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Contact tracing is an important tool to control infectious diseases, and digital contact tracing, using mobile apps, could be an effective method in the fight against COVID-19 spreading. During and after the first COVID-19 wave, many governments and regional authorities are rolling out their contact tracing apps.

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Ongoing discussion includes the uptake and adherence, accuracy, workability and privacy concerns of the COVID-19 contact tracing apps. How and by whom will these apps be used? How can regions ensure optimal prevention of COVID-19 spreading while safeguarding its citizens’ privacy?

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To gain a better understanding of the different approaches of COVID-19 apps, SAPHIRe hosted an online interactive workshop on Friday 9 October 2020 

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Webinar speakers:

• Professor Bart Preneel, Department head of Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography (COSIC), KULeuven, Flanders, Belgium. Bart was involved in the development of the Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (DP-3T) protocol.

• Cathy Berx, Governor of the Province of Antwerp. Cathy took additional local measures in the Province of Antwerp to further limit the spread of the SARS-CoV2 virus.

• Antoni Rytel , Vice-President of GovTech, Poland. Antoni is involved in the implementation of the Polish quarantine monitoring app and ProteGO Safe app.

• Dr Sarah Gibney, Senior Researcher, R & D and Health Analytics, Department of Health Ireland.

• Dr Eddie O’Neill, Consultant Medical Adviser, Health & Social Care Board Northern Ireland.

 

Speaker bios

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Speaker presentations

• Professor Bart Preneel: European-WidePrivacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing

• Cathy Berx: Tracing-App as part of a global approach of Corona-COVID-19

• Antoni Rytel: STOPCOVID PROTEGO SAFE

• Dr Sarah Gibney: COVID Tracker App for Ireland: A voluntary, de-centralised, ‘privacy-by-design’ contact tracing app

• Dr Eddie O'Neill: COVID-19 Digital response 'StopCOVID NI’ & ‘COVIDCare NI’ Apps

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