[Extension in Focus] How DCS faculty members are supporting the Philippine COVID-19 ICT efforts behind the scene

Note: In the Extension in Focus series, we feature how DCS faculty members are using their expertise and knowledge to better society and make a positive impact in the world.

A group of current and former faculty members of the Department has actively supported ICT efforts in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic. Asst. Professor Philip Christian Zuniga of the Computer Security Group is currently the project manager for the integration of information systems under the Philippine Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Sub Technical Working Group on ICT solutions. Together with him working on this effort are current and former DCS faculty members:

1) Asst. Professor Jhoirene Clemente – ACL

2) Asst Professor Rich Juayong – ACL

3) Inna Calimbahin – CSG

4) Ivy Ordanel – ACL

5) Ada Angeli Cariaga – WSG former faculty member

6) Joanne Mendoza – CSG former faculty member

7) Rose Ann Zuniga - CSG former faculty member

For the past eight months, the team has led the integration of over a dozen information systems into a single ecosystem that enabled faster sharing, validation, and reporting of COVID-19 cases from symptoms reporting up to the national level monitoring. They have also worked with various teams to set up a contact tracing data warehouse that allows faster contact tracing among different Local Government Units (LGUs). The team will also support the integration of the Vaccine Information Management System (VIMS) to various LGU platforms to ensure a more efficient way of delivering COVID-19 vaccines.

More information regarding these efforts can be found in the following articles from the SIL-Asia* website -

LESSONS LEARNED on HIS Integration for COVID-19 Surveillance and Reporting

SIL-Asia shares the Role of Standards and Interoperability in the Philippine COVID-19 Response

*SIL-Asia is an interoperability lab supported by the Asia eHealth Information Network and the Asian Development Bank, headed by Assistant Professor Zuniga.