La Salle Digital Coffee "A coffee with an expert in Internet and technology"

Robots against the Covid-19

Last March, in the midst of the confinement, five professional friends and managers began to think about what they could do to fight the coronavirus. Just three weeks later, they managed to bring four anti-Covid19 robotic stations to Spain from China, each capable of performing 2,400 PCR tests daily.

These robots arrived on April 17th at four Spanish healthcare centers: the Hospital Clínic and the Vall d'Hebron Hospital, in Barcelona, ​​and La Paz and the Carlos III Health Institute, in Madrid. The great architects who have made this initiative possible have been: Dr. Andreu Veà (researcher and President of CovidWarriors), María Parga Landa (CEO of Alastria), Javier Colás Fustero (Esade), Sandra Figaredo Gutiérrez (LLyC) and Dra. Rocío T. Martínez (Kings College UK).

All of this would not have been possible without coordination by COVIDWarriors, a non-profit association made up of more than 500 professional volunteers, senior managers and sponsors from all fields, united in the fight against COVID-19. The association voluntarily brings together proactive organizations and entrepreneurial talent, connecting the specific needs identified with their own or existing initiatives thanks to technology and the power of pragmatism of expert multidisciplinary teams.

The experience was quite a journey: getting sponsors (each robot costs 100,000 euros), numerous contacts with private companies and the Spanish Government and even chartering planes from China in the middle of the confinement. Merlin Properties financed the purchase of the robots; Inditex provided the planes and logistics, Apple and Telefónica provided computer equipment, Ikea provided furniture, Manpower provided engineers; and so on with an endless list of companies and people who made this almost titanic mission possible. 

On Tuesday, July 21st, at 7 pm, we will close the Digital Coffee cycle with Dr. Andreu Veà, researcher and President of CovidWarriors, who will explain in detail this unique project that has been a great hope for the Spanish healthcare system.

Get connected with

Dr. Andreu Veà, co-Founder and president of CovidWarriors. Internet pioneer. Telecommunications Engineer, PhD in Electronics and Master in ICT Management. He has represented Spain on the European Commission as Digital Champion and is the only European member of the "Internet Hall of Fame Board". He received the 2017 National Award to the Personal Career on the Internet (Senate), and the 2018 Award for the Outstanding Personality in Telecommunications and IT. He leads the WiWiW research program at Stanford University, invited by Vint Cerf (one of the fathers of the Internet). He is a global jury and UNESCO national selector for mobile applications. Entrepreneur, advisor, writer, researcher, and speaker, his passion is to communicate how technology can improve our lives.

More information and registration

www.salleurl.edu/en/digital-coffee-coffee-expert-internet-and-technology