Right for Response: Matching Digital Tools to COVID-19

This article originally appeared on PATH.org. Below is an excerpt.

When the pandemic began stretching health systems thin, decision-makers looked for data to help them understand where and how COVID-19 was impacting their communities. To avoid repeating the mistakes made in 2014/2015, the US Agency for International Development and PATH’s Digital Square initiative teamed up on a project known as Map and Match, which sought to identify digital tools already in use that could support the response of countries around the world.

One of the most important lessons: start with the software and tools that are already known and used regularly. Many of the digital tools already used within a country’s health system could be easily adapted and the data they gathered could answer important questions about the impacts of COVID-19, and how to tailor the response efforts.

We began by identifying more than 2,900 tools used in 135 countries covering an incredible variety of data collection and analysis needs. From there, we created country-specific landscapes for 22 countries, mapping available tools to different pandemic response areas. From Afghanistan to Zambia, these briefs provide a highly visual resource for countries and their partners to quickly understand the tools they already have and how these tools could be adapted to COVID-19 response.

Read the full article here.