An intelligent approach and interactive platforms ... Qatar is developing technology to combat Corona

Mohamed El-Sayed - Al-Jazeera Net

While the world is still searching for a cure for the emerging corona virus, the State of Qatar has turned to smart technology and interactive platforms within the framework of the response measures and limiting the spread of this epidemic and controlling it.

One of the techniques of artificial intelligence that can be adopted to diagnose and educate users of the symptoms of corona infection in a few seconds and with great accuracy, and to seek medical help, is the "self-examination" application launched by the Computing Research Institute of the University of Hamad bin Khalifa, a member of Qatar Foundation.

The application, which was launched in 11 languages, aims mainly to reach people in their language, and to help facilitate the access of information to everyone without exception, and then contribute to community awareness that would reduce pressure on the health system.

The Director of the Qatar Computing Research Institute, Dr. Ahmed Al-Muqarmad explains that the institute has worked in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health and Hamad Medical Corporation since the beginning of the crisis, to develop a series of new digital platforms - in addition to reorienting existing platforms - to prevent the spread of the epidemic.

Al-Muqramad said in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the application of self-examination works to educate society in all its spectrums, matches the recommendations of the World Health Organization, and simulates in its work the electronic health system "Cerner" used by the Hamad Medical Corporation.

The "Self-Test" app was launched in 11 languages, including Arabic, English, Hindi and Filipino, and has so far been used by more than 1.2 million people.

The Qatar Institute for Computing Research has a large list of applications that currently serve to combat corona virus, and it extends from the application "Geofencing" that helps to monitor those in quarantine for staying at home, to the application "tracking privacy contacts", in addition to Adaptation of platforms that were previously developed to serve the current situation, such as the "Falcon" and "Alert" platform, according to Makramed.

The institute also developed the mobility analysis tool that the Ministry of Public Health uses to indicate how the stone is currently working, and with greater accuracy than the Google's Mobility Analysis. Through the technology developed by the Institute, the navigation data from Google is monitored and photographed on a Qatar map with greater accuracy, then traffic patterns are determined, crowds and crowds are concentrated.

"Alert" and "Falcon"

Al-Muqramad explains that "Alert" and "Falcon" are platforms that have been developed over the past several years, and they have been used in the face of the blockade of Qatar since 2017, and they are currently being used to combat the Corona virus.

Saqr platform focuses on identifying targeted accounts and misinformation on Twitter, and analyzing intellectual trends towards a specific topic or person within a specific time frame. As for the “Alert” platform, it works to identify rumors, propaganda, misinformation, etc., and it focuses on traditional news media such as print media and news broadcasts.

The institute's most important contribution to fighting Corona came during the early time when patient cases began to appear in Qatar, where it worked with the "National Command Center" to develop a dedicated program based on artificial intelligence to help them track the injured and determine their movement plan, as well as identify the people who contacted them and met them , And potentially injured, too. This was the first contact tracking software used in Qatar, and one of the first technologies developed for this purpose in the world.

The Institute's cyber security team also developed and launched a digital platform that monitors and chases malicious sites related to the Corona epidemic, where the team tracks these sites proactively so that they are blocked and the resulting damage is minimized.

“Precaution” and “Asas”
On the same approach, the “Precaution” application that aims to help contain the spread of the Corona virus is running, as the application is linked to the database of the Ministry of Public Health and explains that the person who downloaded the application if it is intact from the virus will have a green color in the application And, if the person may have been in contact with an infected person, the color will be gray, and if the person is present in the quarantine, the color will be yellow, while the color will be red if the person is infected with the virus. And in the event that the person heals, the color of the application will return gray, as a specific time period is set to examine it again to make sure of the complete recovery, and then the color of the application returns green again.

The spokesperson of the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management Lulwa Al-Khater considered that launching the "Ahretaz" application on smartphones enhances the state's precautionary efforts to prevent corona virus, and also helps in the issue of quarantine to alert individuals if they come closer than a safe distance, so they are alerted that they are approaching for a distance Allowed even within the quarantine itself.

In a different way, the Ministry of the Interior used the "Aasas" security robot to provide community awareness about preventing communities and controlling violators, as part of the preventive measures against the Corona virus, by touring residential neighborhoods and public places.

The robot works with six cameras installed on it to monitor violators of the decision to prevent gatherings through the patrols it carries out.

As part of its efforts and in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Interior used drones that roam the various regions to broadcast awareness messages via loudspeakers, about the need to adhere to safety measures to limit the spread of the Corona virus, which is to urge staying in homes and adherence to the law that prevents gatherings and prayers in Rooftops.

The awareness campaign uses a number of Asian languages ​​(Urdu, Hindi, Nepalese, Liberian and Sri Lankan) and other languages ​​for different community members in Qatar.