May 18, 2022

Subscribe
Linkedin-in Twitter Facebook-f Youtube Instagram

Join our 7th Annual Singapore OpenGov Leadership Forum 17 - 20 May 2022 - Click here for more details

We are creating some awesome events for you. Kindly bear with us.

Malaysia Government next to launch app to monitor COVID-19 outbreak

Share via

Governments and private sector organisations have been continually developing and launching apps since the coronavirus outbreak with the aim of helping fight against the spread of COVID-19.

These apps provide services such as providing citizens COVID-19 updates, situation reports, enabling them to make health risk assessments and to be used as a tracker of the spread of the disease throughout the country as well as documenting the rate and numbers of infected.

MySejahtera – Malaysia’s COVID-19 Government app

Malaysia is the next country to just recently launched their own government COVID-19 app.

MySejahtera is an application developed by the Government of Malaysia to assist in monitoring COVID-19 outbreak in the country by anabling users to assess their health risk against COVID-19.

The app was developed through a strategic collaboration between the National Security Council, Ministry of Health, MAMPU – Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

The MySejahtera app enables users to make self-assessments on their health, locate nearby testing hospitals and clinics, and get information on what to do if they do contract COVID-19 and where to get treatment.

The app will also help the Ministry of Health monitor the virus spread and act as a detector for trends in the outbreak.

The app’s self-assessment asks whether users have COVID-19 symptoms. Users can also check in to the app and share their location or a photo with the relevant government agencies.

It also provides useful information for citizens such as the COVID-19 hotline number as well as a Virtual Health Advisory that links users to medical video-consultation platform, Doctor On Call.

How to access the app

Registration cannot be done on the app itself. To register, users need to go to the app’s website and provide a phone number or email address to get a one-time login. Once registered, users can then complete their profile on the app.

It is available on the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Huawei AppGallery and the government’s own mobile app gallery – Gamma. It supports devices using Android 4.4 or iOS 11 and newer.

As reported by OpenGov many governments are still hoping to launch apps with the functionality of contact tracing.

Countries Looking to Launch Contract Tracing App as Soon as Possible

Malaysia
According to the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin, Malaysia is currently preparing a smartphone application to track citizen movements.

Australia
The federal government in Australia launched a COVID-19 app last weekend, without contact tracing functionality, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that they are working on this capability.

UK
The National Health Service in the UK is in talks to roll out a smartphone app that instantly traces close contacts of people carrying the coronavirus and advises them to self-isolate. The app, developed by NHSX – the health service’s digital transformation body along with academic and industry partners is in advanced stages of evaluation and they are hoping to deploy within weeks.

Germany
Germany also hopes to launch a smartphone app within weeks to help trace coronavirus infections, with the aim of adopting an approach similar to that of Singapore, an effective app that does not invade people’s privacy or break European privacy laws.

With digital contact tracing becoming a more important priority to the government, as well as being an integral part of the government strategy to combat this pandemic, these smartphone apps could lead to a substantial number of lives being saved and critical to protecting public safety.

Tamil Nadu, India Launches AI-Driven Safety Project for Public Transport

Share via

The Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu recently launched an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled panic button and CCTV surveillance project to make travel safer. The initiative will be implemented in phases, aiming to cover 2,500 buses in Chennai city. Under the first phase, 500 buses in the metro city have installed four panic buttons, an AI-enabled mobile network video recorder (MNVR), and three cameras each.

According to a report by the government’s AI portal, the MNVR will be connected to a cloud-based control centre via a 4G GSM SIM card. In case of inconvenience, discomfort, or threat, passengers will be able to press the panic button and record the incident. At the same time, an alarm will go off at the control centre along with a video recording of the incident on the bus. The operator at the control centre will be able to monitor the situation and facilitate, in real-time, the next course of action, the report said.

The control centre has been linked to the distress response centre of the city police and Greater Chennai Corporation. The state government has noted that 31 bus depots and 35 bus terminuses of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) have been brought under surveillance. The project will also help detect missing persons and identify criminals and other works of the GCC, transport department, and the police.

Other states across the country have also deployed technology-enabled solutions to better monitor traffic. In April, the Ministry of Electronics and Information developed and launched indigenous onboard driver assistance and warning system (ODAWS), a bus signal priority system, and a Common Smart IoT Connectiv (CoSMiC) software to improve road safety.

ODAWS uses sensors to monitor driver propensity and vehicle surroundings and send out acoustic and visual alerts. The ODAWS algorithm is used to interpret sensor data and offer real-time notifications to the driver. The bus signal priority system is an operational strategy that modifies normal traffic signal operations to better accommodate in-service public buses at signal-controlled intersections.

CoSMiC is middleware software that provides the standard-based deployment of the Internet of things (IoT), which follows the oneM2M-based global standard. It facilitates users and application service providers in vertical domains to use application-agnostic open standards and interfaces for end-to-end communication with well-defined common service functionalities. The CoSMiC common service layer is used to interface with any vendor-specific standards and to increase interoperability with smart city dashboards.

More recently, the Kerala state government announced it would deploy AI-based cameras on traffic-heavy roads in a bid to reduce accidents by half within the next two years. As OpenGov Asia reported, the government expects traffic rules to be more effectively enforced after the software is put in place, as it automates detecting road violations and issuing fines. Once the system captures the breach of the road rules, the footage will be sent to the central government’s server. The vehicle owner will receive an SMS regarding the fine, and, at the same time, the information will directly be sent to court. This will reduce corruption as it limits local authorities from waiving the penalty.

Philadelphia Extends PHLConnectED, Digital Skill-Building

Share via

The City of Philadelphia has announced that PHLConnectED will continue until July 2023 to provide pre-K–12 families with free internet access and has selected grantees to encourage the development of digital skills among pre-K–12 caregivers. PHLConnectED is the city’s initiative to provide free and reliable internet access and is one of the key priorities for sustaining crucial digital equity programmes of the Philadelphia Digital Equity Plan.

The programme in its third year will focus on two key priorities: continuing to connect Philadelphia pre-K–12 families in need to free internet access through Comcast’s Internet Essentials or a T-Mobile hotspot and providing resources for digital skill-building.

To date, PHLConnectED has enabled more than 21,000 internet connections, facilitating educational opportunities and access to valuable information for students and their families. We encourage families and residents in need of internet access to dial 2-1-1 so we can help them overcome the digital divide

– Jim Kenney, Mayor, City of Philadelphia

In its start in the summer of 2020, PHLConnectED prioritised providing free internet connection for students to engage in online learning during the pandemic. The city recognises that internet connection is crucial for students to participate in their education, regardless of their location.

However, having access to devices and the internet is insufficient. People must understand how to use them. Digital literacy is the ability to use digital technology for living, learning, and working. The epidemic underlined the need for caregivers to possess digital skills in order to assist their pupils in school.

The focus of PHLConnectED’s digital skill-building efforts is on pre-K–12 educators in an effort to close the homework gap and strengthen educational assistance for kids. With this in mind, two grants were launched to fund organisations to help caregivers build their digital skills.

The Caregiver Digital Literacy Initiative Grant required organisations to construct a regular schedule of digital skills sessions for any pre-K–12 caregivers or family members to improve their skills to better support their kids.

The School-Based Caregiver Digital Supports Grant provides funds for school-based programmes that assist caregivers in gaining a better understanding of and proficiency with regularly used digital technologies within the school community.

As dependable communicators and easily accessible resources for caregivers, schools and community-based organisations are essential to the work of PHLConnectED in Philadelphia. The city agreed that schools and community organisations can provide people with the digital literacy skills they need to support their children’s education, communicate with schools, and participate actively in their education.

While Philadelphia has been working on digital equity for more than fifteen years, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated additional resources and a thorough strategic plan. Through working from home, virtual learning, telehealth, and other applications, technology became an integral component of daily life for residents. 

In the next five years, the Digital Equity Plan aims to assist Philadelphia to achieve a baseline level of digital equity. Internet access, digital devices, and digital literacy are the three pillars of digital equity.

Philadelphia will continue to promote digital equity as part of its digital equity efforts. Three specific targets that will help the city achieve its objectives are 1) Funding programmes in Philadelphia that promote digital equity, such as PHLConnectED, Digital Navigators, public computing facilities, and digital literacy classes; 2) Engaging with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania regarding Philadelphia’s digital equality needs, particularly in terms of federal funding distribution; and 3) Forming public-private partnerships that encourage businesses and organisations to participate in digital equity and showcasing how bridging the digital divide would benefit the entire city of Philadelphia.

Singapore UTD’s M2E Device Offers Cheap Cancer Treatment

Medical Records Technology with a vitruvian man over a background of digital binary code as a health care symbol of electronic data storage at a central server network available in the cloud for a hospital or clinic patient convenience.
Share via

Researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) have invented a microsize-gap multiple-shot electroporation (M2E) device that has the potential to increase the efficiency with which cancer treatment is offered at a cheaper cost. The researchers came to the conclusion that the instrument would benefit from having transparent electrodes installed in it so that it could better visualise anti-cancer medications.

According to Desmond Loke, an assistant professor at SUTD and the primary investigator of this research, the scientific community wants to create a simple, low-cost cancer treatment system. “The narrow gap between electrodes allows us to achieve a sufficiently strong electric field using a few volts rather than several tens of volts applied in traditional electroporation.”

Assistant Prof. Loke revealed that the device that was built by SUTD did not require any specialised components, expensive materials, or a tedious fabrication process. He stated that this was one of the most important aspects of the device.

The M2E device, which is connected to the development of cancer treatments, was put through its paces by researchers utilising a variety of substances. Because of this new technology, cancer cells can now display a two-hour window in which they are able to take in chemicals.

The time frame offered by conventional electroporation equipment is approximately 400% shorter than what is supplied. In addition to that, it may be utilised more than once. According to the results of the study, the M2E system has the potential to be beneficial in the treatment of COVID-19 when combined with associated drugs.

Electroporation is a technique that involves the application of a very weak electric pulse to cells in order to momentarily create holes in the membranes of such cells. The goal of this technique is to transfer genetic material across cells. The goal of using this method is to facilitate the movement of chemicals into and out of the cells.

This method has the potential to increase the likelihood of drug delivery for the treatment of cancer patients. The chemotherapy and radiation therapies for cancer can be administered through these holes if they are large enough. It is possible that the effectiveness of cancer treatments, as well as patients’ access to those treatments, could be improved through the integration of electroporation into treatment protocols.

This contrasts with how electroporation was traditionally performed, in which several tens of volts were applied. This low voltage, together with the transparent electrode, serves to minimise energy use and facilitate visibility, avoiding dangerous drug use and restricted imaging of drug transport during drug testing, both frequent concerns with conventional electroporation devices. Low voltage also prevents dangerous drug use.

In addition, the permeability of tumour cells can be improved through the utilisation of electroporation in the treatment paradigm of electrochemotherapy to achieve the desired outcomes. Because of this, the cancer cells can more effectively absorb chemotherapy drugs like bleomycin and cisplatin.

After the researchers have finished working on ways to improve the M2E system, they anticipate that it will be a few years before the device finishes the clinical study and is ready for widespread use. The M2E technology has the potential to pave the way for much-enhanced delivery of cancer medicines and a more uniform distribution of cancer treatments to under-resourced and underserved places all over the world.

HKUST Makes Breakthroughs in Early Diagnostics and Gene Therapy Tech

Image Credits: HKUST, Press Release
Share via

Researchers at the Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (HKCeND), founded by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), have made promising breakthroughs in the early diagnosis and therapeutic treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that have the potential to transform disease management.

The team has established advanced biomarker discovery platforms, identified new blood-based biomarkers, and created an innovative artificial intelligence-based scoring system that enables risk prediction, early detection, and classification of AD. Furthermore, the team has successfully developed a gene therapy strategy as a novel therapeutic treatment for AD.

Established in 2020 with initial funding of HK$ 500 million from the Hong Kong government’s InnoHK Clusters initiative, HKCeND aims to be the world’s leading research centre focused on neurodegenerative diseases. A multi-disciplinary team of prominent scientists are engaged in cutting-edge research aimed at developing novel biomarkers and identifying therapeutic targets and systemic factors to treat neurodegenerative diseases.

AD, the most common form of dementia, is a devastating and incurable neurodegenerative disease that affects more than 50 million people globally. Treating AD remains a significant challenge since there are no objective diagnostic methods and patients are only diagnosed when the disease is at an advanced stage. Given that disease onset is at least 10 -20 years before the appearance of symptoms, early diagnosis of AD is the key to effective treatment.

The early detection of AD, when it manifests as mild cognitive impairment or early dementia, would enable timely management/therapeutic intervention resulting in improved outcomes. Biomarkers associated with the early stages of AD have been found to have important applications in early diagnosis.

HKCeND researchers have extensive expertise in biomarker research. Previous achievements include conducting the first whole-genome sequencing study of AD in the Chinese population and establishing the first comprehensive Chinese AD genetic database, resulting in the identification of AD genetic risk factors. These accomplishments have led to the development and establishment of novel and robust biomarker platforms at the HKCeND.

Furthermore, by leveraging their genetic studies on Chinese AD patients and utilizing AI tools, the team has developed the first deep learning-based polygenic risk scoring system that enables the objective assessment of AD risk.

The team has also identified blood-based protein biomarkers and is developing a customized panel of AD blood protein biomarkers that can accurately classify patients with AD and evaluate disease status from a single drop of blood. This technology can be applied towards developing a clinical tool to efficiently and effectively diagnose AD at an early stage and for disease stratification.

Given the clinical value of such tests, the team is actively pursuing commercialization opportunities with strategic industry partners.

Concurrent to their biomarker research, the HKCeND team is also focusing on developing new therapeutic approaches for AD, in particular, gene therapy. Gene therapy has not been considered a promising therapeutic approach for brain diseases such as AD due to the lack of an effective and non-invasive delivery tool capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier.

Recently, the team generated the first engineered delivery vehicle and demonstrated its ability to not only effectively cross the blood-brain barrier but also deliver a genome-editing tool to the entire brain through a single non-invasive intravenous administration. Using this system, the team successfully disrupted AD-associated mutations and alleviated AD pathologies in the entire brain of AD mouse models. This work is an important milestone in the development of new disease-modifying therapies.

The team is confident that the Center will play a leading role in advancing research in neurodegenerative diseases, from talent development to conducting world-class research, to accelerate the development of precision diagnosis and medicine that will benefit millions of people globally.

The research work of the Center is led by eminent scientists and brings together more than 60 researchers from all over the world. The Center is looking for research talent to join the fast-growing team and is committed to nurturing a new generation of innovation and technology (I&T) talent.

Indonesia to End Analogue Broadcasting by November 2022

Telecommunications mobile phone base station radio tower with engineers in industrial concept background vector
Share via

The Ministry of Communication and Information of Indonesia will take advantage of its internet connectivity to drive the development of the country’s digital ecosystem with the aim of creating more opportunities to promote the expansion of its digital economy.

Philip Gobang, Special Staff to the Minister of Communication and Information for Political Communication is ensuring that the proposed stages of implementing the Analogue Switch Off (ASO) run according to the government’s plan for 2022. He acknowledged that the migration of analogue broadcasts to a digital one offers many benefits for the community and the country. “The benefits we will get from the migration of analogue TV to digital TV are related to the internet and more integrated economic activities.”

He added by utilising access to internet services, various creative ideas can be generated for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) businesses that can avail the opportunities and convenience to access a larger market by using the internet.

According to Gobang, the sooner people migrate to digital television, the more available the radio frequency spectrum will be for internet services. The spectrum that was previously reserved for analogue broadcasts can now be utilised to promote the digital economy. The Ministry of Communication and Informatics will continue to provide stimulus to the public so that the benefits of the ASO program can decrease the digital gap among the localities.

The so-called digital dividend, which is derived through the transfer of analogue TV transmissions to digital, is also an economic advantage for society. This boosts the digital economy’s growth all the more.

Since people were accessing and using internet services more frequently during the pandemic, digital economic growth grew every year. The ASO Programme, which is expected to be completed on 02 November 2022, will result in frequency savings that can be used as a digital dividend for cellular telecommunications services.

Digital TV broadcasting also creates a lot of job opportunities, as well as the formation of innovative firms that take advantage of the increasingly open digital arena, while the general people may enjoy digital broadcasts with a bigger network, faster access, and clearer picture.

Analogue TV Blank Spot Areas Will Be Reached by Digital TV Broadcasts

Meanwhile, Nursodik Gunarjo, Director of Media Management, Directorate General of Information and Public Communication (IKP), Ministry of Communication and Information announced that the digital TV broadcasts would reach the areas with “blank spots” or those places that TV transmissions have not filled.

According to Nursodik, the blank spot is caused by analogue TV broadcast technology’s inability to reach locations with varying geographical circumstances, such as the eastern part of Indonesia, particularly Papua, resulting in limited broadcast coverage.

As a result, after the ASO programme is implemented, the government, through its broadcasting institution has assured to establish digital TV broadcast network infrastructure in the leading, outermost, and underdeveloped areas, including the blank spots.

TVRI, the main national public television channel owned by the Republic of Indonesia plans to develop a network over the next two years so that the 226 blank spot regions can receive digital TV broadcasts.

The rise of community creativity in developing good and creative TV material with local expertise is also projected to be triggered by digital TV broadcasts. It will provide innovative content from local communities as digital TV broadcasts develop, and ASO hopes to decrease the challenges of TV broadcasting in Indonesia’s remote districts.

The first step of the transition from analogue to digital television transmission in Indonesia began in April of this year, with the second phase projected to be completed by August and is expected to finish before 2022 ends.

Vietnam Social Security Uses IT to Connect Insurance, Population Databases

Share via

Digital transformation efforts by the Vietnam Social Security (VSS) have helped provide chip-based ID cards for health insurance at more than 4,000 medical facilities across the country. Over the years, VSS has improved its operational efficiency through IT applications to cater to 88 million people with health insurance. According to the Vice Director of VSS’s Information Technology Centre, VSS has been developing a national insurance database, while also sharing population data.

After the national population database was put into operation, VSS connected with the system and has been working with the Ministry of Public Security to link the demographic information. So far, the system has identified about 40 million people, the Vice Director stated. VSS has provided social and health insurance information for more than 21 million people to the national population database. VSS will continue to synchronise its data with the national population database to form a complete connection between insurance and population data.

The work is scheduled for completion by the end of 2022. In February, the Ministry of Health asked the health departments of localities and medical facilities across the country to pilot the use of chip-based ID cards for health check-ups and treatment services covered by health insurance. On 1 March, VSS started to implement the scheme in all of its branches nationwide.

The state aims to build an e-government, hoping to digitally transform its key operations, under the national digital transformation programme approved in 2020. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) issued electronic identification (eID) codes for its agencies and units. As reported by OpenGov Asia, the ministry gets the eID Level 1 code and the advisory units (the office, inspectorate, and authorities of the ministry) are issued Level 2 codes. Level 3 is for its departments and their subordinate centres, and Level 4 is for the Institute of Post and Telecommunications Technology and its subordinate units.

MIC has already launched a national data exchange platform (NDXP) to help connect, integrate, and share data among ministries, sectors, and localities nationwide. All 22 ministries, ministry-level agencies, and 63 provinces and cities are now connected with the NDXP. In the first quarter of 2022, more than 134.5 million transactions were made on the NDXP, surging 24-fold from a year earlier, according to MIC.

Furthermore, the National Committee on Digital Transformation has approved a plan to increase the rate of online public services to 80%, the rate of administrative procedures dossiers processed online to 50%, and the rate of digitisation of dossiers and results of administrative procedures to 100%. Also, it will increase the rate of reports made online by state administrative agencies to 50% as well as the rate of state agencies providing full open data by category to 50%. There are 18 tasks assigned to the committee’s members, which include universalising smartphones, electronic identities, and broadband fibre optic cables. The committee will enhance network information safety and security, develop electronic health records, support online teaching, and digitally transform small and medium-sized enterprises.

UniSA Develops First-iIn-Human Trial for Aggressive Brain Tumours

Share via

A novel technology designed to precisely image aggressive brain cancers and guide treatment is being developed by the University of South Australia and an Australian cancer diagnostic company potentially helping thousands of people who are diagnosed with the deadly condition each year. The new MRI nanotechnology targets a specific marker that is found in more than 90% of solid tumours, including high-grade brain cancers.

Already yielding promising preclinical results in a prostate cancer model, the new MRI technology has the potential to have a significant impact on aggressive brain cancers. The new funding will progress the technology towards a first-in-human trial.

UniSA’s Dr Nicole Dmochowska will lead the research, supported by a REDI Fellowship, announced recently. Dr Dmochowska says there is a critical need for better imaging of high-grade brain tumours. She noted that the prognosis for high-grade brain tumours such as glioblastoma remains abysmal, so new technologies that can potentially enable more precise targeting of tumours must be progressed.

The REDI Fellowship program provides financial support to companies in the medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals (MTP) sector to bring researchers, clinicians and MTP professionals in-house for up to twelve months to work on priority medical research projects.

This research will advance a cutting-edge imaging technology developed in collaboration with the partnering company and with the support of the NeuroSurgical Research Foundation designed to more accurately image and, therefore, treat brain tumours with no additional neurotoxicity.

Dr Hien Le, a radiation oncologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and one of the Chief Investigators in the seed funding for this work, says the research has the potential to advance cancer treatments. “As someone who specialises in the management of brain cancer, I understand the importance of accurate tumour delineation.”

It was noted that better imaging means the tumour target can be more confidently defined, precise treatment delivery can be facilitated, whilst damage to normal healthy tissues can be minimised. In 2021, there were 1896 new diagnoses of brain cancer (1191 males and 725 females). Glioblastoma is the most common brain malignancy with a five-year survival rate of only 5%.

The R&D Manager at the company stated that the research will streamline preclinical validations for the technology for brain tumours, in preparation for a phase 1 ‘first-in-human’ clinical trial. She noted that the company is determined to transform the precision of cancer imaging, surgery and therapy to ensure that everyone diagnosed with cancer is given the best possible care.

The new technology builds on the firm’s cancer staging technology FerroTrace currently undergoing clinical trials in several cancer types. By bringing together the best minds in chemistry, bioengineering and oncology, the firm is continuing to push the boundaries to help make sure no one dies unnecessarily because the cancer was missed.

The global cancer diagnostics market size was valued at us$ 168 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach us$ 280 billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of 6.9% from 2021 to 2028. Cancer diagnostics is a method of identifying different biomarkers, proteins, and some signs that lead to the identification of the presence of a cancerous tumour.

Efficient diagnostic testing is used to validate or rule out the existence of illness, monitor the progression of the disease, and schedule and review treatment outcomes. Diagnostic procedures for cancer may include imaging, tumour biopsy, laboratory tests (including tests for tumour markers), endoscopic examination, surgery or genetic testing.

Nationwide lockdown, government regulations, and continuous increase in infection rates across countries created a widespread financial impact on neurology hospitals and clinics.

Recommended Stories

Linkedin-in Twitter Facebook-f Youtube Instagram

© 2022 OpenGov Asia – CIO Network Pte Ltd.

Send this to a friend