Technology and Regulation in a Pandemic: A Review of COVID-19 Apps
AAAS Field: Societal impacts of science and engineering
Title: Technology and Regulation in a Pandemic: A Review of COVID-19 Apps (27455)
Session Type: Scientific Session
This session will address international technology and regulatory responses to COVID-19 within a public policy setting. Specifically, the deployment of centralised and decentralised COVID-19 location tracking and automatic contact tracing applications developed by government and industry will be compared and contrasted in terms of their socio-technical-legal design. The adoption of COVID-19 apps will be discussed with respect to economic systems of governance, optionality, cultural sensitivity, social stigma and other issues affecting uptake such as accessibility, language and usability. Global perspectives related to privacy, security, trust and control will be underscored as significant issues influencing the successful uptake of new mobile app for the public interest. Non-digital and non-invasive responses to COVID-19, inclusive of manual tracing, voluntary testing, the use of personal protective equipment and self-quarantine practices will be discussed for effectiveness and viability. Industry responses to the implementation of such measures will be presented, developing an account of the manner in which the technical and nontechnical measures interact at local and global levels. In seeking the safety of the public in using technologies for citizen health more specifically, the impact of legal controls affecting biosecurity, privacy and data collection and storage laws will be presented through representative international case examples. Finally, an assessment will be provided on the overall long-term strategies employed by nation states to fight COVID-19, emphasising the need for co-design approaches to technological interventions in future emergency scenarios and situations.
Categories:
-
Public Policy
-
Engineering, Industry, and Technology Section
Relevance to Theme or Special Relevance to the Audience:
The proposed session addresses multiple research challenges as identified in the call for submissions theme "dynamic ecosystems". Mobile technology responses to pandemics (such as COVID-19) require a deep understanding of the highly complex, adaptive and dynamic value chains required in the context of location tracking and automated tracing applications. These can be divided into operational and non-operational stakeholder types incorporating users, government entities, academia, industry partners and other stakeholder categories required in the provision of services. Coordination of efforts allowing for seamless systems of interaction between state and federal health, community building and trust through physical or virtual ecosystem portals and touchpoints, and an emphasis on human-machine interfaces are all areas of improvement. We emphasise in our presentations the integral role of the user and other stakeholders in a process of co-design prior to the implementation of technologies, and not as an afterthought, leading to a cooperative and inclusive response that builds a sense of community and acknowledges the complex nature of dynamic ecosystems. We also highlight the importance of supportive regulatory structures.
Newsworthiness:
COVID-19 apps and their potential, effectiveness, and failures have been consistently front page news worldwide. Pandemics such as SARS, AVIAN, Swine Flu, MERS and now COVID-19, demonstrate
the need for technical and non-technical solutions that help reduce the transmission of a pandemic virus. The main point of deliberation is (1) what works and what lessons can be derived from the COVID19 pandemic; (2) how can we design better technological and mobile systems; (3) how do governments partner with industry (public-private partnerships) and the related considerations; (4) how do we educate and inform citizens with regards to the use of technologies in response to a pandemic, and manage public perceptions; and (5) what role does regulation play and what form should it take. The impact of mobile apps that publics are expected to download and install on their mobile phones need to take additional factors into consideration: operating system types (Android vs iOS vs other), software updates, technical failures (e.g. BLE in Apple phones), centralised versus decentralised apps (ensuring access versus privacy), and more. There is evidence to suggest that publics were not consulted in many cases as to the design, features and user interfaces required to allow for accessibility (e.g. the dis/abled), and even those from diverse backgrounds (e.g. migrants, languages etc), and social stigma (for those in underrepresented minority groups). This session is an opportunity to identify significant lessons from experience to date, and provide models and frameworks for public engagement and co-design moving forward.
Sections:
-
INFORMATION, COMPUTING, AND COMMUNICATION
-
SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL SCIENCES
-
SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Keywords:
-
global and public health
-
information technology & security
-
innovation
-
national security
-
science and technology studies
Organiser: Katina Michael, School for the Future of Innovation in Society, School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, Arizona State University
Co-Organiser: Roba Abbas, University of Wollongong
Moderator: Joseph Carvalko, Adjunct Professor, Chair the Technology and Ethics Working Group, Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, Yale University
Respondent: Samuel Fosso Wamba, Toulouse Business School
Speaker A: Katina Michael
Title: Transnational COVID-19 Cases and Background: Mobile Technology Implementations
Talk Description: A number of transnational COVID-19 mobile technology case studies focused on aims, value chains, technologies and user adoption based on voluntary or mandatory modes of implementation. The emphasis is on nation state experience with pandemics, the technology selection environment, form factors, application contexts (e.g. self-isolation, breaking with quarantine, health surveillance) and success or failure declarations within a dynamic ecosystems and human-technology interaction framework.
Speaker B: Rob Nicholls
Title: Socio-Technical and Regulatory Issues Raised by COVID-19 Track and Trace Apps
Talk Description: The content identifies social-technical issues raised by the implementation of mobile technologies and applications in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in a transnational context. Regulatory and legal issues pertaining to laws in biosecurity, privacy, health surveillance, data collection and storage are also addressed across jurisdictions. The perspective taken emphasises issues related to equity, feasibility and viability of new digital solutions in dynamic ecosystems.
Speaker C: Roba Abbas
Title: Co-designing for the Future: New Models and Frameworks for Dynamic Ecosystems
Talk Description: This presentation covers lessons learned from the implementation of mobile applications in an attempt to reduce transmission of COVID-19 among citizens. The presentation emphasizes a co-design approach to future application development using participatory models of design and deliberative frameworks. The need to consider non-technical solutions as supplementary to tech applications is highlighted, and a conceptualisation of the dynamic ecosystem notion in the context of COVID-19 is presented.
Citation: Joseph Carvalko (Moderator), Katina Michael (Speaker A “Transnational COVID-19 Cases and Background: Mobile Technology Implementations”, and Organiser), Rob Nicholls (Speaker B “Socio-Technical and Regulatory Issues Raised by COVID-19 Track and Trace Apps”), Roba Abbas (Speaker C “Co-designing for the Future: New Models and Frameworks for Dynamic Ecosystems” and Co-Organiser), Samuel Fosso-Wamba (Respondent), “Technology and Regulation in a Pandemic: A Review of COVID-19 Apps”, AAAS Annual Meeting, Understanding Dynamic Ecosystems, https://meetings.aaas.org/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=member&utm_campaign=am20%20reg&et_rid=54794507&et_cid=3380726