Press Release
from Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
A curated list of digital tools, platforms, and data to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
By nature of the response, coronavirus has shifted the way people are able to engage with the world—including how we execute on current pandemic mitigation. We rely on digital tools for mass communication, supply chain management, government sharing learned lessons, data aggregation and analysis, crowdsourcing information, and more, in an unprecedented way.
As the pandemic unfolds, the Technology and Public Purpose (TAPP) project is curating a list of initiatives that are applying digital technologies and skills to meet the demands of the COVID-19 response. The purpose of the COVID-19 Digital Response list is to share vetted opportunities through which volunteers can support COVID digital response efforts.
This list includes initiatives that provide reliable expert sources, feature publicly available data, are being regularly updated, and demonstrate a clear commitment to public purpose efforts. This list is not meant to be exhaustive.
Resource List
U.S. Digital Response
Summary: Seeing that COVID-19 is already overwhelming the data and digital capacities of government in a myriad of ways, this resource is calling on technology, data, and government professionals to step up and help.
Tags: Volunteer Opportunities; Data Aggregation & Analysis; Government / Policy Tools
COVID ACT NOW
Summary: CovidActNow.org was built by a team of epidemiologists and data scientists with the goal of providing actionable data for state & local authorities. Since launching, it’s been viewed millions of times, is being used as the forecasting platform for a major federal government department, and has figured prominently in the decision-making of a number of public health orders, including Dallas County's decision to shelter its 2.4m residents in place.
Tags: Data Aggregation & Analysis; Government/Policy Tools; Volunteer Opportunities
Project N95: The National COVID-19 Medical Equipment Clearinghouse
Summary: Rapid response teams have been coordinating with manufacturers globally with the capacity to produce. Within weeks, millions of units of personal protective equipment (PPE) should be available for distribution. The Project N95 team is working with governments to determine where demand is and where it is most urgent. This is a tool designed to gather data as efficiently as possible to assist in distribution efforts.
Tags: Data Aggregation & Analysis; Healthcare Supply Chain Management; Information Sourcing
2019-nCoV Data Repository by Johns Hopkins CSSE
Summary: 2019-nCoV Data Repository is the data repository for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Visual Dashboard operated by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering (JHU CSSE). It is also supported by the ESRI Living Atlas Team and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (JHU APL).
Tags: Data Aggregation & Analysis
#DATA4COVID19
Summary: A living repository of data collaboratives, data competitions, requests for proposals, and other innovative data work seeking to address the spread of COVID-19 and its secondary effects. The repository, which is open, invites others to share projects that show a commitment to privacy protection, data responsibility, and overall user well-being.
Tags: Data Aggregation & Analysis; Government/Policy Tools; Healthcare Supply Chain Management; Information Sourcing; Idea Generation
Find COVID Testing
Summary: A public, dynamic map to crowd source and share COVID-19 testing locations.
Tags: Data Aggregation & Analysis; Information Sourcing; Supplies/Expert Requests; Other
Find the Masks
Summary: Rapid response technology to connect personal protective equipment (PPE) donations with healthcare workers in need.
Tags: Data Aggregation & Analysis; Information Sourcing; Supplies/Expert Requests; Other
COVID-19 Challenge Grant (Aspen Tech Policy Hub)
Summary: The Aspen Tech Policy Hub announced a challenge grant funding up to $15,000 for alumni of the program and other policy-oriented technologists to work on projects to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. They are looking for experienced technologist teams to propose projects to help mitigate the short and long-term effects of COVID-19. Applications are due on March 30 at 11:59pm PT.
Tags: Idea Generation; Supplied/Expertise Requests
The COVID Tracking Project
Summary: The COVID Tracking Project collects information from 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and 5 other US territories to provide the most comprehensive testing data we can collect for the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. The tracking project attempts to include positive and negative results, pending tests, and total people tested for each state or district currently reporting that data.
Tags: Data Aggregation & Analysis; Government/Policy Tools; Public Updates
New Jersey Information Hub by the Office of Innovation
Summary: A state specific #covid19 website to help answer citizens’ questions about the coronavirus and what is happening in their state.
Tags: Public Updates
Newsletters in the Time of COVID-19
Summary: This resource highlights the Newsletter Wizards' favorite parts from 10+ of the pop-up, coronavirus newsletters.
Tags: Public Updates; Other
Helping Government Respond to COVID-19 (Blog with Government Resources)
Summary: A list of companies that are offering resources and services to help governments respond to COVID-19.
Tags: Government/Policy Tools
COVID-19: Local Government Response and Resource Bank
Summary: This is coronavirus-related content — links to city examples, resources, and commentary — that may offer helpful insights to city leaders and staff as they navigate this uncertain time. This is a curated list that we will be updating and refreshing daily as new information, opportunities, and stories become available. Starred items are new for the week. Content is organized in four sections: (1) Resources for Local Government; (2) Local Actions (organized by policy decision); (3) Op-Eds & Commentary Specific to Local Government; and (4) COVID-19 Guidelines & Updates.
Tags: Government/Policy Tools
Open Government Approaches to COVID-19
Summary: Open government approaches to tackling COVID-19 being implemented, either by governments themselves or civil society, citizens or the private sector.
Tags: Data Aggregation & Analysis; Government / Policy Tools; Information Sourcing; Public Updates; Supplies / Expertise Request; Volunteer Opportunities; Other
Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker
Summary: Governments are taking a wide range of measures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) aims to record these unfolding responses in a rigorous, consistent way across countries and across time.
Tags: Data Aggregation & Analysis; Government/Policy Tools; Public Updates
Health Hacking Crisis Network
Summary: Health Hacking Crisis Network is a "rapid reaction force" that brings together leaders in health innovation from a variety of backgrounds to address rapidly evolving shortages and problems due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Tags: Information Sourcing; Idea Generation; Public Updates; Supplies/Expertise Requests; Volunteer Opportunities
Mozilla Open Source Support (MOSS) COVID-19 Solutions Fund
Summary: MOSS is providing awards of up to $50,000 each to open source projects responding to the pandemic in some way.
Tags: Idea Generation; Other
OnFrontiers' COVID-19 Expert Helpdesk
Summary: The COVID-19 Expert Helpdesk is a handpicked selection of experts who can assist organizations around the world in developing their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our objective is to accelerate the rate of learning about strategies to combat COVID-19.
Tags: Supplies/Expert Requests
Safe Paths
Summary: MIT Safe Paths is a citizen-led movement to develop free, open-source, "privacy-by-design" tools for public health officials, infected patients, and larger communities to flatten the curve of COVID-19, reduce fear, and prevent a surveillance-state response to the pandemic.
Tags: Data Aggregation & Analysis; Supplies/Expertise Requests
Last Updated: May 12, 2020