Moscow is recognized as the first European city in the ranking of innovations, that are used for the formation of resilience to the coronavirus. It is ahead of London and Barcelona.

The Russian capital ranks third among the world’s megacities, behind San Francisco and New York. Boston and London round out the top five. The rating was compiled by the international research agency StartupBlink. The ranking is not a reflection of the success of public policy in terms of mitigating and dealing with COVID-19 but is focusing on measuring the output of innovation created mostly by startup companies and corporates.

Almost 160 innovative products and services helped Moscow achieve a high rate. Solutions for the analysis and processing of medical images, which helped radiologists to analyze more than three million researches, a video analytics service for monitoring the level of occupancy in public spaces and the transport system, and a map of the spread of coronavirus in Russia and in the world are among them.

Computer vision algorithms based on artificial intelligence (AI) have become an important help in doctors’ work. As a result, experts managed to save precious time during a pandemic. The images of the CT are immediately sent for processing by the AI. It records the presence of pneumonia or other pulmonary pathologies in patients with suspected or confirmed coronavirus. The doctor receives the results of the study in 10 minutes. AI has become a common part of the work of Moscow hospitals and health centers. Its systems analyze the patient’s complaints, the results of examinations and tests, and then offer the doctor several preliminary options for the diagnosis.

Also, a CT calculator was introduced to help doctors in Moscow. It allows to predict the probability of a mild (CT 0-1), moderate (CT 2), or severe (CT 3-4) pneumonia and decide on further tactics of patient treatment. If the system predicts a mild form of pneumonia, the patient will be offered to refuse computed tomography. In other cases, a CT scan or X-ray is performed immediately, and intensive treatment begins. This does not replace the doctors’ work, but it greatly simplifies their life and saves time.

A cloud platform is another innovative solution. It connects patients, doctors, healthcare organizations, insurance companies, pharmaceutical productions, and websites.

Technologies that help citizens adapt during a pandemic also contributed to high results. These are projects in the field of smart tourism, e-commerce, and logistics, as well as telecommuting and online education.

Moscow experience

Moscow has abandoned extremes in the fight against coronavirus. The focus was on prevention: the number of free express testing and vaccination posts was increased, online programs and platforms for education were patented, and telemedicine capabilities were developed.

From the outset of the pandemic, Moscow has been able to find an ideal balance between the introduction of restrictions and the state of the economy. The city is successfully controlling the incidence of coronavirus. This is also possible thanks to round-the-clock monitoring of the epidemiological situation in the city.

Monitoring and analysis of the situation allowed the Moscow authorities to prepare for the October coronavirus outbreak long in advance. Thanks to this, now the citizens can live an ordinary life.

As the result of the city authority’s mindfulness, Moscow implements flexible measures in the fight against coronavirus. When the number of cases decreases, the restrictions in the city are lifted, and when it increases, on the contrary, they are introduced. This is done to prevent the explosive growth of the spread of the infection and preserve the health of Muscovites.

During the pandemic, the Moscow healthcare system has accumulated a sufficiently large margin of safety, which makes it possible to continue the routine and emergency care even at times of peak incidence of COVID-19.

Moscow supports businesses by providing subsidies and incentives. This year, about 25 thousand small and medium-sized businesses took advantage of support measures.