Can AI-driven models be used to reopen societies while minimizing Covid-19 transmissions? Now, 48 finalists have been selected in the challenge initiated by Cognizant and XPRIZE. Among the finalists are Swedish and Danish representatives.
Cognizant and XPRIZE launched the Pandemic Response Challenge to address Covid-19 challenges. The idea is that the competition will catalyze the development of data-driven systems to construct plans that regional governments, communities, and organizations can implement to minimize harm when reopening their economies.
Now, 48 finalist teams from 17 countries have been selected. The teams competing in phase 2 will develop artificial intelligence-driven models to prescribe actions for safely reopening society and limiting economic impact while minimizing Covid-19 transmissions.
The Swedish finalist, researcher Patrick Bryant at Scilife Lab, is working on a tool that uses twelve different indices on how to shut down a society at different levels and is fed data from all countries around the world. Here, AI could support those who control the decisions and help them weigh a number of different possibilities against each other in the face of future pandemics.
The Danish finalist, self-employed IT consultant Thomas Petersen, has developed a model where neural networks play a part. He is competing against other teams that are backed up by large universities and has developed the models in his spare time during the lockdown.
Learn more about the challenge: XPRIZE.org/pandemicresponse