Microsoft-powered COVID-19 application bridges public and private information gaps.
A group of technical organizations, academic institutions, and government agencies wanted to do more to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Uniting during the onset of the pandemic to help manage the risk within Canada, these partners decided to develop a tool that would bring together data from a variety of sources so that business across the country could make more informed decisions.
With so many uncertainties in these early stages around the challenges COVID-19 posed, a solution with potential functionality in different areas, specifically, business reopening and adjusting operations responsibly was decided on as the best way to make a real impact. The solution was conceptualized from discussions with subject matter experts in those fields, who expressed serious concerns about
lack of tools to address the ongoing pandemic challenges.
MNP and their partners decided that an application could be used to fill the information gap that many organizations were experiencing. This app would use the data to synthesize and display relevant, meaningful information in a way that would be accessible to the majority of Canada’s population.
The biggest uphill climb with this methodology was that the virus is not static – and neither is the vaccine response to it. As the pandemic entered (and continues to enter) each new phase, long used guidance may not be suitable anymore. This lifesaving application addresses these issues directly, by ensuring access to the latest public health regulations and provides direct exposure risk data allowing for real-time adaptation of operations. The risk algorithm tracks the advanced metrics of the pandemic, and automatically adjusts the guidance given to maintain an appropriate risk level.
During the development of the application, the data modeling system and Microsoft Azure machine learning functionality was prioritized, with MNP implementing the innovative integration patterns for data consolidation. With the solution hosted on Azure, the partners were able to setup a single-sign-on protocol with Microsoft Active Directory, and the redirection between the mobile app, Azure APIs, and proxy front-end pages.
Not only does the app work as intended, but this platform setup has also created a seamless user experience across the board.
The ready-to-use application now consolidates information from dozens of data sources in real-time across the county, representing thousands of data sets. Providing a clear geospatial visualization of COVID-19 exposure risks, the partners are now working to grow support from businesses and emergency response organizations across Canada.