Technology to advance infectious disease forecasting for outbreak management — Nature Communications

Getting staff and stuff — durable medical goods, pharmaceuticals, and all necessary materiel for patient care — to the right place at the right time is a challenge in responding to infectious disease outbreaks, and getting it right will mean the difference between life and death. Data science and advanced analytics have transformed several industries, but the government and public health are slow adopters. IQT’s biodefense-focused team, B.Next, has long been interested in understanding how technologies enabling data science and advanced analytics could transform outbreak responses. Infectious disease forecasting is a promising advanced analytical approach that has been progressively used to help guide aspects of recent outbreaks. In 2018, B.Next convened a group of experts to discuss the technology needs to advance infectious disease forecasting capabilities. This will help get the right stuff to the right place at the right time. This workshop resulted in a recent publication in Nature Communications that details key points from our workshop’s discussion.