Contact tracing app proving a tough sell

CANADIAN COMPANY SAYS AUTHORITIES NOT INTERESTED IN TECH DESIGNED TO HELP CONTAIN SPREAD OF COVID-19

The international consensus is growing: one of the keys to containing the COVID-19 pandemic and reviving a comatose world economy is a novel type of technology.

Daniel Leung says his mostly Canadian company, LivNao, has a ready-to-use version of the concept: a smartphone app designed to automatically identify those who have been in contact with infected people through Bluetooth and wireless methods and tell them to isolate themselves.

The idea was pioneered by Asian countries that have had success combating the virus, and now it’s being implemented across Europe with high-profile support from German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A recent Oxford University study concluded that the crucial task of contact tracing may be impossible without such programs.

But governments in this country have shown limited interest, says Leung, even as other Canadian researchers and entrepreneurs have moved to develop other apps.

Most provinces that LivNao contacted failed to respond. Leung has heard that B.C. is worried about the privacy-related optics of the idea; Ontario actually had a virtual meeting with the Vancouver-based startup, but did not seem in a great hurry to proceed, Leung said.

In desperation, LivNao added government links to its website, so that people can easily lobby governments to consider the idea.

“It’s a really annoying position to be in, knowing we have a solution that can work,” said Leung, who’s in talks with the U.S. federal health department, South Africa, Italy and Ecuador. “We just want people to use this kind of solution. It would be great if it was ours. But honestly it doesn’t matter; either way impact is going to be made.”

B.C., Ontario and federal health officials contacted by the National Post were unable to comment by deadline.

Another Canadian technology business, Toronto-based EQ Works, says it has spoken to provincial and federal officials about the concept and “it’s definitely a topic of conversation.”

But, said CEO Geoff Rotstein, “like any business trying to get something pushed, people always wish things would happen faster, things would happen sooner.”

Regardless, governments here should give the idea serious consideration, despite concerns raised by some privacy advocates, said Dr. Jeff Kwong, a public-health professor at the University of Toronto.