PanaBIOS
Overview
PanaBIOS is a consortium of African and international organizations [clarification needed] that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic to build and promote digital technologies to address concerns about disease spread and public safety. These technologies are usually accessed on platforms also branded as “PanaBIOS”. The organization supports the African Union (AU) and its agencies, such as the Africa Centres for Disease Control & Prevention (Africa CDC), in providing technical support to AU member states in adopting such technologies through various initiatives.[1].
PanaBIOS states that it aims to promote social innovation for pandemic recovery and renormalization. Some of the initiatives include Trusted Travel, a COVID pass tool[2] and others which together make up Global Haven,[3] allowing access to tools such as packages that can handle vaccine administration and distribution[4]. Some PanaBIOS-supported initiatives are present in multiple countries in Africa[5] and internationally[6]. PanaBIOS works with some UN agencies such as the UNDP in supporting various governments to deploy certain pandemic-response technologies[7], some of which are claimed as "homegrown" African innovations[8] though they are used beyond Africa.
PanaBIOS has been deployed through public-private arrangements convened by intergovernmental organizations such as the Africa CDC and multistakeholder organizations like AfroChampions[8]. Private organizations and corporations – such as Esri, Koldchain, and Econet - have been reported as playing key roles in providing capacity and resources[9][10][11].
History
On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and subsequently declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020[12]. Travel and cross-border movement were heavily curtailed[13]. Earlier attempts at imposing complete lockdowns in many parts of Africa proved difficult to sustain[14][15].
The African Union, the UNDP, Afro Champions, Koldchain, Africa Tourism Board, African Standardisation Organisation, Africa Society of Laboratory Medicine, and other organizations came together, according to reports, to create digital solutions under the common PanaBIOS framework in the hope of enabling the resumption of travel without worsening the rate and spread of infections[16][17]. PanaBIOS was piloted for congestion monitoring in mid-2020[18][19]. The initiative's first intergovernmental initiative, Trusted Travel, was launched by the Africa CDC later in 2020[20][21].
Reach
International labs[22], airlines[23], and governments have adopted and endorsed PanaBIOS initiatives and platforms[24].
The PanaBIOS platforms established a means for a large number of Labs and Health facilities in multiple countries that are registered and certified on the platform to issue secure digital health certificates that can be verified by authorized official personnel[25].
Technology
The system is said to rely on machine learning algorithms to strengthen the digital passes and certificates generated by the system against fraud and falsification[26]. The digital decision support mechanisms enhance the ability of port health and other port officials to stem the import of disease from overseas[27]. In addition to various internet technologies and blockchain applications, USSD and GSM technologies are also supported[28].
Privacy & Cybersecurity Concerns
Digital solutions developed recently to purportedly address various pandemic related issues have attracted scrutiny and occasional criticism on privacy and cybersecurity grounds. PanaBIOS asserts compliance with Chapter Two of the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection[29], as well as with other continental data protection regulations[30]
References
- ↑ "Kenya adopts Trusted Travel digital tool for COVID-19 test result verification | African Union". au.int. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Trusted Travel". Africa CDC. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Global Haven – rediscover your world anew". Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Trusted Vaccines". Africa CDC. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Government Advisories – PanaBIOS". Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Africa & Australia Launch interoperability of Digital Vaccine Certificates | United Nations Development Programme". UNDP. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "UNDP launches partnership to restore international travel and economic life with technology | United Nations Development Programme". UNDP. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "'Homegrown' Solutions Can Bolster Africa's COVID-19 Response - World | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "African Union-Backed App Seeks to Speed Up Border Reopenings". Bloomberg.com. 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ 谭欣雨. "Bio-surveillance tech up next in Africa's fight against COVID-19". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Telecompaper". www.telecompaper.com. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March 2020". www.who.int. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "This chart shows how airlines are being grounded by COVID-19". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ Heever, Alex van den; Francis, David; Venter, Francois; Valodia, Imraan; Allais, Lucy; Veller, Martin; Sachs, Michael; Madhi, Shabir A. "South Africa needs a post-lockdown strategy that emulates South Korea". The Conversation. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Innovations Needed in African Cities to Counter COVID-19 – Africa Center". Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "AU provides Big Data solution to tame Covid-19". Global Voice Group. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Outbreak Sparks Innovation". Africa Defense Forum. 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Ghana Introduces New Election Technology". The Election Network. 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Ghana is building a digital template for safe elections during the pandemic". Techpoint Africa. 2020-07-31. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "AU, Africa CDC adoption of digital technology set to save lives, revive economies". New African Magazine. 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Africa CDC launches harmonised travel regime but testing concerns remain". African Business. 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Frontage Laboratories, Inc is a PanaBIOS Trusted Travel Approved COVID-19 Laboratory Testing Provider". Frontage Laboratories. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "African airlines sign on to travel pass program". Routes. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Report on the Virtual joint Meeting of African Ministers of Health, ICT and Transport". Africa CDC. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Econet, Panabios Unveil New Applications to Digitise Covid-19 Certificates, Ease Cross-Border Travel in Africa". www.atta.travel. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "African Union turns to biosurveillance tech to curb COVID-19". Global Voices Advox. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ 孙汝. "Kenya turns to Africa-CDC tool to check virus at airports". global.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ Ministry of Communications, Ghana (18 August 2020). "Ghana Deploys Digital Technology to Ensure Safe Reopening" (PDF). Ghana Ministry of Communications. Retrieved 11 June 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Malabo Convention". African Convention. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ↑ "Privacy Policy – PanaBIOS". Retrieved 2022-06-11.
This article "PanaBIOS" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:PanaBIOS. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
