Table 1.
Digital technologies and their impact on public-health strategies
| Digital technology | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public-health measures | IoT | Big data | AI | Blockchain |
| 1. Monitoring, surveillance, detection and prevention of COVID-19 (directly related to COVID-19) | +++ | +++ | ++ | + |
| Examples | 1. Real-time tracking and live updates in various online databases in the USA, UK and China | 1. Modeling of disease activity, potential growth and areas of spread | 1. Detection of COVID-19 from chest imaging (X-ray) (Beijing Hospital) | 1. Manufacturing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines once they are available |
| 2. Live tracking of the at-risk vicinity in Korea (Coronamap.live; Wuhanvirus.kr) | 2. Modeling of the preparedness and vulnerability of countries in fighting a disease outbreak | 2. Prognostication of disease progression via clinical data, imaging and AI | 2. Insurance claims from COVID-related illness and death | |
| 2. Mitigation of impact (indirectly related to COVID-19) | +++ | ++ | +++ | ++ |
| Examples | 1. Virtual clinics (PingAn, China) | 1. Business modeling on pharmaceutical supplies for various medications | 1. AI to automatically diagnose medical conditions unrelated to COVID-19 (Zhongshan Ophthalmic Eye Center, China) | 1. Distribution of patients’ regular medication to the local pharmacy or patients’ doorstep |
| 2. Public information dissemination via WhatsApp in Singaporea | 2. Modeling of the utility of operating theaters and clinics with manpower projections | 2. Medical ‘chat bots’ to address public inquiries on COVID-19 | ||
The likely impact of digital technologies on (1) disease monitoring, surveillance, detection and diagnosis, and (2) mitigation of impact: +, low (no clear example yet in either official government website); ++, moderate (one clear example); +++, high (two or more examples). Gray shading indicates potential applications that are not described in the literature thus far but should be considered by technology companies or research groups worldwide to help battle against COVID-19. Additional examples beyond those mentioned in the text are included in this table.