UGM will launch a Covid-19 Tracing System and People Mobile Analysis. This system is a collaboration between UGM, the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Indosat Ooredoo, PT Global Data Inspiration (Datains), and PT Gamatechno. This system is able to provide analysis of the spread of Covid-19 based on historical data on the movement of cellular subscribers’ phones.
With the Covid-19 Tracing feature contained in this application, the public can detect individuals identified as positive, PDP (suspected patients) , or ODP (patients in observation) of Covid-19. This application can also detect people around the individual. This is because the data is obtained by searching for telephone numbers of people within a certain distance from the movement of the patient’s telephone position.
The data on the history of cellular subscriber phones’ movement that is processed is the output position data from the triangulation algorithm whose accuracy is quite reliable, much better than the location-based data for cell phone towers or commonly called BTS (Base Transceiver Station). This system maintains the privacy of the owner of the telephone number because the information processed can only be accessed by the authorized state agency in an emergency situation.
The second feature, namely People Mobility Analysis, can provide broader information in the form of an analysis of the movement of people from one area to another. This movement analysis results from the identification of the movements of all cellular telephone subscribers from one area to another. This important information can help the Ministry of Health and the Covid-19 Task Force in evaluating and determining the next policy, for example to see how the pattern of the spread of a pandemic from one red zone to another and the effectiveness of regional quarantine.
Widyawan, S.T., Ph.D., Director of the UGM Directorate of Information Systems and Resources, said that the creation of this system began when on March 4th, 2020, UGM was invited to a discussion by the Indonesian Minister of Health in order to find a solution to stop the spread of Covid-19 in Indonesia. The discussion resulted in a system concept that will be executed by Indosat Ooredoo, UGM and Datains.
On Friday (27/3), the pilot version of the system was shown to the Ministry of Health and received a positive response. According to Widyawan, this is according to the plan of the meeting with the Minister of Health, namely in the fourth week of March. “The plan is that in early April this big data system can be used by the authorities, both at the central and regional levels,” he said.
Widyawan explained that the two systems were integrated with the safety confirmation application platform Cared Covid-19. This integration is done so that the system can provide direct services to the community and enrich the data held.
“People who download the application can carry out self-screening for Covid-19. Based on the results of the self-screening, local health facilities can find out the condition of the surrounding community, and relay this information to the Covid-19 task force in the area,” he explained, Tuesday (31/3).
By using the CARED application, Widyawan said that the community would also benefit in the form of knowing the potential of being in close proximity to Covid-19 positive cases, based on the data from the Ministry of Health. “This application is expected to raise awareness of the public to be more vigilant and participate actively in reporting their respective conditions. In the near future, this application is planned to be released for the Android and iOS operating systems, ”he explained.
This big data analytics application is a bottom-up and collaborative initiative from the academic and business realms. UGM contributes with the provision of big data infrastructure, data scientists and epidemiologists. Indosat Ooredoo contributed in providing geolocation data and business expertise, while Datains and Gamatechno play major roles in data engineering, software development and system integration.
