An international team led by an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode student is pioneering a vital digital tool to fight the COVID-19 pandemic of misinformation. The website 'COVID FYI' (covidfyi.in) is a one-stop digital directory for all COVID-19 related services and help released by official sources.
The website aims to bring the right information from the right sources to the right people, as only official information from government organisations is put on this platform to ensure authenticity and credibility, a statement from IIM Kozhikode read.
The platform is for citizens, government organizations/institutions alike and provides authenticated information on - Authorised labs near you, Designated Hospitals, Grocery stores, Mental health, Emergency Helplines, Task Force team contact, Field Officers Contact, Emergency Doctors to call, Fever Clinics near you etc.
The additional features in the pipeline would enable the user to book appointments with doctors, schedule sample collections, find helpline for an emergency all while staying at home and maintaining social distancing, as advised, the statement added.
"This platform has not only successfully brought together multiple stakeholders but has also augmented efforts of good governance and implementation with the access to authenticated information in this age of misinformation and an hour of crisis," Prof Debashis Chatterjee, Director IIMK, said while appreciating the timely efforts of the team.
The core team of 16, led by Post Graduate Programme student of IIMK -Simran Soni, also consists of researchers, medical students and developers working tirelessly from countries like Germany, USA with the support of many more volunteers who assist them in timely updating of COVID FYI.
Elaborating further, Ms Soni, student of PGP 23 batch of IIMK, and Team Lead of the COVID FYI Project, added "Critical information like where to go, who to contact, what to do- is scattered across multiple websites and multiple forms. We felt the need to put this information at one place to make it more accessible, and have all types of emergency services for the people to avail at this hour of crisis."
The idea originated at coronathon.in (hackathon for COVID-19 India) and interestingly has been completed with zero funding.
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