Blockchain in the age of global pandemic
Weeks ago we wrote about the anniversary of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and before that, the tenth anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, and about how little has changed in our lives in how we respond to disaster.
Well now, the global COVID -19 pandemic is exposing again how ill prepared we are for any of this, how incapable governments are either by accident or design to cooperate and share information, how little direction and leadership exist in central authorities, and how important it is for us to find new methods to stay ready, discover holes, manage immediate situations… and heal and rebuild.
Many will say we are too in the thick of it now to be talking about better ways to document and analyze it. But we are producing data daily that should be compiled for review and to speed action. If you want to archive this article to digest later, that’s fine. But blockchain technology exists to solve a lot of these issues.
RECOGNITION OF THE PROBLEM. With medical records in the blockchain, instead of in separate files at medical offices or hospital systems, a blockchain Application Programming Interface (API) could be written to easily ingest patient data and prescription data from a wide variety of locations that would trigger alerts long before human beings could identify trends. Records would remain confidential, with greater patient safety than exists today. But essential information would be shared to distinguish an alarming outbreak from something more innocent. This should be a requirement for any nation that wishes to trade with any other. You want to move goods, make deals, the blockchain gets your medical data. No more secrets that imperil the world.
KEEPING TRACK OF SUPPLIES. Any items that could be beneficial in the testing and treatment of sick people, or in protecting medical professionals, would be code identified and geo-located. The blockchain can already tell me where my salmon dinner came from. Certainly we can prioritize knowing where masks, gowns, ventilators, floating hospitals, and other essential equipment can be accessed, at any point in the existing supply chain. And private businesses with the ability to transition to manufacturing needed medical supplies (such as sanitizer instead of perfume) could be code identified and their efforts immediately put into service to save the world. It is insanity that local state governors are going to Google to hunt for masks. This information needs to be decentralized and transparent.
HEALTH WORKERS. Just as a hurricane creates an immediate and present need in a defined location, this pandemic is not hitting everywhere all at once. Just in the U.S., we had Seattle. California. Upstate NY, Etc. We need a database of care workers who are healthy and available. We need to be able to sort that information by location and specialty, and we need to be able to do it before we know we need to do it. The same way a blockchain smart contract can authenticate identity and prove you are who you are, it can prove you live where you live and know what you know. The world is waking up to how tireless, generous, and dedicated our health workers are. We need to keep better tabs on them so we can better deploy them with minimal strain and minimal risk to their health.
FINANCIAL AID. We have written previously about ways that blockchain technology can do a far better job of whisking aid to areas where it is needed through better authentication, minimal waste and theft, and a reduction in red tape. Straight from account to account. Just as we don’t want to discover a warehouse full of untouched two-year old relief supplies, as was recently discovered in Puerto Rico, we don’t want people out of work and reeling to be wondering how and when they will get help. People will debate the wisdom of the government cutting checks to individuals to help with rent and other immediate needs. But if they are sending us money, why not have the ability for them to deposit it immediately in our digital accounts?
BETTER DOCUMENTATION. Does anyone believe we are adequately documenting the response to this health crisis? Does anyone believe it is the last time humanity faces something like this? We need better documentation. It has to happen, without reliance on human beings to decide to do it. The only way to learn is to have all the data.
If all this sounds like a lot to organize, working across multiple ways of tracking and archiving information, understand that we already know how to make all these different databases interoperable. It has been the passion of many blockchain technology companies to solve these problems for individuals, businesses, health professionals, and governments, even before the pandemic hit us. We can save time, save money, provide better care, and provide better learning with blockchain. More than ever, it is critical that we begin immediately.
One final word or two on sharing data. Just as viruses don’t recognize borders, neither should information on how to fight them. Even short of blockchain sharing, we need information and data from everyone. Already, central authorities worldwide have been late with information. They’ve shaded the truth. Pointed fingers. And built layers of false or questionable hope. The last thing we need is for others suffering though this around the world to cut us off from anything they have experienced or have learned because of insults or blame shifting. We have already seen avenues of communication go dry. Hopefully there are platforms where the doctors, scientists, and researchers share and communicate globally, under the radar that mostly picks up signals from the proud and mighty. If there are those with any influence over our officials who also possess a conscience and a spine, they need to step up for the sake of our health. It is not a little thing, this name calling. It has to stop.
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