Crucially, the sheer volume of reports also helped identify hitherto unknown symptoms, such as loss of sense of taste and smell, enabling medical staff greater insight into this new and serious disease. At a point in time when community testing was nowhere near as advanced as it is now, it helped shed light on the spread and prevalence of this disease that had shut down the world in communities across Britain. Ultimately, data will play a key role in finding the hoped-for tipping point where we can reopen our economy without overwhelming health services with a new spread of disease.Īt the start of the pandemic, just over a year ago, the Zoe Covid symptom-tracking app, developed by academics at King’s College London among others, was a surprise success, being used by thousands of users each day who voluntarily shared how they were feeling and whether they had tested positive for coronavirus. It is helping inform models and planning for when shops and restaurants can reopen, when it is deemed safe to restart indoor socialising and pack crowds into stadiums once more. Data about infection rates, hospitalisations and, sadly, deaths is driving decisions about everything from when to shut down and when to lift lockdown for governments worldwide. But what is becoming increasingly clear is the power of data when it is combined, and the role this is playing in tackling some of the biggest challenges facing humans and our planet.
We often talk about data in the singular: our individual personal data our unique digital footprint. If knowledge truly is power, then data is demonstrably the most valuable resource on earth.
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