Learn more at: http://instedd.org/contagion/ The movie Contagion, from Warner Bros. and directed by Steven Soderbergh, is an action-thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak. It tells the story of the rapidly spreading pandemic with high mortality following the perspective of different players throughout their work investigating, communicating about, and mitigating the pandemic — as well as normal citizens suffering the consequences and coping with the lack of information about what’s unfolding around them. The movie has an excellent plot and script that reflects a good amount of research and ongoing advice (See Wired interview of Ian Lipkin). The movie skips the digital technology aspects (beyond vaccine development and social media) so we thought we could explain “how it’s done in the real world” (or at least, how it’s being increasingly done), based on real-world projects we have worked on in the last couple of years.

1. STOPPING
AT T H E S O U R C E
a look at our work from the perspective of the movie

2. Contagion does an excellent job at depicting real organizations at work in containing a
pandemic. But a short movie can’t dive too deep or show all angles.
We will show you how technology is being designed and used around the world to make
a difference in public health.
Spanning remote villages and the world’s largest cities, high-tech and low-tech, routine
events and pandemics.
All the information is from real-world projects in which InSTEDD is helping NGOs, health
agencies, and governments improve their ability to improve health and safety with technology.

3. rural & urban
In the film, the outbreak starts in an urban environment.
Most of humanity lives in urban settings, however the
largest interface between humans and animals (a key
factor for zoonotic diseases) happens in rural areas.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES
| our work
Obtaining and processing
information to help early detection Thousands of village health workers use
and early response. GeoChat to create mobile surveillance
networks covering even the most remote
Lack of trained people to process areas. Many outbreaks are now
information and coordinate a rapid contained locally.
response.
InSTEDD’s field design work and iLabs
Rapid response in remote areas
invent ways so people with low literacy
with challenges with language,
can report accurately.
connectivity, and education.

4. sharing information
In the film, the outbreak is investigated trying to find
‘Patient X’ and understand the disease. Pen and paper
are always useful, but how can investigators in the
CDC and beyond actually share information with each
other to accelerate the containment?
GLOBAL CHALLENGES | our work
Investigators need to share InSTEDD designed for the US Center
information regardless of the tools
for Disease Control peer to peer data
they have. Even agreeing on what
sharing tools that work even when
data may be important takes time.
internet and GPRS is not available.
Governments, NGOs, hospitals,
WHO, CDC, and others need to Investigations are often international.
collaborate and share data to InSTEDD works globally to provide
understand the outbreak. Yet each tools that help countries share
one needs to control its information. disease data in secure, timely ways.

5. real time investigations
In the film, the information about the disease in
the early stages appears quickly. Usually, finding
clues and accessing helpful information for
analysis takes more time.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES | our work
Every clue counts – pictures, InSTEDD created modern tools for the
video, and location play an Android tablet to support the New York
important role in helping Health Department in capturing and
investigators.
reporting multimedia data from the field.
There is a tradeoff between timely,
InSTEDD provides tools to help curate
high-quality, and complete
real-time streams of information, find
information. Unfortunately, having
outlier health events, and filter data with
all 3 simultaneously isn’t possible.
the aid of machine learning.

6. global & local
In the film, the investigation is global. The ultimate goal
is to contain and slow down outbreaks at their source -
locally. And no one knows better how to do that than
the people who live there.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES | our work
Most tools are designed for InSTEDD tools are used everyday in
narrow purposes, while surveillance and have been repurposed by
outbreaks demand more free- the users on the go – from responding to
form collaboration. floods to tracking new emerging diseases.
Supporting local innovators in InSTEDD Innovation Labs are teams of
designing and implementing designers, tech savvy and entrepreneurial
tools that fit their context. people that invent & build the
technologies their communities need.

7. regional networks
In the film, international agencies such as CDC and
WHO play a crucial role in coordinating the
investigation and response. These days, a new form of
organization is emerging that can complement their
function: regional networks of neighboring countries.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES | our work
Diseases aren’t contained by borders InSTEDD supports the Mekong Basin
or boundaries. The movement of Disease Surveillance Network with mobile
animals and workers is a major force tools on sentinel border sites, that help track
in disease spread. outbreaks as they cross borders.
Investigators in neighboring countries InSTEDD technologies work internationally
need to build trust before events allowing agencies to share appropriate
happen. The politics of each information, securely, and 24x7. Users
outbreak are different and can even include Cambodia, China, Lao PDR,
lead to threatened national security. Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

8. agile technology design
In the film, technologies are used that provide an
instant display and understanding of data, yet the
development of information sharing technology is not
highlighted. What happens when agencies with
disparate systems need to work together?
GLOBAL CHALLENGES | our work
Accurately predicting the quality, InSTEDD’s approach is centered on working
closely with users, listening and iterating the
sources and formats of relevant
process. We build and integrate custom systems
information.
when requested and provide the InSTEDD
platform as free and open source.
Lack of widely implemented,
supported and updated standards.
As the 2009 H1N1 outbreak developed,
InSTEDD provided WHO with geoclustering tools
Adapting technologies to the users
that allowed them to compare reported vs.
rather than the other way around. confirmed case spread based on their internal
systems.

9. information flow
The film shows how easily modern society can be disrupted.
Helping people get the information they need to help themselves
is not done enough, even though the technology to do so already
exists. The World Disaster Report confirms that “Disaster-affected
people need information as much as water, food, medicine, or
shelter. Information can save lives, livelihoods and resources.”
GLOBAL CHALLENGES
| our work
Supply chains, transportation
systems, and other infrastructures InSTEDD provided AlertNet with the
are fragile. technology to send SMSs with aid
information to tens of thousands of
Lack of information amplifies the survivors of the Haiti earthquake. 85% of
deaths and suffering of any event. recipients acted differently as a result.
Mobiles are an not used enough to InSTEDD provided the American Red
provide personally relevant
Cross with tools that save key members
information to those threatened by
hours in the activation of community
the event.
volunteers during times of crises.

10. official & crowdsourced data
In the film, “Nothing spreads like fear”. In our world
information flows rapidly via mobiles and computers.
This information multiplies and replicates through
tools like Twitter and Facebook. But is this viral
information flow being harnessed for good?
GLOBAL CHALLENGES | our work
Reliability and accuracy social InSTEDD’s TaskMeUp and Riff tools allow
networks/media are questionable. teams to sift through live streams of
information like tweets, news, blogs and
The truth itself may be unverified, SMS – combining crowd, expert, and
complex, and open. Raw data is algorithm-sourced data.
typically not available or trustworthy.
Simple mobile tools from InSTEDD speed up
Response agencies often are not
the validation of what’s really happening and
social-media savvy, and their
educate health workers and reporters on
messages are easily overrun.
what to look for.

11. At InSTEDD, we envision a world where communities everywhere design and use technology for
their health, safety and development. We strive to achieve this vision through 4 key areas:
Building Capacity Collaborating with End Users
within communities to foster through a bottom up design
a local culture of innovation and development process
Creating Technologies Ensuring Usefulness and Impact
for social good collaboration through research and evaluation

12. Learn more at www.instedd.org/contagion
rural & urban the projects with local impact and global reach
sharing information
the iLabs where social needs meet innovation
real time investigations
global & local the technologies that make a difference
regional networks the services that can help create scalable impact
agile technology design
the domain expertise to guide the process
information flow
official & crowdsourced data the global network to support the effort
facebook.com/InSTEDD @InSTEDD youtube.com/instedd flickr.com/instedd slideshare.net/instedd

13. s wouldn’t have ben possible without….!
This would not have been possible without...
worked on Contagion…! on..and everyone whowho works public health every day!
Everyone who worked the film and everyone works in in public health everyday!
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All ™, ® and © contents –names, texts and logos- are property of their respective owners.
Contagion is a Warner Bros. Pictures trademark.
The InSTEDD logo is © InSTEDD.
This presentation is shared under Creative Common: CC-by-nc-nd
No celebrities were harmed during this research.