Some technologies used to contain the spread of covid-19, such as blockchain, have already been the subject of posts by consultants Henry Alvarenga e Thatiana Nomi here in the ILOS Insights. Both presented initiatives that are being used around the world to help ensure isolation and social distancing, such as drone tracking and the use of wearables. However, a controversial issue has been raised when it comes to the use of technologies like these.
Figure: The use of blockchain in the fight against covid-19. Source: Launchpresso on Unsplash
China, the country where the first cases of covid-19 originated, today has the situation under control and is already taking the first steps to gradually return to normality. To achieve this, the Chinese government has adopted various measures to control the flow of people using technology, such as facial recognition systems. And why not adopt similar measures in the rest of the world, having seen the dimension and criticality that the disease has taken around the planet? Measures like these collide with the right to privacy, which is one of the pillars of liberal democracies, a regime adopted in the vast majority of Western countries.
Thinking about issues like this, another technology has been applied in the fight against covid-19: the blockchain. A few years ago I commented on the use of this technology as a way to help supply chain management. Today, the adoption of this technology is already discussed and used by several companies around the world and, more recently, it has been used by startups to help fight the coronavirus as well.
The UK Open University, for example, released a prototype of an app which certifies the results of covid-19 immunity tests using blockchain and “pods” – an acronym for Personal Online Data Stores. The project aims to train healthcare workers and others to produce an immunity passport so they can return to work. Tests would be carried out by doctors or pharmacists, and if the person had antibodies and could prove their identity, a digital immunity passport would be issued. But how do you guarantee that a person will not tamper with someone else's passport to use for themselves? This is what the blockchain is used for. When the immunity passport is created and added to the Pod (an 'online personal data' store that is not tied to or controlled by any application), a fingerprint of the immunity certificate would be stored in the system and could not be tampered with, once it would be validated by consensus and would have numerous copies distributed in a decentralized network.
In Brazil, the startup Blockforce developed the Desviralize platform, which uses blockchain to monitor those infected by Covid-19. According to the initiative's website, Desviralize was developed with the aim of guiding epidemiological monitoring based on information from the citizens themselves and, in exchange, offering them a general and real-time picture of their own relationship networks. Each citizen can follow the situation of their street, neighborhood and city on the map, the evolution of the symptoms of everyone they have a relationship with and the networks of their direct contacts. With this updated and decentralized information, the authorities and the population itself would be able to make decisions and act more assertively during the pandemic. The solution is based on the logic of network sharing and the security and authenticity of the data is guaranteed through public, immutable and anonymous records through the use of blockchain records. For the Desviralize initiative to be efficient, it is necessary, however, for the population to join, with a larger number of people responding to the questionnaire and increasing the information base. To learn more about how this initiative works, watch the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3CLubQhXH0
Video: How Desviralize works. Source: Tales Gomes Channel
These are just two initiatives developed to help the population at this time of a pandemic and that use blockchain technology to guarantee the security and anonymity of information.
Despite its enormous potential, blockchain still has some challenges to be overcome before being adopted on a larger scale, such as its high implementation cost, lack of technology maturity, inefficiency due to its way of operation, slowness in times of large number of users on the network and the difficulty of integration with other systems. However, like all new technology, the expectation is that obstacles will be gradually overcome and blockchain will become an increasingly part of the lives of companies and people.
References:
- Startup uses blockchain to monitor coronavirus infections
– Nasdaq adopts Corda Enterprise blockchain for digital asset exchange software
– New app for covid-19 combines blockchain and privacy tool created by the inventor of the internet
– Startup uses blockchain to monitor infected by the coronavirus
– Deviralize, blockchain in control of the advance of the coronavirus
Fernanda Monteiro
More than 11 years of experience in training and consultancy projects, focusing on Logistics and Supply Chain. In consultancy, he carried out projects such as Transformational Logistics Plan, Diagnosis of logistics operations, Strategy and Calendarization of Transport Operations, Measuring the Cost of Serving, Market Study, Mapping of Inventory Reduction Opportunities, Review of the S&OP Process, Management Plan Training and Implementation of Commercial Processes in companies such as Nestlé, Raia Drogasil, Ipiranga, Lojas Americanas, B2W, Coca-Cola, Andina, Embraco, Martins Atacado, Loja do Mecânico, Santo Antônio Energia, Ecoporto and Silimed. She is currently one of the teachers of the Inventory Management Course taught every six months by ILOS. She worked on the development and management of Online Courses in Logistics and Supply Chain, Supply Processes, Demand Planning, Inventory Management and Industrial Management. Still in the training area, she was responsible for applying ILOS business games in companies such as Raia Drogasil, Fibria, NEC, Novartis and Moove.
