform has been architected as an open application programming interface (API)-based locally hosted, privacy preserving, multi-cloud infrastructure that enables a multitude of citizen-centric apps.

She added that this Pandemic Response Platform is designed to augment the central and state governments' efforts with a robust set of population-scale COVID-19 indicators that help predict outbreaks and improve medical care administration.

"We are pleased to announce that we are delivering a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 tracking platform and dashboard to the government of Telangana. We will continue to develop solutions jointly with the government to get us ahead as a nation," she said.

As a part of the solution, Nasscom task force has developed a COVID-19 India platform, which will provide real-time streaming of data about the pandemic, across regions and states in the country.

The platform will source data from public sources that includes select social channels, websites, blogs, forums and public data sets to create actionable reporting dashboards and will allow the government to project insights sourced from the information with public datasets display on command centre screens.

The external citizen-facing dashboard will allow the government to project critical information to the public for transparency, awareness, and guidance, the statement said.

The Nasscom task force will also continue its work on the T-COVID app and align the same with the Aarogya Setu app.

"It's wonderful to see how the technology industry is joining hands with a common goal to innovate for the war on COVID-19,” K T Rama Rao, Minister of IT of Telangana, said.

India has the capacity to quickly develop tech solutions for the post-lockdown environment and we are glad that the Nasscom taskforce has collaborated with the Government of Telangana and prepared an end to end COVID platform to manage the crisis, Rama Rao added.

To fight the global pandemic and provide innovative technology solution, Nasscom had developed an online compendium of solutions for COVID-19 and shared the same with all state governments and other stakeholders.

The task force comprised of almost 30 members including domain leaders from Fractal, Infosys, Mindtree, Wipro, AWS, Intel, Sprinklr, Microsoft, SAP, Accenture, Dell and others.

Nasscom said, going forward, the body is committed to deliver a similar kind of platform to other states across the country. PTI SR

Aussie Firm launches Portable Hospital for Future Pandemic Needs

A South Australian company has launched a portable isolation hospital for widespread medical emergency hotspots to treat patients with respiratory illnesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based in Adelaide, South Australia, Humanihut’s ‘Florey’ isolation hospital has received expressions of interest from government clients in the United States, Europe, Middle East and Australia to better prepare for future epidemics or health crises.

The deployable medical facility was adapted in partnership with French-based business Utilis International from Humanihut designs for disaster accommodation.

Humanihut Co-Founder and Managing Director Neale Sutton said the new Florey model was created for the COVID-19 outbreak in New York and serves as an efficient market-ready alternative to tents, which are the current industry standard for field hospitals.

“In the initial stages, the [coronavirus] epidemic had governments around the globe looking for very quick solutions to assist the pressure that was being placed on their medical facilities,” Sutton said.

“We’re now focusing our product into the longer term, it’s about what comes next after COVID-19 and after all of the equipment has been used on this outbreak; is there enough to be used for the next outbreak?”

Sutton said the Florey costs A$200,000 per bed in comparison to approximately $1.5 million per bed for a hospital.

“The Humanihut Florey system is a far more robust and rapidly deployable system than just about anything else that’s around,” he said.

“We’re talking to a number of prospective clients around the world about what they’re going to do next and the part we can play in their operations going forward looking over their horizon to 2021 and beyond."



[caption id="attachment_145219" align="aligncenter" width="770"] An artist’s render of the Humanihut Florey Isolation Hospital.[/caption]

Sutton said he was in talks with a local government in the US for the purchase of a Florey unit within the next 12 months.

In its basic configuration, the Florey isolation hospital comprises of 16 flatpack huts each measuring 6m x 2.3m (19f x 7.5f) that are set up as single-bed patient rooms attached with ensuites, which stand between two 40ft containers housing a nurse’s station, staffroom, kitchen, bathroom and laundry.

A fully enclosed weatherproof internal corridor made from a soft polymer canvas is then placed in the centre of the facility to connect the containers and patient rooms.

The huts are steel skinned and have insulated walls, enabling them to maintain a suitable temperature for patients and doctors.

The Florey isolation hospital includes utilities for water, power and wastewater treatment, Wi-Fi connectivity, and medical grade equipment supplied by G3 Systems through Humanihut’s partnership with Utilis.

Sutton said two Australian companies provided the important airflow controls. The negative pressure air filtration system to prevent cross-contamination throughout the site is from Airepure Australia and the air conditioning is by globally renowned Seeley International, based in Adelaide, South Australia.

"Isolation wards require negative pressure systems, combined with specialist HEPA filters, to ensure the containment of airborne contaminants within a room, whilst reducing the risk of transfer of airborne particles to medical staff." Sutton said.



The Florey is deliverable by land, air or sea inside the two 40ft containers and can be established within 24 hours. The facility is also scalable for increased capacity to meet required demand.

Sutton said the rapidly deployable nature of the product was crucial for assisting medical workers at the beginning of a health crisis.

“[Clients] need things set up quickly, they don’t want them to be permanent, but they want to be able to call on them time and time again and once the field infrastructure system has done its job it can be packed up and reused again over the life of the product,” Sutton said.

[caption id="attachment_145214" align="aligncenter" width="850"] Humanihut co-founders Andrew Hamilton (left) and Neale Sutton.[/caption]

More than half of the manufacturing process for the huts is done in South Australia, including work from South Australian companies Enviroclad and Kadego. Sutton plans to shift the remainder of the operations to the state later this year.

Humanihut have sold other variations of their field infrastructure systems to the South Australian State Emergency Service as well as to clients in Saudi Arabia and France.

Source - The Lead South Australia