10.04.2020 – 17.05 – “Friuli Venezia Giulia is the first Region in Italy to test a smartphone app able to mitigate the effect of infections brought in from outside its borders.
It’s the same app used in Singapore, which we believe can play a key role in the postemergency phase and the gradual return to normality.
In the case of new infections, in fact, the app would make it possible to quickly trace and isolate people which had been in contact with individuals who have tested positive for the Coronavirus“.
This was stated by the Governor of Friuli Venezia Giulia Massimiliano Fedriga, stating that “if the tests produce the desired effects, the Administration’s goal is to make the app available to the public as early as the second half of April”.
The app, granted to the Region free of charge by the multinational company Accenture, has been adapted to the special characteristics of the territory, and to the laws in force regarding privacy, by Ict Insiel a company with its headquarter in Trieste, which is testing its effectiveness on a sample of almost three hundred citizens.
“We are preparing to restart in maximum security – added Governor Fedriga – If all citizens will use the app, everyone will protect their health and that of the others.
We are the first region to try it out and I thank Accenture for donating their valuable work
and Insiel for the collaboration.
“The app – explained Diego Antonini, president of Insiel – fully respects users’ rights: each person who downloads it is assigned a totally anonymous numerical identification code and the movements are tracked through Bluetooth.
Only when a citizen turns out positive to Covid-19, the health facilities will be authorized to decrypt his identification code and those of the subjects with whom he came into contact”.
As for the usefulness of the app to combat the epidemiological spread “the success will depend on the number of users – said Antonini – the more citizens will decide to download it, the greater will be the possibility to intercept the virus and circumscribe it quickly, giving who should prove positive the medical care he needs.
The App available for iOS and Android – which when signing up will require you to enter only your mobile phone number and social security number – will contain a series of information about Covid-19 and the phone numbers to dial in case of emergency.
Michael Guggenbichler translation
