Germany is helping the UK develop its COVID-19 contact-tracing app, says ambassador
(2020/07/01)
- Reference: 1593602949
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/07/01/germany_helping_uk_contact_tracing_app/
- Source link:
Germany is helping the UK develop its new decentralised contact-tracing app, the country's ambassador Andreas Michaelis told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"Our experts are in touch with experts here in the UK, overseen by the two health ministries to see how they can move forward together, shoulder to shoulder," Michaelis said.
Speaking about Germany's domestic app, which uses the contact-tracing APIs offered by Apple and Google as part of iOS and Android, Michaelis simply said: "It works."
The ambassador also noted it had been downloaded more than 14 million times since it first became available on 16 June, and was the product of €20m in investment.
"If this can help the UK, we'd be very happy," Michaelis added.
Germany's contact-tracing app strategy has mirrored the UK's slightly, starting with a much-criticised centralised approach before pivoting to the decentralised frameworks offered by the two US tech giants.
But when it comes to deployment, Germany is leagues ahead of Britain, having successfully disseminated a working contact-tracing app throughout the population. In contrast, the UK is still months away from a functioning app, having only just ditched the centralised version [1]developed by NHSX in conjunction with US tech giant VMware .
Tests of the centralised app – which reportedly cost £11.8m to develop – on the Isle of White demonstrated [2]several fundamental operational flaws , mainly when it came to cross-platform Bluetooth connections between Android and iOS devices.
Compounding these were privacy concerns, with Commons Humans Rights Committee chair Harriet Harman [3]expressing worries about a lack of clearly defined governance as to how the data would be handled and used.
In the interim, the British government has been forced to adopt human-powered contact tracing, with contact centre workers manually identifying possible interactions between members of the public and those infected with COVID-19, and urging them to self-isolate. ®
Get our [4]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/12/vmware_tannzu_nhs_app/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/14/nhs_contact_tracing_app/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/20/uk_contact_tracing_protections/
[4] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
"Our experts are in touch with experts here in the UK, overseen by the two health ministries to see how they can move forward together, shoulder to shoulder," Michaelis said.
Speaking about Germany's domestic app, which uses the contact-tracing APIs offered by Apple and Google as part of iOS and Android, Michaelis simply said: "It works."
The ambassador also noted it had been downloaded more than 14 million times since it first became available on 16 June, and was the product of €20m in investment.
"If this can help the UK, we'd be very happy," Michaelis added.
Germany's contact-tracing app strategy has mirrored the UK's slightly, starting with a much-criticised centralised approach before pivoting to the decentralised frameworks offered by the two US tech giants.
But when it comes to deployment, Germany is leagues ahead of Britain, having successfully disseminated a working contact-tracing app throughout the population. In contrast, the UK is still months away from a functioning app, having only just ditched the centralised version [1]developed by NHSX in conjunction with US tech giant VMware .
Tests of the centralised app – which reportedly cost £11.8m to develop – on the Isle of White demonstrated [2]several fundamental operational flaws , mainly when it came to cross-platform Bluetooth connections between Android and iOS devices.
Compounding these were privacy concerns, with Commons Humans Rights Committee chair Harriet Harman [3]expressing worries about a lack of clearly defined governance as to how the data would be handled and used.
In the interim, the British government has been forced to adopt human-powered contact tracing, with contact centre workers manually identifying possible interactions between members of the public and those infected with COVID-19, and urging them to self-isolate. ®
Get our [4]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/12/vmware_tannzu_nhs_app/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/14/nhs_contact_tracing_app/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/20/uk_contact_tracing_protections/
[4] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: "In the interim, the British government has been forced to adopt human-powered contact tracing"
Chris G
I think everyone should be wearing a bio-hazmat suit and there should be a Hygiene Person at the entrance and exit of every office, shop, bus and at stations, where they can spray each individual with benzylkonium chloride. Unemployment will be a thing of the past.
"In the interim, the British government has been forced to adopt human-powered contact tracing"
At least this is keeping humans in a job!
(I am sure that will be the spin anyway)