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May 27, 2020
Johns Hopkins Releases Comprehensive Report on Digital Contact Tracing to Aid COVID-19 Response.
Leading global experts contributed to the report, offering clear guidance and recommendations on ethics and governance as digital technologies fight the pandemic.
BALTIMORE, May 26, 2020 — Johns Hopkins University has released a comprehensive report on the use of digital contact tracing technologies (DCTT), including smartphone apps and other tools, to fight COVID-19. The paper would help the government, technology developers, businesses, institutional leaders, and the public make responsible decisions.
‘Digital Contact Tracing for Pandemic Response’ is a report led by the Berman Institute for Bioethics in collaboration with the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins, as well as leading experts worldwide. The report highlights the ethical, legal, policy, and governance issues that the world must address as it develops and implements DCTT. The report’s primary conclusions and recommendations advise that privacy should not outweigh public health goals and other values. Big technology companies should not unilaterally set terms when such broad public interests are at stake. And decisions about the technology and its uses are updated continuously as new information becomes available.
As officials in many countries strive to find a balance between respecting civil liberties and controlling the pandemic, the report offers clear, well-supported guidance for leaders as they consider deployment and use of these technologies and the data they collect, store and share.
“As we move forward, we must strike a balance between privacy and values like equity, choice, economic well-being, and solidarity,” said Jeffrey Kahn, Ph.D., MPH, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute for Bioethics. “Too much emphasis on privacy could severely limit the ability to gather the information that is critical for effective and efficient contact tracing to help beat the pandemic. And so the full range of interests and values of the public must drive this conversation, and not just those asserted by tech companies.”
The report makes numerous recommendations, including:
- Technology design should not be static. There is no “one size fits all” approach. The design should be capable of evolving depending upon local conditions, new evidence, and changing preferences and priorities.
- Technology companies alone should not control the terms, conditions, or capabilities of DCTT. Nor should they presume to know what is acceptable to members of the public.
- Design the DCTT to have a base set of features that protect privacy, with layers of additional capabilities that users can choose to activate. A default should be that user location data are not shared. Still, users should be provided with natural mechanisms and prompt to allow for opting-in to this capability, especially if opting-in is critical to achieving public health goals.
- Make the De-identified data collected through DCTT available to public health professionals and researchers to support population-level studies and analyses.
- Those who authorize the use of DCTT within a particular jurisdiction or institution should continuously and systematically monitor the technology’s performance. The monitoring should include monitoring for effectiveness and benefit, monitoring for harms, and monitoring for the fair distribution of both benefits and harms.
- Governments should not require mandatory use of DCTT, given the uncertainty about potential burdens and benefits. New technology, user, and real-world testing are needed.
- Congress should enact legislation specifically tailored to the use of DCTT as part of the response to COVID-19, which would facilitate the use of DCTT to promote the public health response while protecting citizens.
“In this time of COVID-19, digital technologies have an unprecedented capacity to accelerate and improve the way the world responds to infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics,” said Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels. “The digital contact tracing technologies represent a great opportunity. They also present significant ethical, legal, and governance concerns. I’m grateful to the Berman Institute of Bioethics for leading this effort and galvanizing some of the nation’s and the world’s foremost leaders on these issues to share their knowledge on this complex and timely set of issues.”
The report is the result of rapid research and expert consensus effort led by a group of leaders in bioethics, health security, public health, technology, engineering, public policy, and law.
Source: Johns Hopkins University
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 1:54 PM | View the original post
John Jay College Senior Students Balance Front-Line Work with Education Demands
NEW YORK, May 26, 2020 — John Jay students, many who live and work in communities of color hit hardest by Covid-19, are also on the front-lines. Their stories of studying while saving lives and keeping New Yorkers safe are inspiring examples of sacrifice and resilience.
Rosa Jimenez is an Emergency Medical Technician working in the Bronx, the borough with the highest infection and mortality rates in New York City. While studying full time in her senior year at John Jay, Jimenez has seen firsthand how the virus is impacting families, communities, and medical professionals.
“I’ve seen so many doctors and nurses end up with Covid-19. It concerns when you look at the patient’s chart and recognize the name,” says Jimenez.
Between shifts, Jimenez studies for finals. It’s her last semester, and she’s not letting the coronavirus or the change to distance learning stop her momentum.
Estefania Solis, a transfer student from Panama, is a Presidential Intern at John Jay and a member of the National Guard. When Covid-19 spread across New York City, Estefania’s life rapidly transformed from that of a typical student attending class and an internship to that of an active duty National Guard member contributing to a critical mission.
“My community has been affected. Some friends have had to fly back to their home countries and struggle with financial hardships. Others lost their job. Many have gotten sick. I am grateful I have the chance to help and not stay at home.”
The virus has altered all of her current plans, from summer job opportunities to her coursework. Balancing the internship, the National Guard, and her college work was initially overwhelming, and Solis thought she wouldn’t be able to complete her classes. But her professors stepped up and worked with her to make sure she finishes the semester and doesn’t lose momentum towards graduation.
Matthew Hart plans to graduate this summer, taking six courses this semester to keep on schedule. He is also serving in the National Guard at Covid-19 testing sites and food distribution centers.
“Juggle is tough. There are times when you want to sleep, but then you remind yourself that you have to get your homework done.”
Despite the struggle, Hart tries to keep a positive attitude and is committed to finishing his undergraduate education. He will start working on a master’s degree in the fall at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.
Graduate student Khalid Islam took a course at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and studied how Toronto handled a SARS outbreak. A few months later, he is using what he learned to keep the Emergency Medical Technicians and paramedics safe under his supervision. Khalid is an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Safety and Training Manager for the Mount Sinai Health System. He would receive his master’s degree this month. He has managed to balance his work, family obligations, and education in the shadow of a global pandemic.
According to John Jay College, all these students rose to the challenge these past few months, facing the danger of Covid-19 head-on while staying on the path to graduation. “Their commitment to public service and their communities centers them on a course to become tomorrow’s leaders,” the College said.
John Jay College would honor these students and their classmates from the Class of 2020 in a virtual celebration to mark the end of the semester on Wednesday, May 27. The ceremony will include pre-recorded remarks from special guests, including CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos RodrÃguez; Charles Schumer, United States Senate; Kathy Hochul, Lt. Governor; and Letitia James, NYS Attorney General, among others.
An international leader in educating for justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York offers a vibrant liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. John Jay is home to faculty and research centers at the forefront of advancing criminal and social justice reform. In teaching, scholarship, and research, the College engages the theme of justice and explores fundamental human desires for fairness, equality, and the rule of law.
Source: John Jay College of Criminal Justice
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 12:34 PM | View the original post
