The role of real-time analytics during the pandemic

Within a short time since its emergence, Covid-19 has made a significant impact on the world, affecting jobs, communities, and the way we go about our daily lives.

Something that is proving to be an asset in the fight against the virus is data. It enables us to better understand Covid-19 across different areas, such as through identifying vulnerable populations based on historical factors or utilizing telecom data to track its spread.

Advancements in data analytics, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), have helped us use data more effectively during the pandemic.

Powering analytics with AI

In the medical research field, AI has helped analyze data around the virus itself. Baidu Research’s open-source AI platform was able to reduce the time needed to study Covid-19’s RNA sequence, enabling a deeper understanding of the virus that is necessary in vaccine creation.

AI has also helped scientists analyze the large amounts of data available about Covid-19, harnessing information from a variety of clinical trials in a bid to speed up the development of therapies and treatments.

Photo credit: 罗宏志 / 123RF

In addition, it has also been a useful asset in epidemic modeling: By examining available data on the novel coronavirus and its relatives, scientists have been working to predict infection rates in order to provide information that governments can use to create measures for containing the viral outbreak.

AI has played an important role in enhancing contact tracing measures as well. For example, in China, AI is used to monitor movements and identify possible contacts of infected individuals – information that helps the government take action to mitigate the virus’ spread.

A is for active analytics

As useful as AI is to data analytics, one of the challenges researchers/analysts have been facing is keeping up with the vast amount of data that is being generated about the virus.

“The Covid-19 pandemic [has created] a fast-moving, changing environment where daily – if not hourly – updates are being presented, and things are moving very, very rapidly,” explains Stuart Fisher, president of the Asia Pacific and Japan division at analytics company Kinetica.

In particular, it has emphasized the importance of doing a thorough but rapid study of the most updated data in order to make the best decisions. To that end, researchers and governments are turning to real-time analytics.

Stuart Fisher, president of the Asia Pacific and Japan division at Kinetica / Photo credit: Kinetica

In South Korea, for example, the government rolled out an enhanced platform that uses real-time data and analysis. It provides fast and accurate information on where patients have been and whom they’ve been in contact with in order to determine the scale of an outbreak effectively.

Kinetica takes this a step further by powering real-time analysis with advanced AI-driven analytics capabilities. This ability to analyze and react to data simultaneously in real time is what the company refers to as “active analytics”.

In the US, Kinetica’s Active Analytics Platform has been used in the creation of a live data analytics program to aggregate and track data relevant to emergency responders during the pandemic.

By pooling together information on hospital capacity, PPE availability, and test kit quantities, the program uses Kinetica’s Active Analytics Platform to generate insights in real time.

Photo credit: Kinetica

This enables decision-makers to act quickly, whether in setting up alternative triage centers or redirecting patients to different hospitals to prevent medical services from being overwhelmed.

Data can also be fed into various AI models in a bid to forecast the spread of the virus and thus address problems before they arise.

One of the critical issues during the pandemic is the global shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers.

When such a situation arises, the program can help ensure that PPE is sent to where it is most needed, in the most efficient manner.

“There could be a predictive model that suggests a spike in Covid-19 cases in a certain location, where they’re going to need access to more PPE,” says Fisher. “We can use that information, together with geospatial data, to automatically route PPE to where it needs to go.”

The future is in real time

The huge amount of data available about Covid-19 grows every day, making access to and effective real-time analysis of it vital. This is where active analytics can play a huge role.

“Society has access to an enormous amount of data, but that data is held in various repositories in different databases and different locations,” says Fisher. “But only when we can access and leverage that data in real time can we really start to gain benefit from the ability to analyze and make decisions [based] on it.”

Being able to use the data we have, with the help of new emerging technologies like AI and machine learning, is key to managing the ongoing pandemic effectively – and making preparations for the next one.

Kinetica aims to deliver fast, near-instantaneous analysis of data that provides accurate insights in real time through its Active Analytics Platform. The platform analyzes billions of data points continuously to assist leaders in making dynamic business decisions.

Find out more about Kinetica on its website.

This content was produced by Tech in Asia Studios, which connects brands with Asia’s tech community. Learn more about partnering with Tech in Asia Studios.