As a key member of the NCR Data Resiliency for Ease of Access and Management (DREAM) Team, DILG-NCR convened local officials and functionaries virtually last February 10 to introduce the set of ICT solutions adopted by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID).

The IATF-MEID organized the DREAM Team through Resolution No. 85 approved in November 2020. Its purpose is to deploy, build capacity on, and monitor the use of ICT solutions that are part of the official COVID-19 ICT ecosystem. NCR is the pilot region for the implementation of the provisions of this resolution.

DILG-NCR Regional Director Maria Lourdes Agustin welcomed the participants, and highlighted the opportunity for LGUs to strengthen their COVID-19 response using ICT solutions adopted by the IATF-MEID.

DICT-NCR OIC Director for Regional Operations Coordination Services Amelia Dean gave an overview of the activity, touching upon the NCR DREAM Team’s composition, objectives, and the follow-through activities to be organized in the coming weeks.

Five (5) ICT solutions, as well as the Technical Architecture that integrates them, were presented to the participants:

COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS)

CDRS is the reporting facility for laboratories and the repository of documents such as the Case Investigation Form (CIF) and Individual Lab Result.

COVID Kaya Information System (COVID Kaya)

COVID Kaya is the primary information system in which COVID-19 response and data are stored and consolidated, containing each patient’s history, and serves as an aid for contact tracing.

Tanod-KIRA Kontra COVID (TKC)

TKC is a system that integrates passive and active surveillance and bridges local data collection to national data analytics.

StaySafe.ph

StaySafe.ph is a Case Management and Manual Contact Tracing system for the LGU and a Digital Logbook and QR Code Scanning solution for offices and establishments.

Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance Using Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler for Early Detection of Diseases (FASSSTER)

FASSSTER is a scenario-based disease surveillance and monitoring platform providing projections on cases, hospital, testing, isolation requirements, risk classification table, epidemiological analytics and modeling, spatio-temporal projections, and age-structured modeling, non-health indices (socio economic and security) contact tracing network models.

DICT Undersecretary Emmanuel Rey Caintic, Chair of the National DREAM Team, emphasized the importance of consolidating all data collected at the local, regional and national levels and called on the participants to help facilitate the integration of existing systems under one ICT ecosystem.

The participants raised important questions regarding data cleaning, reconciliation of records, and integration, which the DREAM Team members addressed. After agreeing on the next steps, the participants shared their commitment to promoting ICT solutions to beat COVID-19 on a virtual wall accessible through tinyurl.com/covid19ict4lgus.

~ LGOO VI Raymond Gerard De Asis