Sat, Apr 25, 2020 page3

• Virus Outbreak: AIT director highlights ‘Taiwan model’

  COLLECTIVE AID: The government and the AIT designed the Coronavirus Hackathon to find solutions to COVID-19 problems using artificial intelligence and big data

  • By Sean Lin / Staff reporter
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  The “Taiwan model” for combating COVID-19 is a roadmap for the world, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen said yesterday at the start of the Coronavirus Hackathon.

  Christensen, speaking at the Executive Yuan, where officials were announcing the start of the hackathon — a public event sponsored by the AIT and the government to find ways to fight against the pandemic — said that the “Taiwan model” could be summarized in five Ts: transparency, transportation controls, tracking, testing and technology.

  Taiwan has ensured transparency when sharing information about its approach to preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus and policies with the public — and the WHO, despite it unfairly excluding the nation, he said.

  

  Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang, third left, Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai, fourth left, American Institute in Taiwan Director Brent Christensen, fourth right, and other officials yesterday hold placards at a news conference in Taipei for the Coronavirus Hackathon, jointly held by the Executive Yuan and the institute.

  Photo: CNA

  The nation’s authorities were among the first to begin screening flights, mandating quarantines for people arriving from high-risk areas, organizing safe transportation and monitoring people in quarantine, he added.

  The authorities have meticulously tracked individuals who had a high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and enforced a targeted testing protocol based on rigorous contact tracing, Christensen said.

  The model has used numerous technologies, such as tracing the movements of a confirmed case — using data from cell phone towers and then broadcasting messages to other mobile phones that were at the same places at that time — and using data analysis when implementing mask rationing, he said.

  “Taiwan’s response to COVID-19 has been more successful than any in the world, according to nearly all available metrics,” and despite its proximity to China, he said.

  The hackathon is designed to build on these successes to devise transportation-related innovations to ensure an optimal transition leading up to the listing of travel restrictions, as well as to protect essential workers and people who lack the means to access vital services, he said.

  Officials hopes to learn from the hackathon how to use artificial intelligence and big data to develop predictive tools to track the virus much in the same way weather is forecast, providing policymakers and the public the information they need to respond and stay ahead of the curve to prevent COVID-19 from getting out of control, Christensen said.

  The hackathon is intended to gather input about how to use these technologies to manage health resources across jurisdictions to ensure that front-line healthcare personnel are properly protected and that people are informed of pandemic risks while maintaining democratic values to hopefully elicit voluntary cooperation with the government’s disease prevention policies, he said.

  He hopes that the hackathon would be another example of the fresh thinking that is only found in Taiwan, combining innovative technologies with a commitment to social good, he added.

  Taiwan, as a member of the global community, hopes to engage with other nations to research vaccines, provide medical supplies and use technology to fight COVID-19, Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.

  The US is a world leader in pharmaceuticals and vaccine research and development, which coupled with Taiwan’s strengths in universal health insurance, and information and communication technologies, would help the world defeat COVID-19, he said.

  The AIT and the Executive Yuan are seeking the public’s responses to questions about COVID-19 starting on May 5.
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