As people around the world deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone everywhere is asking one simple question: when will it end? A key component to answering this all-important question stems from having a more complete understanding of how the disease spreads. This is where contact tracing can play a huge role.

Just about everyone today has a mobile phone, so it makes sense to try to track the movement of these phones to understand the spread of COVID-19. The level of international collaboration is unprecedented, involving governments, health organizations, universities, and private companies. Silicon Valley giants like Google and Apple are leading efforts to develop a shared API that will automatically collect location data on mobile devices. The implications of knowing every person with whom any person has had contact are both enormously beneficial and enormously scary at the same time, but if it works, this contact tracing data could help provide a path back to normal.

Understandably, venture capital firms and startups are working hard (remotely, of course) to incorporate these APIs into existing and emerging apps — and to explore new opportunities in this space. Our panel will discuss the impact of universal adoption of this technology and several related hot-button issues, such as:

• What mechanisms are needed to ensure that this location data is not misused?
• Will people be willing to sacrifice some privacy to help stop the pandemic?
• How will companies and organizations be able to use this data once the crisis has ended?

Join us for our interactive online event on July 23 as we explore digital contact tracing together.

Moderator

Thomas C. Kingsley, Senior Associate Consultant, Mayo Clinic

Panelists

Ramesh Rasker, Founder, PathcheckMIT Safe Paths

Clint Van Marrewijk, Founder and CEO, SaferMe

Mohammad (Mo) Islam, Partner, Threshold Ventures

George Rutherford, Epidemiologist, UCSF