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9 Vol.1, Issue 22, August 2020 ELITE

"Big Data" versus Corona virus

Hadeer Abouzaid, FEPS Political Science Teaching Assistant

Since the outbreak of the Corona virus "Covid-19" in the Chinese
The Chinese company, "Ali baba" for e-commerce, developed a
city "Wuhan" in late December last, to turn into a global epidemic
monitoring system based on big data, by creating an electronic
that has swept most of the countries of the world, One of the main
identification card for each citizen (QR code) to know whether
challenges was the lack of information about this virus, so many
this person is healthy and does not have symptoms of the virus, or
countries depended on – besides traditional measures _ the
that there is a possibility of infection or that he Injured, so that the
innovative uses of modern technologies accomplished by the Fourth
citizen has something like a traffic light in three colors (red,
Industrial Revolution, as an analysis Big data and artificial
yellow or green) that expresses his health status, which can be
intelligence techniques to fight against the Corona virus.
accessed through common social applications such as "Wi-Chat"
So, this article attempts to shed light on the role of big data in
fighting the Corona virus, especially in the field of monitoring and
or "Ali Baba".
early detection of cases, applying to both Taiwan and China.
In addition, the Chinese company “China Electronics Group” in
In fact, there is no single agreed definition of the term "big data",
cooperation with many Chinese institutions, such as the State
but one of its simplest definitions is that it was data generated
Council, the National Health Committee, the Ministry of
through our steady use of digital devices, computers, and
Transport and Railways, and the China Aviation Authority, has
everything connected to the Internet. As, tens of millions of
launched a new application called (Close Contact Detector) to
individuals around the world use mobile phones to make calls, to
help people know if they are in contact Close with anyone
send text messages or e-mail, or to view digital content on the
network, so an enormous amount of data is generated.
infected with the virus, by entering the citizen's name and identity
Data can also be created when it appears to be performing regular
number, as its data will match the large database with the public
operations on its face, but it uses the technology to facilitate its
authorities.
flow, such as money transfers, purchases, or even when visiting a
In addition to China, "Taiwan" made early use of big data in the
restaurant. All of these activities leave a digital impact, and then
face of the disease, as the authorities began linking health
this information together makes up what is known as "big data."
databases with the databases of both customs and immigration, to
form a huge database, the data is updated automatically, to clarify
So, after the outbreak of the Corona virus, many countries resorted
Patient and travel history for all individuals in the country without
to the use of the "big data" science to fight the disease, which was
evident in the use of health databases such as the individual's
exception.
medical history and the frequency of visits to hospitals, diseases
It also allowed hospitals, pharmacies and health clinics to enter
that infected him and the types of drugs obtained from pharmacies,
the databases, so that they can restrict all individuals who have a
and mobility databases Travel through airlines, passport offices and
disease risk, as well as providing all suspicious individuals with
airports, to identify people who may be more susceptible to the
smart phones equipped with the feature of tracking calls and
disease and suspected of having it. In this context, China has sought
places, in order to monitor their movements and phone calls.
to take advantage of the "big data" through an intelligent algorithm
In conclusion, some people may consider that the use of "big
that combines the health record, the criminal file and the travel map
data" is a violation of privacy and a form of tyranny, but this does
through public transportation, to be able to know all the people who
have been contacted by any patient with the disease and then
not preclude its importance especially in the field of health care,
quarantine them.
which requires setting rules and laws that regulate how it will be
used in the future.
Vol.1, Issue 22, August 2020