Taking Digital Innovation into the Field of Infectious Diseases: The Case of SORMAS®

Abstract

Within the last several years the world has experienced outbreaks of infectious diseases across geographies in magnitudes of size and speed rarely seen before. People and governments worldwide have been impacted by these diseases, sometimes severely, and current processes used to track and trace infections were being seen as an impediment. As the Ebola outbreak was underway, governments were investigating ways to mitigate, control and reduce spreading of the disease. An objective was discussed and subsequently funded to determine if newer, mobile-based, technologies could positively impact processes and outcomes while increasing data accuracy during an event. This chapter describes how that objective was met through an innovative approach to managing infections at their source with mobile and real-time technologies identifying infections early in their cycle to contain and restrict them from becoming an outbreak, or worse, a pandemic. To address these challenges, several institutions jointly developed the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System—SORMAS®, field testing it in Nigeria during the summer of 2015 while the Ebola outbreak was still ongoing in West Africa. The proof-of-concept for SORMAS created new ways of tracing and tracking outbreaks in an integrated manner, while allowing field teams to monitor suspected cases in an effort to control the disease from spreading. The implication of using technology to transform processes, inform people and accelerate decision-making demonstrates, in this case study, the far reaching power of innovation and technology to save lives in countries where infrastructure and access to resources will remain a challenge for the foreseeable future.