Task force Covid-19
Using data to face the sanitary emergency
Creation
In March 2020, the Minister for Technological Innovation and Digitalization, in agreement with the Ministry of Health established a multidisciplinary group of experts dedicated to assessing and proposing data-driven technological solutions to manage the health, economic and social emergency related to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The task force is made up of 74 experts, chosen in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, and the World Health Organisation, and from members directly appointed by the Antitrust Authority, the Media Safeguards Authority, and the Data Protection Authority. The experts, who participate free of charge, have been appointed on the basis of proven experience in their respective fields. The task force is divided into eight subgroups, headed by eight coordinators.
Objectives
The task force was created to:
- Identify different data-driven technology solutions to support containment of the Covid-19 outbreak.
- Study and analyse data coming from Public Administrations and private subjects concerning the epidemiological emergency from COVID-19, in compliance with the privacy and security regulations in force. This is done with specific reference to the health, epidemiological and socio-economic aspects of Italian industrial production.
- Support public decision makers in operational and technological choices related to the Covid-19 emergency, carrying out study and analysis activities.
Activities
The task force has dealt with (section being updated):
- analysing the economic impact of the lockdown;
- identifying telemedicine solutions to counter COVID-19;
- evaluating the socio-economic impact of the lockdown, the variation of mobility in Italy, and analysing the perception of the COVID-19 phenomenon on the web;
- analysing and mapping databases of interest and interoperability levels in order to support public decision makers;
- analysing and evaluating tools for data-driven policies, leveraging big data analytics and artificial intelligence technologies;
- evaluating Covid-19 emergency monitoring and countermeasure apps;
Subgroups and composition
The Working Group is divided into eight subgroups and consists of:
Activities: supervises, co-ordinates and drives all the activities of the Working Group.
Members: Paolo De Rosa, Fidelia Cascini, Gualtiero Ricciardi.
Activities: analysis and mapping of the databases of interest and of the existing levels of interoperability; collection and consolidation of the data necessary to carry out the activities of the other Working Subgroups; systemisation and/or optimisation of regional health and administrative data flows, and management of interoperability for the creation of a digital exchange ecosystem with the application of BigData Analytics.
Members: Maria Claudia Bodino, Giorgia Lodi, Roberto Polli, Serena Battilomo, Pierluigi Cara, Stefania Garassino, Fabio Pammolli, Umberto Rosini, Stefano Calabrese, Armando Cirillo, Giovanni Baglio.
Activity: estimation of the impact of the COVID-19 emergency on Italian industrial production at a combined region-sector level and estimation of the direct and indirect impacts on public finance.
Members: Andrea Roventini, Giovanni Dosi, Alessandro Santoro, Alessandro Caiani, Mauro Napoletano, Giorgio Fagiolo, Mario Martina, Leonardo Ghezzi, Renato Paniccià, Massimiliano Gambardella.
Activity: development of innovative methods and statistical models for the study of the Covid19 emergency - economic and social impact, containment measures, etc. - based on the analysis of data from the web (Facebook, Twitter, Google, Chatbot and other AI-based systems, etc.), as well as the analysis and study of tools, methods, and models for the analysis of viral and information contagion and its socio-economic impact through data and network science techniques.
Members: Walter Quattrociocchi, Stefano Denicolai, Andrea Lacalamita.
Activity: identification of possible solutions offered by digital technologies to support home care both in the COVID-19 emergency phase and subsequently for teleassistance in normal conditions; evaluation, from the technological point of view and in terms of the effectiveness in helping patients and people at home, of the solutions proposed in the framework of the "Fast Call for technologies to combat the spread of COVID-19" promoted by the Minister for Technological Innovation and Digitisation, the Minister for Economic Development, the Minister for Universities and Research and the Minister for Health.
Members: Anna Ceccarelli, Valeria Proietti, Mariangela Contenti, Francesco Gabbrielli, Paolo Traverso, Rosanna Mariniello, Luciana Patrizi, Carla Ramella, Antonietta Cavallo, William Frascarelli.
Activity: identification of possible solutions offered by digital technologies for the management of the emergency and the containment of the contagion, also in the light of a comparative reconstruction of the solutions adopted in the EU and non-EU context (UK, Germany, Singapore, China and South Korea) and evaluation, from a technological point of view and in terms of impact, for the purposes of countering the spread of the contagion, of the solutions proposed in the context of the "Fast Call for technologies to counter the spread of Covid-19" promoted by the Minister for Technological Innovation and Digitalization, the Minister for Economic Development, the Minister for Universities and Research and the Minister for Health.
Members: Ciro Cattuto, Stefano Calabrese, Carlo Alberto Carnevale Maffè, Alfonso Fuggetta, Andrea Nicolini, Leonardo Favario, Umberto Rosini, Alberto Eugenio Tozzi, Francesca Bria, Simone Piunno.
Activities: analysis and study of methods and tools for the design and implementation of data-driven and evidence-based policies, exploiting innovative technologies for the collection and interpretation of large volumes of data (big data), as well as identifying possible solutions offered by digital technologies for the management of the emergency and the containment of the contagion, also in the light of a comparative reconstruction of the solutions adopted in the EU and non-EU context (UK, Germany, Singapore, China and South Korea).
Members: Dino Pedreschi, Francesca Chiaromonte, Luca Ferretti, Fosca Giannotti, Giovanni Rezza, Mauro Grigioni, Patrizio Pezzotti, Paolo Vineis, Marina Davoli, Stefano Merler, Serafino Sorrenti, Elio Mungo, Massimo Bernaschi.
Activities: analysis and mapping of the regulatory constraints for the use and sharing of personal data between public subjects and between private and public subjects; preparation of a strategy for the guarantee of fundamental rights and freedoms in the ordinary and emergency management of personal data, also through the reconnaissance and analysis of the strategies in place in European countries; verification of the compatibility of the technological tools being evaluated by the Working Subgroups 5) and 6) with the national system.
Members: Guido Scorza, Giovanni Comandè, Carlo Colapietro, Vincenzo Tiani, Marco Bassini, Antonio Iannuzzi, Guerino Oscar Massimo Fares, Fabrizio Urbani Neri, Ernesto Belisario, Simona Toscano.
Appointed members
The Working Group also includes representatives appointed:
- by the Authority for Communications Guarantees, Antonio Nicita and Marco Delmastro;
- by the Competition and Market Authority, Filippo Arena;
- by the Guarantor for the protection of personal data, Giuseppe Busia;
- from the Ministry of Health, Silvio Brusaferro and Ranieri Guerra.
- Public or private parties may be invited to participate in the group's activities in order to acquire information, opinions or proposals.