Plateau State government has announced a
‘Developers Challenge’ programme to support software developers to find
solutions to a variety of problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recorded over 785,897 laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus, worldwide and 37,826 deaths.
In Nigeria, there are over 131 cases as at the time of this report and
the country expects the figure to spike as is the rest of the continent
with more than 6, 000 cases already recorded.
“The
‘Plateau COVID-19 Developers Challenge’ is on three focus areas that
capture the global challenge of: Saving lives; Saving communities; and
Saving businesses“To participate in the challenge see HERE
While
the medical community is rushing to search for solutions to the spread of the
disease with a big push for vaccine and medicine research, big ICT companies
and the tech communities are also upping their game to save humanity from the
dreaded virus.
“Tech
has a history of helping the medical industry track and treat viruses. Among
more recent examples is flu tracking. In 2018 the US experienced a particularly
severe flu season. During this time aggregated user data collected through
Kinsa’s smart connected thermometers indicated illness spikes across the
country.,” noted one report.
Plateau
State has no record of COVID-19 case but surrounding states of Kaduna, Bauchi, Benue
and even the FCT (Abuja) have laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus.
The
Plateau State government believes
that policy, technology, the medical industry and communities must be fully
mobilised to halt the spread of the disease, said Director General of Plateau
State Information and Communication Development Agency (PICTDA), Mr. Daser
David in Jos,
the state capital.
He
added: “Governor Simon Lalong is a
firm believer in the power of technology and is totally committed to getting
all stakeholders including the medical and technology communities to find
solutions that will not only raise awareness on COVID-19, but offer new
approaches and quick actions to addressing crisis situations, like the current
one related to the coronavirus.”
How to participate
The ‘Plateau COVID-19 Developers Challenge’ is open for participation to all developers in the provision of solutions for saving lives, communities, and businesses. The COVID Challenge is seeking to get Nigeria’s tech community offer solutions round defeating COVID-19 on three focus areas that capture the global challenge of: Saving lives; Saving communities; and Saving businesses.
To participate in the challenge, follow the link: REGISTER HERE
Like
the rest of world, Plateau State, and indeed, all of Nigeria, is not silent on
finding a solution, David stressed.
As
one report noted, “n terms of COVID-19, we are seeing another rise in digital
epidemiology tools, chatbot helpers, EHR guidance tools and rapid-response test
kits.
“Apple
launched a COVID-19 website and corresponding app. The new site [an Apple
health check], which serves as both a screening tool and information platform,
was born out of collaboration with the CDC, the White House Coronavirus Task
Force and FEMA. Users are able to go onto the site and answer a list of
questions including symptoms, risk factors and exposure. At the end of the
survey users are given a directive about possible next steps.”
With
COVID-19 pandemic not abetting, the digital health community has released “a
slew of new tools aiming to monitor the spread of the disease and facilitate
better treatment.” Tech giants Facebook, Amazon and Google are already talking
with the WHO to help combat the spread of disease, as well as address misinformation.
“We
strongly believe that through the ‘Plateau COVID-19 Developers Challenge,’ we
can stir our young people’s resourcefulness and sense of innovation to provide
solutions that raise awareness on the pandemic, help to manage misinformation,
and provide real-time answers to medical personnel in kicking out the
coronavirus including reducing their exposures to the disease,” said Daser.
CLICK HERE To participate in the challenge
