Public Webinar on New E-health Solutions to Combat Pandemics with ICT

​​Time and place: Mon​day 6 July 2020, 12:00 – 13:30 UTC (14h00 – 15h30 Geneva time) (Webinar)​

ITU-D Study Groups were pleased to organize​ a public webinar focusing on new e-health solutions to combat pandemics with ICT.​​

​New technologies are finding new applications across a wide range of SDG-related areas, and the demand for innovative solutions has only spiked in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the domain of health.

Crises like the new coronavirus outbreak put nations and communities under increased pressure to identify and implement cost-efficient interventions that can enable preventive and curative healthcare delivery under significant resource and time constraints. New digital technologies, - such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G, IoT, Blockchain, and Big Data - have a strong potential in facilitating large-scale diagnosis, treatment, and early warning by optimising resource allocation, lowering transaction costs, facilitating delivery process, improving accuracy and quality, and creating opportunities for interoperability and inter-sectoral collaboration.​

Not only can the effective use of these new technologies significantly improve the response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but it can also strengthen the resilience of our societies in the face of the possible future crises.​

Several countries have already used new digital technologies to support national policies aimed at containing the virus and encouraging preventive measures uptake among their populations. Digital apps, powered by AI algorithms have been developed and deployed by a number of governments to help monitor the compliance with quarantine and to track the foci of infection, including in South Korea, Singapore, UK, China, and Russia. Digital communication channels have been used to facilitate the distribution of the basic information and preventive advice to the largest possible number of people - for example, the WHO's WhatsApp chatbot was estimated to have reached over 15 million people. Additionally, telemedicine solutions have been used by many hospitals worldwide to provide consultations to patients remotely in order to limit the burden on the facilities and personnel and to reduce the risks of infection at their premises.

​While all of the above examples are truly encouraging, there also challenges that need to be resolved. Concerns about privacy and personal data security have been raised in relation to many of the above applications. In some cases, the deployment of services has been slow, which negatively affected the impact achieved. In addition, their cost and sustainability in the post-COVID-19 phase are unknown.

The goal of the upcoming webinar was, therefore, to foster a meaningful conversation on the use cases for the new digital Health solutions, and the factors and recommendation that need to be considered for their effective deployment and scaling up. Questions pertaining to solution identification, affordability, accessibility, integration with existing system, as well as relevant regulatory frameworks will be central to the work on leveraging digital innovations for effective pandemic response. The webinar highlighted some of the most pressing issues and encouraged its participants to exchange ideas, experience, and advice about the effective digital Health interventions at the time when the world needs them the most.

• ​​​​​​Mr Ahmad Reza Sharafat, Chairman of ITU-D Study Group 2, Iran (Islamic Republic of) [Biography​]
  

• ​​​​​​Mr Hani Eskandar, Se​nior Coordinator - Digital Services​, International Telecommunication Union​ [Biography​]
  

• Mr Turhan Muluk, Telecom Policy Director, Intel Corporation, United States of America [Biography]​
  Mr Mario Roma​o, Global Director for Digital Health Policy, Intel Corporation, United States of America [Biography]​
  Importance of 5G and AI for Pandemics (COVID-19)​ [Presentation]​ [Abstract]
  
• Mr Hirokazu Tashiro, Senior Expert, NTT Data Corporation, Japan [Biography]
  Medical Image AI Trial in India ​[Abstract]​
  
• Ms Malina Jordanova, Associate Professor, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria ​[Biography​]
  Mental Health in the COVID-19 Pandemic [Presentation] [Abstract]
  
• Mr Isao Nakajima, Professor, Seisa University, Japan [Biography]
  Concept of TAP: drug distributions and remote consultation just before the outbreak [Presentation] [Abstract]​
  
• Mr Teppei Sakano, CEO & Founder, Allm Inc., Japan [Biography​]
  Medical ICT Platform for COVID-19 and Stroke [Presentation] [Abstract]​​