Bright Spots for Digital Technologies in the Midst of a Global Pandemic
With the COVID-19 pandemic persisting, countries around the world are scrambling to implement preventive measures to flatten the curve of their outbreaks and keep their public health systems from being overwhelmed. Terms like ‘social distancing,’ ‘lockdown,’ and ‘contact tracing’ have now become part of daily conversation as people come to grips with life under a new normal.
How technology is helping to contain the spread of COVID-19
Like South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, Singapore has a simple but effective approach to COVID-19: identify, quarantine, and treat patients as quickly as possible. But it is the innovative application of tech-driven strategies that has proven to be the difference-maker in these nations thus far.
The increased isolation stemming from social distancing measures have forced governments, businesses, and public health organizations to expand the use of technologies to improve testing and contact tracing.
For example, in South Korea, the government rolled out