Introducing the Open Source Africa COVID-19 Response Toolkit
We’re excited to announce the release of the Africa COVID-19 Response Toolkit (ACRT), a set of open-source projects hosted on GitHub developed by an international group of volunteer software engineers, designers, and PMs that allow any government or public entity to get up and running with a software toolset to respond to COVID-19.
The Toolkit currently includes 10 core projects, 8 of which are stand-alone products (details on each project can be found below).
The initial volunteers for this effort were, and still are to a large extent, Ethiopian professionals from all around that globe that set out to help the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and health sector capture COVID-19 case information efficiently, effectively, and safely. These modules are designed to complement existing reporting tools, specifically with the African context in mind. These components are open-source so that they can be leveraged by any municipality and response teams across Africa.
ACRT is intended to be used primarily by government entities and organizations that serve the public and that do not already have existing solutions for each project. Each project can be used independently, with the exception of a few that rely on the core API project to serve as the data store.
Products:
- Internal Dashboard: Internal dashboard for officials to get real-time data and updates on COVID-19 on surveillance, case tracking, and monitoring.
- Surveillance Forms: Online forms for reporting rumored COVID-19 cases.
- Bot Starter Kit: A basic template/starter kit for building a Messenger or Telegram bot integrated with the core ACRT API.
- Housing Vacancy Telegram Bot: A Telegram bot that allows housing officials/owners to report vacancy to a central source and allows health works/government officials to consume that information.
- Heroes Telegram Bot: A Telegram bot that allows frontline healthcare workers to log symptoms they are experiencing, get counseling, best practice information, logistical assistance and provide creative ways to destress.
- Awareness SMS: Node.js wrapper for Africa’s Talking SMS API. Allows government entities to send mass SMS to text the public critical COVID-19 related information.
- Awareness Website: A static public website that any government body can use to spread awareness about COVID-19 to their population.
- Emergency Relief Package Tracker: Web app that allows organizations to track and manage the distribution of emergency relief packages.
Infrastructure:
9. API: Core API for Africa COVID-19 Response Toolkit. Ingests and pushes data to Toolkit components.
10. AWS Infrastructure: AWS CloudFormation and Terraform templates to bootstrap AWS resources for ACRT projects.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the first supported hosting service; many of the projects require an AWS account, with more integrations coming soon.
Please reach out to acrt@ethiocovid19rt.com with any questions/feedback or requests! To start contributing, hop in and take up any open issue on the core projects here.
The Projects
1. Internal Dashboard
Internal dashboard for officials to get real-time data and updates on COVID-19 on surveillance, case tracking, and monitoring.
Creators & contributors:
Yohannes Ejigu, Helom Berhane, Yohannes Libanos, Robel Kassa, Tekle Ayele, Abel, Nati Abebe, Gedion Woldeselassie, Robel Tezera, M_Y
Features:
- Dashboard displays confirmed cases, hospitalizations, recoveries, and tested patients
- Interactive map with markers (via Google Maps API)
- Displays: table with cases by region, graph with cases by hour of day, etc, graph with cases by zone, graph with cases by travel history, charts with hospitalization status and outcome status
- Includes basic user login/password (authentication through Amazon Cognito)
- Configurable language toggle
- Surveillance map that displays unconfirmed cases
- Medical resource map that displays location of medical facilities and information around that (beds available, ICU beds, ventilators, masks, gloves, etc)
- Integrates with core ACRT API
- Tech stack: Vue.js, Node.js, JavaScript, Amazon Cognito, Google Maps
2. Surveillance Forms
Online forms for reporting rumored COVID-19 cases.
Creators & contributors:
Bef Ayenew, Anteneh Addis, Sole, Beakal Teshome, Ermias Bunaro, Menilik Belay, Eyosiyas Tadele
Features:
- Three available forms
- Community form — public can report rumored COVID-19
- Medical form — healthcare professionals can report rumored COVID-19
- Port of Entry (Passengers) form — public can self-report after arrival in a country
- Integrates with core ACRT API
- Uses Google reCaptcha
- Tech stack: React, MobX, JavaScript, Storybook
3. Bot Starter Kit
A basic template/starter kit for building a Messenger or Telegram bot integrated with the core Africa COVID-19 Response Toolkit (ACRT) API.
Creators & contributors:
Features:
- Built-in authentication (to ACRT API)
- Currently supports Facebook Messenger and Telegram
- Tech stack: Node.js, JavaScript
4. Housing Vacancy Bot
A Telegram bot that allows housing officials/owners to report vacancy to a central source and allows health works/government officials to consume that information.
Creators & contributors:
Features:
- Housing officials/owners can register through the Telegram bot
- Bot pings you every hour to ask for vacancy updates
- Tech stack: Node.js, JavaScript
5. Heroes Bot
A Telegram bot that allows frontline healthcare workers to log symptoms they are experiencing, get counseling, best practice information, logistical assistance and provide creative ways to distress.
Creators & contributors:
Features:
- Healthcare workers can register through the Telegram bot
- The data collected by the bot can be pushed to Google spreadsheet
- Tech stack: Node.js, JavaScript
6. Awareness SMS
Node.js wrapper for Africa’s Talking SMS API. Allows government entities to send mass SMS to text the public critical COVID-19 related information.
Creator:
Features:
- API allows you to enter array of phone numbers and a message
- Integrates with core ACRT API to push success/failure message delivery
- Tech stack: Node.js, JavaScript
7. Awareness Website
A static public website that any government body can use to spread awareness about COVID-19 to their population.
Creator:
Yoseph, Gedion Woldeselassie, Abel, Tigist
Features:
- Displays basic info about COVID-19
- How to protect yourself
- What to do if you are sick
- Link to public dashboard
- Tech stack: Vue.js, JavaScript
8. Emergency Relief Package Tracker
Web app that allows organizations to track and manage the distribution of emergency relief packages. Pick up and drop off can be logged via a mobile interface that captures your GPS location and plots that on a dashboard.
Creator:
Features:
- Volunteers can log donations via mobile site, which updates the dashboard.
- Ops dashboard shows where packages are
- Track goals and activities
- Allows orgs to show their impact
- People who want to donate, volunteers to pick up the materials, people who need the donations.
- Tech stack: React, PostgreSQL, Node.
9. API
Core API for Africa COVID-19 Response Toolkit. Ingests and pushes data to Toolkit components.
Creator:
Naod Yeheyes, Abel, Nati Abebe
Features:
- REST API via Serverless framework
- Integrated with Amazon DocumentDB, Amazon Cognito
- Pagination and filtering using query params
- Robust/flexible schema to support many different data structures
- Tech stack: Serverless, Amazon DocumentDB, Amazon Cognito
10. AWS Infrastructure
AWS CloudFormation and Terraform templates to bootstrap AWS resources for Africa COVID-19 Response Toolkit projects.
Creator:
Amanuel Mekonnen, Nati Abebe, Mike Shiferaw
Features:
- The infrastructure orchestration you need to run ACRT using your own AWS account
- ECRT Team
