In an ambitious project that will soon go on trial, Shanghai residents will not only be able to order fresh vegetables with just the click of a finger, but can also check their health records and ensure the security of their homes.
It may sound a bit far-fetched now, but if a general agreement reached yesterday is any indication, life couldn't get much more easier.
The Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau yesterday reached an understanding with IT giants, including IBM, Camelot and Top Group, to put their information technology to use for local communities.
"We will launch trial runs sometime later this year and select the best model that can be upgraded later," bureau spokeswoman Wang Zhengling said.
A pilot project involving an E-community system , offered by IBM and Camelot, will connect government departments, neighborhood committees and commodity suppliers with a MMS (multimedia station) - a touch-screen machine to better serve the residents.
"The system will establish a general-purpose database, such as the availability of space in the community's rest home," said Lin Bo, an IT specialist for IBM.
The Civil Affairs Bureau said the database with roughly 100 to 200 MMS systems will be available in two districts by the end of the year.
The system is partially in use in the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, where about 300 MMS systems have been put up at a cost of 45 million yuan (US$5.4 million) on major roads.
Lin said the Shenzhen experience will help gauge the costs of the Shanghai's operation.
Wang said the city government will seek investors to jointly run the experimental system in Shanghai.
In addition, a medical monitoring and health-care network and a home security system will be put into use in the communities.
With the help of a PC, a resident's medical record will be linked to area hospitals through a network which will help doctors to monitor cases in times of emergencies.
"The service will be especially useful for the elderly and pregnant women who can keep a check on their health at any given time," said Li Bin of the Guangdong Biolight Meditech Co Ltd, which is working on the system.
Also, tiny infrared detectors will be installed at the entrances and balconies of apartments and houses to keep an eye out for intruders.
The detectors will send an alarm to the local police station.
"If the police fail to arrive in five minutes, the victim will be paid anything between 50,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan by insurance companies," said Tan Zhen of the Top Group, which promised to buy insurance packages for users of the system.
In the past four years, the bureau has used information technology in the city, districts and sub-districts to link with 24-hour call centers to enable people to meet their community needs.
(eastday.com March 29, 2002)
