Inventing A Covid-19 Monitoring Application, ITS Lecturer Team’s Project Approved by IEEE

ITS Campus, ITS News – The collaboration between the East Java Provincial Health Office and the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) has successfully developed a mobile version of the Covid-19 patient tracker (tracingCovid19.jatimprov.go.id).  Following the success, the IEEE SIGHT (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technology) has agreed to support the development of the application.

They are Dr. Diana Purwitasari S.Kom., M.Sc., Prof. Dr. Ir. Mauridhi Hery Purnomo M.Eng, Dr. Umi Laili Yuhana S.Kom., M.Sc., Dr. Berlian Al Kindhi S.S.T., M.T., Agus Budi Raharjo S.Kom., M.Kom., P.hD., Argo Winoto, Vincentius Raki Mahindara S.T., Amir Mu’tashim Billah, Ahmad Laroy Bafi; a group of ITS lecturers, students, and a Covid-19 analyst who succeeded in creating a project entitled “Web-Based Application for Tracing Covid-19 in East Java Province”, Indonesia. It is a mobile version application used to monitor Covid-19 patients’ data and visualize its location in the East Java region.

Dr. Diana Purwitasari, S.Kom., M.Sc., explained one of the weaknesses of Indonesia’s existing information systems is the lack of data integration. Therefore, with this application, the East Java Health Office can carry out its controlling function optimally. Later on, the East Java Health Office will coordinate with the city and district’s health offices for data collection. “However, access to this website’s usage will be initially limited; not everyone can access it. Only the citizens at the regional level,” Diana revealed.

Should this application be successfully implemented, Diana continued that the collected data can be accessed as soon as possible, easing the government’s work. “Data updates can be faster, so we no longer have to wait every afternoon for manual data updates like right now,” explained the alumni of the master’s program at Saga University, Japan.

Even so, added Diana, this application requires constant cooperation and coordination with the government. Therefore, supervision regarding implementation such as data suitability, information display, and implementation is required. “Government support can minimize technical problems in further implementation processes,” continued the lecturer who completed her doctoral program at ITS.

Thanks to the adaptation of this useful idea, this project that twas successfully approved by IEEE SIGHT Special Covid-19 Projects, a global network that partners with communities or organizations that utilize technology for handling Covid-19. “At the moment, the re-checking process and the addition of other features are still in progress. Estimated to be completed in June and to be announced by July,” elaborated this mother of one child.

Diana hopes that this application can also be used to monitor viruses and other diseases that spread quickly. The spread of Covid-19 or other diseases such as dengue fever can be rapidly monitored, thereby contributing to the handling and managing it. “We will continue to maintain this application until December, but we greatly hope that Covid-19 will be over by then,” she concluded.