Go.Data annual report 2021

Go.Data is a platform for outbreak response and contact tracing developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with partners in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN). Field-based users such as field epidemiologists, contact tracing teams and laboratory staff can register cases, contacts and their related data, including laboratory samples and hospitalizations. Go.Data dynamically generates outputs and analyses – such as contact follow-up lists and chains of transmission – to help responders target local response efforts in real time. 

Although the design and development of Go.Data was completed in 2019, the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 rapidly shifted the focus of the project towards supporting countries in Go.Data implementation for the pandemic response. During 2020–2021, WHO and GOARN partners provided support to Go.Data projects in 65 countries or territories and over 115 institutions, in which implementation is conducted at national, subnational or institutional levels. 

Amidst the backdrop of this necessary shift of activities in 2020–2021, it remains important to reflect on project progress and key lessons learnt to date. The goal of this first annual report is to document Go.Dataimplementation activities, identify key lessons learnt and outline the next steps beyond the pandemic. Our report covers topics such as partnerships that have enabled a global rollout of Go.Data, training resources and capacitybuilding, activities around analytics and interoperability, and the importance of engaging open-source communities of users and practitioners. Throughout this report, we provide several country or partner-specific spotlights to demonstrate how users worldwide have adapted Go.Data to their context or innovated in certain areas, highlighting the role that multi-disciplinary national teams can play in optimal rollout and in exploiting the full potential of Go.Data features. Despite significant challenges in conducting contact tracing, especially during a pandemic, Go.Data has been – and continues to be – a valuable tool to strengthen the capacity of field workers, improve data quality and provide greater insight into disease patterns across countries and contexts.

Moving into 2022, the Go.Data strategy will shift from a reactive to a proactive approach, focusing on preparedness before the occurrence of an outbreak, embedding the platform into national training programmes and making the software universally available under the forthcoming Open Source Programme Office (OSPO) within the newly launched WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin. This approach will promote further ownership and equitable access to the Go.Data tool, while ensuring sustainability and integration within existing health information infrastructure.Go.Data is not a panacea for the current pandemic or future public health emergencies, but it is a tool that is contributing to global health security. 

By building the capacity to better understand what is happening at the local level through a structured approach to data collection during outbreak response, it is possible to collectively work more intelligently at the local, national and global levels.