Robi’s data analytics solution combined with My Robi and My Airtel Apps to support Government fight Corona pandemic
Dhaka, 2 April 2020: The leading digital services provider of the country, Robi has come forward with its expertise in Data Analytics to support the Government in combatting the Coronavirus pandemic in the country. In partnership with a2i Program of ICT Division and Cabinet Division and Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Robi has put in place a robust data analytics system to manage the public health emergency situation that has jarred the entire nation.
This was disclosed at a digital press conference held today. Strictly following the rules of social distancing, ICT Division’s State Minister, Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP, Director General of Health Services, Prof Abul Kalam Azad, a2i’s Policy Advisor, Anir Chowdhury, Robi’s Managing Director and CEO, Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, and the company’s Chief Corporate and Regulatory Officer, Shahed Alam along with a number of high officials joined the press conference from their respective locations through digital platform.
Robi’s Chief Information Officer, Dr. Asif Naimur Rashid gave a detailed explanation about how the data analytics solution functions and how it can benefit the Government in making data-driven decision for combatting the Corona crisis at the digital press conference.
The analytical solution developed by Robi’s analytics team harnesses data from decentralized crowdsources. Crowdsourcing via mobile phones shall allow high value data acquisition, while applying data science to the crowdsourced to data, the analytics solution can perform robust data validation check on the gathered data to ensure the solution gets to work with high quality datasets.
Incorporating IVR, USSD and My Robi and My Airtel App data sources including crowdsourcing will allow our analysts to perform various innovative data visualization exercises to generate insights that the Government can readily work on. Depending on the report generated by the data analytics solution, the Government can assess probability of exposure in a given area to determine the next course of action.
Robi and Airtel users as well as users of other operators will be able to provide information to the Government as part of this project through My Robi App, or My Airtel App, or Robi’s corporate website (www.robi.com.bd) or Airtel’s website (www.bd.airtel.com). Using any of these channels, users can reach Government’s dedicated website for combatting Coronavirus: www.corona.gov.bd, where the users can leave their information for necessary data processing. Alternatively, the users can also dial *3332# to provide information in this regard. Apart from providing information, the users can also do a DGHS-provided self-test on whether they have contracted Coronavirus themselves from these platforms.
DG Health, Professor Abul Kalam Azad said, “We are hopeful that using the data analytics solution Robi has created we will be able to eradicate Coronavirus. I am confident other mobile operators will follow the lead created by Robi through this digital solution. I thank ICT Division and a2i for their proactive support towards the national drive for Corona mitigation in the country.”
Speaking on the occasion, ICT Division’s State Minister, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP said: “We will be able to assess the overall situation of Coronavirus in Bangladesh using this wonderful data analytics solution. I am confident if everyone supports this solution with necessary information, we can leverage the data analytics solution to determine the most efficient way of handling the Corona pandemic.”
a2i’s Policy Advisor Anir Chowdhury said, “Robi is now part of the consortium of organizations which includes the telcos, big data analytics and AI companies and research organizations which are helping fight the COVID-19 situation in Bangladesh. This public-private-academia consortium facilitated by a2i has been working with DGHS on Dengue tracking already. With the present COVID-19 situation, the process has been greatly accelerated to expand the country’s comprehensive big data analytics platform to help policy makers better deal with crisis and planning in unprecedented ways.”
Robi’s Managing Director and CEO, Mahtab Uddin Ahmed said, “We are extremely proud to be able to join hands with the Government in combatting the Corona pandemic. As part of Robi’s drive towards digitalization, Robi has accumulated significant amount of expertise in providing data analytics solutions. Nothing could have been more satisfying for us than deploying all our expertise and understanding on Data Analytics through this particular project that is dedicated to fight the spread of Coronavirus in country. With active participation from everyone in the country in this project, we all can help the Government to plan its public health efforts in a targeted manner based on the data modelling provided by our solution. With support from Almighty, we can certainly defeat the Coronavirus with a joint effort.”
Robi’s CEO, Mr. Mahtab expressed his gratitude towards ICT Division, a2i, Health Services for their kind cooperation in making this wonderful solution a reality. He also fondly noted the encouragement Robi received from the guardian of the telecom industry, Hon’ble Minister for Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology, Mustafa Jabbar towards this initiative.