In order to combat the spread of Civid -19, CARTO has developed Asistencia Covid19 which is a new web and mobile application recently released by the Community of Madrid and created by a number of technology companies in a matter of days.
The effective use of technology by China and South Korea has been one of the key success factors in managing the crisis, in particular by being able to track the symptoms of its citizens. This helps to reduce the pressure on emergency systems and track the status of symptoms when people are taking care of themselves at home.
Importantly, it also provides a method to understand the pandemic from a spatio-temporal perspective – which is precisely where CARTO brings value. Alongside extending our grants program to those requiring a visualization platform, the team has been hard at work over the last five days to create both a set of apps to collect the data from citizens and a spatial backend to store the data and perform the analysis.
Leading the development of the application, CARTO has collaborated with two other Spanish technology companies, ForceManager and mendesaltaren, with additional support from Telefónica, Ferrovial and Google. The application, which has been developed in record time, gives citizens access to clear advice, relieving the burden on health systems and allowing authorities to increase the effectiveness of their response.
How Does the App Work?
First and foremost the application allows individuals to self-evaluate symptoms to determine if further action is required. This will help to relieve pressure on the already saturated emergency communication methods and give clear recommendations for action.
As seen in the screenshots below, of the soon to be released mobile version of the app, citizens enter personal information, including name, phone number, date of birth, sex, address, postal code, DNI and email (optional). They also answer some questions relating to symptoms they may be experiencing with the app advising next steps.
Since there will be a location element to the data being collected, the local authorities will also be able to visualize infections on an interactive map and perform geospatial analysis to determine high risk areas. With CARTO being used in the backend to capture that information, the government can see how symptoms change over time and by location, allowing them to act faster in certain hotspots.
In an upcoming update, the application will also allow the evolution of cases to be tracked in more detail, advising on quarantine areas to determine if they are being adhered to. All data collected will be encrypted and stored securely with citizens having complete control over its usage at all times.
Where Can I Access It?
The application is available today on the AsistenciaCovid19 website and will be available as a free download for iOS and Android users in the coming days. AsistenciaCovid19 is available today.
Inspired by South Korea
The project, initiated by the Community of Madrid and coordinated by the entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky, was inspired by the success seen in South Korea, who have made highly effective use of technology during the crisis. The application will initially be available for citizens of Madrid before being rolled out to the rest of Spain.
According to CARTO’s Ceo, Luis Sanz, “It’s a challenging time at the moment for everyone – both on a personal and professional level. We hope that by channeling our energy and emotion into building an application, we can make a significant impact and help to contain the coronavirus through our technology”.