The Record - Issue 18: Autumn 2020

98 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om V I EWPO I NT Contact tracing for companies WI L L I AM BA I N : S CA L EOUT SOF TWAR E Letting employees easily track their interactions using new software technology can help companies get back to work quickly and safely U ntil a Covid-19 vaccine is widely availa- ble, getting back to work means closely watching for outbreaks and quickly containing them when they occur. While the prospects for accomplishing this with contact tracing seem daunting, monitoring contacts between employees within large companies may now be much easier than ever using an exciting new software technology. Mobile contact tracing apps have been widely publicised. They automatically log the places people have been and determine possible con- tacts based on proximity. Unfortunately, these apps are complex, and they raise concerns around accuracy and privacy. Moreover, experts in epidemiology say that humans need to be in the loop for contact tracing to be effective. However, because companies differ from the general population by having established work- ing relationships and protocols, they can con- sider using a simpler approach. What if all employees within a company could easily log in-person contacts with work col- leagues when they occur? As they record these contacts, cloud-based software could build a web of connections, often linking strangers through intermediaries. Later, when employees test posi- tive, they could notify this software. It could then follow the chain of contacts and anonymously alert via text message or email everyone who recently came into contact and should be tested or self-isolated. Consider a company with multiple depart- ments distributed across several locations. As employees get back to work, they typically interact closely with colleagues in the same department. If anyone in the department tests positive for Covid-19, it’s likely that all of these colleagues have been exposed and need to get tested, so these relationships could automatically be tracked by the software. Employees also occasionally interact with peo- ple in other departments, both at the same site and at remote locations. These interactions need to be logged as they occur to contain exposures within the company. In addition, employees could log information about contacts they make while on business travel, such as during airline flights, taxi rides, and meals at restaurants. These external contacts would be immediately alerted of possible exposure, enabling companies to assist their communities in containing the spread of Covid-19. Many large companies have tens of thousands of employees and need to perform fast, efficient contact tracing. They require both immediate notifications and up-to-the-moment statistics that identify emerging trends, such as hotspots at one of their offices. A software technology called ‘in-memory computing’ makes this possible by “The cloud service can aggregate information about all employees within seconds so that managers can spot emerging Covid-19 hotspots”