Digital Pandemic Preparedness

Preparing for future pandemics is one of the greatest health challenges of the modern era. We face an unprecedented rate of exposure to a range of pathogens, with outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics on the rise. Since 2000, we have witnessed the global spread of swine flu, Mpox and – most notably by far – COVID-19. Others, such as SARS and the Zaire strain of Ebola virus, have caused near misses.

Digital tools will have a key role to play in ensuring we are protected against pandemics of the future. The Oxford Martin Programme on Digital Pandemic Preparedness will develop a blueprint for digital health systems that can be deployed during pandemics, create a funding model for implementation, and work with public health agencies to develop the next generation of pandemic-ready digital tools.

Such tools are already enabling unprecedented and individualised public policy responses, as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Oxford team will evaluate key innovations deployed during the peak of COVID-19 including: real-time study of people’s movements that enabled detailed predictions of virus spread and the effectiveness of epidemic control measures; contact-tracing apps that used Bluetooth to predict the risk of being infected (‘digital contact tracing’); and apps that tracked symptoms and provided individualised health advice.

While digital technologies will allow real-time insights into an epidemic, enabling public health personnel to respond more quickly and accurately to rapidly changing situations, concerns have also been raised about encroaching surveillance by both state actors and large technology companies. The team will explore the relationship between the common good and other values, including human rights, as well as the foundations of an ethical digital response, by examining the moral basis for using certain technologies in managing pandemics and developing ways to use data analytics in a manner that protect people's privacy. Throughout the project, they will seek to partner with public health agencies and technology experts, to ensure we have the digital health systems we need to be prepared for the next pandemic.