Photo: Li Hao/GT
While local authorities and some tech firms have used high-tech measures to respond to disasters such as COVID-19 or earthquakes, tech-savvy Chinese people have also been utilizing cloud-based services to save lives amid flooding in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province.
A widely circulated online document, called Information about Personnel Waiting for Rescue, was created by a university student named Manto and has spread quickly over the past days. It even became a life-saving document, allowing people caught in the flood to call for help.
The shared document uses the Tencent Docs platform and can be updated by several people at the same time. It is now serving as an information distribution center for both organizations and individuals who are willing to provide temporary shelter and medical assistance.
As of Wednesday, the document has been updated 270 times since it was created on Tuesday, and has received more than 2.5 million visits, according to Tencent.
Manto, the creator of the document, told the Global Times on Thursday that more than 30 people have joined the information collection and management work, most of whom are university students.
Manto said they chose to use Tencent Docs as they have used the online platform at university for information collection.
Launched in 2018, Tencent Docs is the Chinese tech firm's free online document platform that allows for multi-person collaboration, offering users the ability to easily edit, create or share documents from anywhere on the go. It's also considered a rival of Google Docs.
Tencent said in a statement it sent to the Global Times on Thursday that to cope with the torrential rain in Zhengzhou, Tencent Docs urgently launched a template called "Mutual Assistance Information Registration."
Other than Tencent, major Chinese tech giants including Beijing-based ByteDance, on-demand services platform Meituan and discount e-commerce company Pinduoduo all donated money and provided various services to help with rescue work in Zhengzhou.
