COVID Compass
COVID Compass: Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis
With the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all in uncharted waters. There is an enormous sense of urgency to get out in front of the pandemic to understand where it is headed. More importantly, there is a barrage of information, and dashboards available are diluting key metrics. Governments, NGOs, caregivers and all of us as individuals need to respond to the pandemic quickly and effectively with smarter data.
To this end, KAUST teamed up with a global taskforce called The COVID Compass Taskforce. The taskforce consists of experts in data science, location intelligence, code, economics, journalism, public policy and media, and it is committed to quickly publishing relevant, relatable and actionable data around the COVID-19 pandemic.
The main objective of the taskforce is to develop a real-time data dashboard that maps the most critical trends, events and impacts around the world in an easy-to-digest format with robust, timely data on a platform that is nimble and scalable and uses AI-drive sentiment analysis, trend modeling and real-time media monitoring.
COVID Compass provides a simple, credible and authoritative roadmap that shows where we are and where we are headed in four critical areas:
- Spread: Where we are on the curve of the pandemic—both globally and local
- Healthcare System: What is the capacity of the healthcare system globally and locally?
- Intervention: How is government intervention working on slowing the pandemic?
- Socio-economic Impact: What is the economic and social impact of the pandemic?
COVID Compass will map where we are on the pandemic journey by:
- Revealing and contextualizing the challenges and highlighting solutions and progress
- Using trusted and validated data sources
- Applying advanced predictive analytics and simulation models
- Listening, capturing and analyzing the real voices and sentiments of people around the world
- Visualizing the data clearly, simply and in a timely manner
- Making the data freely available to all at COVIDcompass.org and free to embed in all websites
Credible, Accurate and Timely Data
A Unique Approach.
COVID Compass is built on the award-winning model that received the Rockefeller Foundation Centennial Innovation Award for uniquely combining data, journalism, science, design, and convening. It complements and aggregates reliable data sources by:
- Presenting previously unreported forward-looking analytics
- Providing comparative data for broader context
- Correlating data across the four most critical crisis categories
- Relying on multiple robust data sets that are vetted for accuracy
- Providing valuable context and sentiment analysis not previously available
COVID Compass Taskforce
The COVID Compass Taskforce is a global coalition comprised of many of the world’s top data scientists, analysts and journalists and is led by:
Circle of Blue
Lead: J. Carl Ganter: Narratives, Partnership Development
Etage
Lead: Sophie Larroque/Chris Fitzgerald: Strategy, Operations, Production
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Lead: Carlos Duarte: Data Science, AI
EpidemiologyMoores Data
Lead: Lauren Moores: Data Science, Economics, Visualization
Vector Center
Lead: J. Carl Ganter/Cody Pope: Strategy, Data, Operations
In collaboration with:
- APCO Worldwide (Strategy, Impact)
- Centerprising (Partner Relations)
- Erin Aigner, former NYT graphics editor and information designer and GIS specialist
- Leland Maschmeyer, chief creative officer, Chobani
- Weber Shandwick (Public Affairs)