Focus: Covid-19 Pandemic

The unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic has forced governments around the world to adopt drastic fiscal responses. Moving from relief to stimulus provides an opportunity to avoid carbon-dependent, unjust, and unhealthy investments and to ensure a climate- friendly, and socially and environmentally just recovery.

Covid-19 has shown us the limits of our current socio-economic structure and the neoclassical economics upon which it is based. It is time for the progressive left to put forth a Green New Deal for economic recovery and take on the climate crisis, the economic crisis and the inequalities of our time.

From rural live-streaming to coordinating medical care, technology platforms in China have taken on a central role during the Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic accelerated trends that further cement these companies as key infrastructure providers working in close tandem with the state – but this cozy relationship comes at a cost to many.

COVID-19 has become a moment of opportunism for Indian e-commerce companies to consolidate their market power, insert themselves into local supply chains and co-opt neighborhood stores. Policy interventions are urgently needed to preserve the autonomy of the traditional retail sector and prevent Big Tech’s takeover of local economies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred the use of digital technologies that are shaping people's lives and interaction with society. The development of apps to monitor the movements and health status of individual citizens will have long-term implications for privacy and safety. Nowhere is this more visible than in Asia.

The last few months have been daunting with COVID-19 almost paralyzed the entire world with various countries putting different areas under their jurisdiction in lockdowns. Whether or not the different kinds of approaches have been effective or not, we will know for sure in the coming weeks.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed how we all work and live. Governments of different countries have encouraged adoption of these measures to contain the spread of the virus which can be lethal, has no known cure yet, and is highly communicable.

The coronavirus lockdown caught the IT infrastructure of the European Parliament unprepared for such severe emergency conditions. The EU's parliamentary work comes with distinct political sensitivities and responsibilities for transparency that complicate the legislative process. Any measures taken to introduce digital tools now and in the future must safeguard vital democratic principles. 

The coronavirus pandemic highlights the challenges of outdated congressional practices that needed to be addressed long ago. Individual members' offices and leadership of the House and Senate should reevaluate how technology can help US lawmakers better serve their constituents and their country.

The Covid-19 pandemic has spurred radical measures worldwide to stem the spread of the virus, and specialists from different fields have taken up the challenge, working together to solve common problems using new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). This momentum is a beacon of hope for the fight against climate change.

The coronavirus pandemic – just like society – runs along fault lines of gender, race, class and other inequalities. With women over-represented in vulnerable frontline jobs, there are fears that technologies proposed to tackle the pandemic could inflict harms that differ based on gender.

Covid-19 has accelerated innovation in the Nigerian health tech sector, providing opportunities for growth in an industry that has typically lacked investment, government endorsement, and attention.

Federal, state, and city governments are working with technology companies to monitor citizens during the pandemic, with no guarantee of what will happen to the data after the crisis passes. The irony is that Brazil already has a law that would protect the right to privacy – but the government is trying to delay its implementation.

From legal challenges to delays, leaks and policy reversals, the UK has stumbled in its tech response to the pandemic in the same way that it has faltered in its overall strategy, even frequently being forced to change course. A full assessment of what happened will take time, but the record thus far already offers lessons for the future.

Open-source software, transparent communication, and public-private cooperation with both large and small companies—the development of the German contact tracing app could be a model for future government IT projects.

The fight against Covid-19 in Brazil has developed into an ideological battle, pitting President Jair Bolsonaro - who wants to reopen the country - against those who defend the WHO protocols. Brazil’s WhatsApp culture has opened the gate to a flood of rumors and fake news, some of which can allegedly be traced back to Bolsonaro’s inner circle. But the favelas are seeking their own solutions to counter disinformation.

The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and the Center for Democracy and Technology hosted an online seminar on COVID-19 contact-tracing apps in the U.S., the EU, and Asia on Wednesday, June 10th at 9am ET.

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the ugly consequences of digital inequities around the world. The most privileged can rely on online tools as digital lifeboats while those with limited or no access are left adrift. The definition of internet access as a human right has to be expanded to include access to universal, reliable and affordable high-speed internet.

The coronavirus pandemic forced half of the German working population to work from home. A majority was happy with the move, an early study indicates. If the broadband expansion catches up in the countryside, many might never go back.

A strong sense of regional sovereignty in the Canadian health care system may lead to different choices for technologies to track and contain the spread of the coronavirus. A multiplicity of non-interoperable apps could put their effectiveness in question and could create inconsistent approaches to privacy.

Tech will not free us from coronavirus, but it can provide us with helpful tools – if we foster an open and democratic debate on how to use it. 

Disinformation is out of control as malicious actors seek to capitalise on the Covid-19 pandemic. To date, EU schemes to tackle disinformation have focused on self regulation, but there are widespread concerns about how the EU is managing the crisis. 

The debate over the data storage model of a coronavirus tracing app shows how the German government’s search for digital infection control tools became caught up between public health officials, privacy experts and the US tech industry. 

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economy are dramatic. The virus is shaking all major economies simultaneously. At the same time,  the crisis is acting as an accelerator for the developing countries that were already highly in debt. An Interview with Barbara Unmüßig, President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, on the latest developments.

COVID-19 uniquely affects women. Here are many of the ways it does.