Logol, a pioneering Swiss company in the field of artificial intelligence, launches Data4Covid19, a non-profit project aimed at raising public awareness and promoting responsible behavior in order to block the spread of coronavirus. Donating the time of its experienced mathematicians, engineers and computer science professionals, Logol has set up a freely accessible online platform designed to provide citizens with objective, relevant and easy to understand information.
Data4Covid19 offers location-based information, including the user’s probability of running into someone with the virus when leaving home and the number of intensive care beds still available in nearby hospitals. The system currently covers Switzerland, France and Italy (the first European country to experience a major outbreak) and can be accessed at www.Data4Covid19.com.
“Europe was not prepared for such a crisis,” says Marco Farina, Founder and CEO of Logol. “The pressure due to the pandemic on many health care systems today has become tremendous. Intensive care units are overwhelmed and there is a global shortage of much needed medical supplies such as ventilators and face masks. It is thus of crucial importance for our communities to help the doctors and nurses on the front line of this battle, at a moment when they often put their own safety at risk in a desperate fight to save lives. With this project, Logol is aiming to raise public awareness, encouraging people to respect the measures put in place by governments in order to reduce the number of infections from coronavirus.”
Created and maintained pro bono, Logol’s Data4Covid19 platform provides citizens with objective and understandable information about the situation in their area, such as spread of the virus and number of deaths by canton, region or province. It uses only official data from public health agencies, updated daily. Among its key features, there is a simulator that lets the user calculate the probability of running into someone with the virus when leaving home. Moreover, mathematical models are used to accurately estimate future progress of the virus in terms of numbers of cases, deaths and patients requiring intensive care.
To promote the Data4Covid19 initiative, Logol has also launched a social media campaign, #letsfightcovid19together, to align efforts in raising public awareness about what every person can do to contain the spread of the virus and ease the strain on their health care systems. Companies, professionals and public sector organizations sharing content from Data4Covid19 among their networks and employees and on their corporate social media channels are listed in the “Friends” section on the website. Data4Covid19 is part of ‘Solidarietà digitale’, an initiative of ATED, a business association of the Canton of Ticino, Switzerland