Dimitris Kouimtsidis
THE Spanish government has launched the first phase of its coronavirus track and trace application.
The app will be called Radar Covid and will work on both iOS and Android devices.
It’s been sent to both Apple and Google so that it can be officially validated and included in their respective app stores.
The test run for the app will take place in La Gomera, the Canary Islands’ most isolated island, with a population of only 22,000 inhabitants.
According to El Pais sources from the Office for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, the goal is to reach 3,000 downloads on the island.
The Office for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence has also outlined that the pilot programme will be divided into three stages.
The first stage will focus on communication, promotion and tracing at a local level.
A press release read: “The campaign will also reach shipping companies and airlines that operate between the islands in order to reach the population outside of the island when the second phase is underway.”
The second stage is due to begin on July 6 and is called the monitoring phase.
This is when the central and local governments will simulate a fictional COVID-19 outbreak of 300 cases.
This test is designed to check the app’s effectiveness, which operates using Bluetooth.
The Madrid government says that data from the pilot programme will be monitored daily to detect any relevant benchmarks.
The last stage is due to begin on July 20, will be called post-pilot and will analyse three aspects of the process.
These include: how many people downloaded the app, how many positive cases were detected and how many users kept the app on their phones.
It will be difficult to assess how well the app would do throughout the entirety of Spain however, given the short time frame of the pilot and the fact that people will know it isn’t a real outbreak.
