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Government Digital Services Minister Kris Faafoi has rejected harsh criticism from Trade Me founder Sam Morgan that “unhelpful” officials had missed an opportunity to improve Covid-19 contact tracing.
Morgan said he would stop putting up money and promoting an initiative to implement “CovidCard” Bluetooth tracking devices after being frustrated with the Health Ministry.
CovidCards use Bluetooth radio signals to measure how close people get, and for how long.
If someone were to be diagnosed with Covid-19, their card would be handed over and contact trackers would access the data to identify their close contacts.
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A test of the devices at Nelson Hospital was overseen by the Defense Technology Agency and by researchers at the University of Otago on behalf of the Department of Internal Affairs.
Faafoi said earlier this month that CovidCards had been shown to work in controlled environments.
But Morgan said that the CovidCard project had been “buried among people who are useless at the bottom of ministries that simply cannot deliver on this.”
NZPA
It doesn’t make sense if the Ministry of Health isn’t taking the project seriously, says Sam Morgan.
The Government has announced two more trials: one by the general public in Rotorua, overseen by the Ministry of Health; and another by staff and returning Kiwis in a managed isolation facility to be run by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
Hamilton wireless engineer Dean Armstrong, who helped develop CovidCards, said the objectives of the Rotorua trial were unclear and that he believed the Health Ministry was “following suit.”
Faafoi said he knew Morgan was “frustrated that we hadn’t made the decision to commit,” but the test was necessary in part to assess how people would respond to the cards, which work best when used as lanyards.
Making CovidCards mandatory would be “an extreme last resort,” he previously said.
Morgan has indicated that the CovidCards could be distributed to all New Zealanders for $ 100 million, but Faafoi said he believed it was “a bit light.”
RNZ
A prominent businessman is frustrated that an alternative to the troublesome Covid-19 app has hit a roadblock with officials.
“We are not going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money into something that is not proven when we don’t know how the community will respond,” he said.
Armstrong said he believed the Ministry of Health had decided to develop a Bluetooth app to help with contact tracing.
But he was worried that this would not be effective.
There has been a concern that smartphone-based applications will generate too high a proportion of “false alarms” for close contacts they can track.
Morgan said that the people who had been promoting the CovidCard as an alternative were part of a flexible coalition and that everyone was free to “participate independently.”
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
The government’s Digital Services Minister Kris Faafoi says more evidence is needed before the government commits “hundreds of millions” to CovidCards.
But because of the attitude of the Ministry of Health, “everyone sees that this has no legs,” he said.
Health officials weren’t taking the CovidCard seriously, he said.
“You need to face a team that has the capacity to execute this. Unless he takes it seriously and stands up for a team that can deliver, there is no prospect that he will. “
The ministry’s proposed Bluetooth app workaround “would do nothing,” Morgan said.
Morgan said that he had contributed financially to support the CovidCard, but had no commercial interest in it.
Animation Research founder Ian Taylor, who has been another vocal CovidCard supporter, said he believed support had been building, but understood Morgan’s frustration.
SUPPLIED / Stuff
CovidCards would be more effective if everyone used them, but Faafoi has said that making them mandatory would be an “extreme last resort.”
“I continue to fully support anyone who wants to keep this moving, but people have to start listening to us or we will have the same frustration,” he said.
“It seems to me a ‘fait accompli’ that the Ministry of Health implements a Bluetooth tracking solution in its application,” he said.
“They keep presenting the Irish example as an example of success, but if you look at the metrics around that, it’s a long way from success,” he said.
Armstrong said he was still available to assist MBIE with their CovidCard trial and was keen to keep the technology in a “state of readiness.”
“I’m independently trying to keep the technology warm on my own.
“But in terms of progress towards an implementation for the general population, it appears that the Ministry of Health has ruled it out despite its public statements.”
Armstrong cautioned that it would be difficult to ‘mix and match’ CovidCards and smartphone-based Bluetooth proximity aids, in part because they would have different signal strengths.
Health Ministry Deputy Director Shayne Hunter said the CovidCard trial in Rotorua would take place later this month and was “very interested in the results.”
“The country is dealing with a difficult virus and we need a series of effective tools to combat Covid-19,” he said.
Video courtesy of RNZ.
