IBM’s new blockchain-based COVID-19 application puts privacy first.
A new application
powered by the IBM blockchain aims to help people around the world
return to physical encounters amid the coronavirus pandemic.
IBM
Watson Health, a healthcare-focused arm of tech giant IBM, is launching
IBM Digital Health Pass, a blockchain-based app to support global
organizations and companies as they start reopening after months of
lockdown.
IBM Watson stated that the new app can deploy multiple
data types like COVID-19 test results and onsite temperature scans to
generate a verified health status. With the opportunity to verify health
status via the app, individuals can safely access public locations like
a sports stadium, airplanes, museums or amusement parks, IBM’s
representatives said.
Eric Piscini, vice president of the
blockchain division at IBM Watson Health, emphasized that IBM Digital
Health Pass is designed to support privacy as its core feature.
According to the executive, the app will allow users to share their
verified health pass without exposing any of the underlying data used to
generate it:
“We believe that trust and transparency remain
paramount when developing a platform like a digital health passport, or
any solution that handles sensitive personal information, and we remain
committed to this philosophy as we continue to build solutions to help
support organizations during the current public health crisis.”
This
is not the first time that IBM blockchain has been used to help people
tackle COVID-19. Earlier this year, IBM also launched IBM’s Rapid
Supplier Connect network — a cloud-based application that uses blockchain to assist businesses providing coronavirus relief supplies to connect with buyers.
source link : https://cointelegraph.com/news/ibm-blockchain-powers-new-app-to-help-firms-reopen-amid-pandemic
