Extraordinary Endeavors in Turbulent Times: Asian Innovation, Inclusion, and Impact during COVID-19

ASIA BUSINESS COUNCIL HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 4 0 Fubon Group (Taiwan) Extraordinary Endeavors in Turbulent Times how they could best contribute to containing the pandemic. It led to the creation of a “team Taiwan” which worked to increase the local production of face masks eightfold within three months to 16 million per day, 6 and the formation of the IEFS, which proved to be highly effective during the pandemic. The Intelligent Electronic Fences System (IEFS) When asked about the IEFS, Lin notes at the outset that the IEFS was a collabora- tive effort – between the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the official agency that combats the threat of communicable diseases in Taiwan, and the five largest local telecoms companies – and that no one actor can take all the credit. Lin explained that the collaboration among the telecom carriers was “natural” because they were used to working with each other. “In a small place like Taiwan, it is impossible for five carriers to build five separate sets of infrastructures, so half of our infrastructure is actually shared. The companies worked very closely with the government, and I am proud of how our firm and the industry as a whole contributed to the containment effort.” In terms of the division of labor, each tele- com company was responsible for moni- toring their own customers who needed to be quarantined and were using SIM cards from their companies. The government, on the other hand, operated an aggregated platform that monitored all subjects. For Taiwan Mobile, and for the other carriers, the monitoring process began whenever someone registered with the CDC. Once the individual arrived at the location where he or she was supposed to be quarantined, they would send him or her a welcome message with official information detailing what the individual had to know. Simultaneously, the carrier would send a message to local officials so that they could send someone to pay a visit to those quarantined in order to ensure that they were complying with regulations, and also to give people a point of contact if they needed help from the government. From then on, the telecom companies would monitor the subject for 14 days. If all went well, then the companies were responsible for notifying the subjects that their quarantine periods had ended. Taiwan Mobile staff worked three shifts to monitor the IEFS tracking system to prevent community outbreaks