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| EXPLOITING ICTs TO COMBAT COVID-19 | | |
Dr. Parveen Kumar, Dr. D. Namgyal
The world in the recent years has witnessed the rise of many life threatening diseases due to deadly microbes. The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Zika virus, Ebola and now COVID-19 are examples of such threats to humanity. COVID-19, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) has killed millions of peoples and many millions are infected by this deadly virus. It is showing no signs of respite or slowing down. The world is still to find a suitable medicine or vaccine for its cure. The black deaths in Europe during the medieval ages or the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918 or the COVID-19 all this outbreak has once again exposed human fragility, along with the downside of an interconnected world. The only reprieve, thanks to technological advancements, is that we are more equipped than any era in the history to respond to a pandemic.
The term ICT stands for ‘Information and Communication Technologies.’ ICT refers to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications. It is similar to Information Technology (IT), but focuses primarily on communication technologies.
This includes the Internet, wireless networks, cell phones, and other communication mediums. In the past few decades, information and communication technologies have provided society with a vast array of new communication capabilities. For example, people can communicate in real-time with others in different countries using technologies such as instant messaging, voice over IP (VoIP), and video-conferencing. Social networking websites like Face book allow users from all over the world to remain in contact and communicate on a regular basis. Modern information and communication technologies have created a ‘global village,’ in which people can communicate with others across the world as if they were living next door. For this reason, ICT is often studied in the context of how modern communication technologies affect society. ICTs have removed the time and distance lag and in case of combating COVID-19, the ICTs have proved their potential in terms of timeliness, tracing, testing and treatment of the infected patients.
As the corona virus disease (Covid-19) continues to spread globally, the governments imposed sweeping measures such as travel bans, curfews, prohibition of mass gatherings, mandatory quarantines, closure of learning institutions, entertainment spots and borders to curb the pandemic. Some of these measures have boosted the use of digital technologies. It would not be wrong to say that the digital technology has come to the rescue of mankind. The chat bots, robots, telemedicine and big data are being deployed to help gather information, reassure the population, treat patients, make a diagnosis or even prepare future vaccines.
In China, the technology giants has exploited the ICTs and responded to the pandemic by deploying autonomous vehicles to supply medical personnel, equipping drones with thermal imaging cameras to improve virus detection, and lending their computing power to help develop a vaccine.
Similarly, Alibaba has developed a new diagnostic tool based on artificial intelligence. According to the Chinese giant, its algorithm is capable of detecting infections with an accuracy rate of up to 96%, all in about 20 seconds. Baidu, the Chinese equivalent of Google, has developed an artificial intelligence model to detect people who are not wearing protective masks. Another problem with masks is that when half the face is hidden, traditional facial recognition solutions no longer work properly.
As a result, citizens are forced to remove their masks to pay for shopping or to gain access to a building, which poses hygiene problems. SenseTime, a Hong Kong company specializing in automatic crowd surveillance, has developed an identification system that works despite the use of a protective mask. In Kaifu district of Hunan province, robots measure body temperature, record data and disinfect the hands of employees in the morning when they arrive at work. This improves the efficiency of controls and reduces labour costs.
The United States is not lagging behind in the deployment of digital solutions. The first person diagnosed in the United States was thus treated by a few healthcare professionals, but also by a robot, according to CNN Health. This robot, equipped with a stethoscope, takes the vital signs of the man and communicates with him on a large screen. Chat bots are also widely used in the USA. These conversational robots can reassure people and help them to get treatment, while keeping them away from emergency care centres. The Digital technologies also make it possible to play a key role in providing information and thus in anticipating the disease. This is what is known as digital epidemiology, which consists of collecting, analyzing and sorting the huge masses of data produced on the Internet. This technique is currently made simpler thanks to hyper-connected populations.
In the country too, the ‘Aarogya Setu’ app has also been developed as a digital tool to trace the COVID-19 infected peoples. The App. is available both for Android and IOS users and is available in 13 different languages including English and Hindi. The app built through Public Private Partnership (PPP) assesses the peoples from the risk for their catching the Corona Virus infection. The App is aimed at augmenting the initiatives of the Government of India, particularly the Department of Health, in proactively reaching out to and informing the users of the app regarding risks, best practices and relevant advisories pertaining to the containment of COVID-19. It calculates this risk based on their interaction with others, using cutting edge bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence. Once installed in a smart phone, the app detects other nearby devices with Aarogya Setu installed. The app can then calculate the risk of infection based on sophisticated parameters if any of these contacts is tested positive. The App. also gives alerts if with someone whom we had been in close proximity even unknowingly tests positive for COVID 19. The Information and Communication Technologies are at the forefront of tackling and combating the outbreak. Governments across the globe are gradually developing the digital infrastructure and engineering capabilities to face the pandemic and alleviate the spread of COVID-19 through community-driven contact-tracing technologies. These enable citizens to react assertively and promptly to pandemic diseases with a set of digital tools to help spread timely and precise information to its citizens.
With despair lingering and the world in disarray, had it not been for effective and advanced technology solutions, we would have been staring at an unmanageable crisis. ICTs are no doubt an effective means to combat and control such outbreaks; but at the same time they also run the risk of being misused much to the disadvantage of society. Social media in many African countries has been awash with speculation, false and misleading information on Covid-19. In Uganda, unverified reports circulated that a Rwandan national who had tested positive for Covid-19 had escaped to Uganda.
In Kenya, vigilantes acting on false information beat a man to death on suspicion of having the corona virus. The misinformation regarding the virus and its control has already been reported from various other parts across the globe. There is a need to check such misinformation and come down strictly on those who are spreading such misinformation. |
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