Filipinos are known for craftsmanship, creativity, and resourcefulness. Amidst the global pandemic that is COVID-19, local software and website developers were able to help in mitigating the situation through designing and publishing all-in-one apps and websites. Powered by innovative technologies, these tools are essential in educating and informing Filipinos about the current updates regarding coronavirus. Here are some of the free websites and Android apps that we gathered:
Table of Contents
Mobile apps
WeTrace
Made essentially for contact tracing and patient mapping, the Cebuano-made mobile app by DXFORM Inc. keeps a timeline of the user’s last and current location through geo-location. It also searches other nearby WeTrace users and notifies users who had recently contact with a COVID-19 positive patient. To ensure data privacy and security, each user is provided with a unique QR Code. Only the authorities can check the WeTrace data for confidentiality.
RC143
The official app of the Philippine Red Cross is powered by three core technologies: artificial intelligence (AI), wireless geolocation, and quick sensory capabilities. The RC143 interprets the data on the gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS, and other sensors on the device to see how exposed an individual is on the virus. It also notifies the user when they enter a high-risk zone and connect them with the Philippine Red Cross for medical assistance in the event of a possible infection.
COVID Watch PH
This app was developed through the joint effort of of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), and Galileo Software to locally monitor the COVID-19 cases. Apart from being a contact tracing app, the COVID Watch PH provides triage assessment and allows a COVID-19 patient to request for financial assistance.
ENDCoV
Published under SkyLabs technologies and developed by a team of Master of Science in Innovation and Business students from the Asian Institute of Management, ENDCoV gives online self-assessment and guidelines to its users who would like to know their risk level for COVID-19. It follows the triage assessment algorithm approved by the Department of Health (DOH) and is based on the World Health Organization’s surveillance of the virus. As a one-stop app, it provides contact private storage of data for contact tracing as it allows users to add information on other people they recently had contact with. It remains compliant to the Republic Act 11332 or the Mandatory Disclosure of Notifiable Diseases Act and RA 10173 or the Data Privacy Act, as well as policies issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force and the Office of the President.
Websites
FightCovid.App
To address the shortage test kits and the overcrowding in hospitals with the coronavirus scare, tech agency White Widget made a website that conducts a self-assessment survey for COVID-19 testing. Just like ENDCov, questions on the FightCovid.App is based on the guidelines released by the DOH.
Dashboard Philippines
A brainchild of Xavier School alumni and their teacher spearheaded by Weston Coleman, Dashboard Philippines is an interactive platform that gives access to the areas affected with the COVID-19. It presents the number of persons under investigation (PUI) and persons under monitoring (PUM), as well as the current state of the hospitals all over Metro Manila. Guests can also see the schedule of operating establishments, donation centers, and transportation routes, and shuttle stops provided by various government agencies for frontliners on the website.
And that’s a wrap! Please note that the mobile apps mentioned above are only available in Google PlayStore at the moment. Do you know other websites and apps that are proudly developed by Filipinos? Do let us know in the comment section!
