Leveraging Digital Solutions to Fight COVID-19 : Lessons from ASEAN Countries

Public Disclosure Authorized

Authorized

Research & Policy Briefs

From the World Bank Malaysia Hub

No. 41

February 3, 2021

Leveraging Digital Solutions to Fight COVID-19:

Lessons from ASEAN Countries

Fabien Clavier and Francis Ghesquiere

Digital solutions have been the signature of Southeast Asia's response to COVID-19. Technologies used during the crisis have helped address a wide spectrum of problems, supporting public health efforts, public communication, and economic and social policies. This policy brief explores how ASEAN countries have leveraged digital technologies to fight COVID-19 and investigates the roles of governments, local technology ecosystems, and citizens in deploying such solutions. The findings suggest that the development and use of digital solutions have accelerated collaboration between different spheres of governments, technology companies, research entities, and society at large. The COVID-19 crisis has also highlighted the digital divide across the region and the challenges in ensuring technological changes in the ASEAN region as a whole.

Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure

Public Disclosure Authorized

Southeast Asia as a Testing Ground for Digital Solutions to the Pandemic

The COVID-19 disease was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020 and has continued to disrupt the lives of billions of people worldwide ever since. Southeast Asia was one of the first regions, outside of China, hit by COVID-19, with Thailand and Singapore recording some of the first imported cases during January 2020.

Member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are facing common challenges in the current COVID-19 pandemic: their interconnected national economies contracted at record rates due to the various lockdowns and travel restrictions; cases have soared in overcrowded informal settlements and migrant workers dormitories; urban daily-wagers' revenues have drastically diminished following the economic crisis.

Southeast Asia has also been an interesting testing ground for innovative policy responses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the innovations that countries and cities in ASEAN resorted to in order to fight the virus, digital solutions have played an important role and have caught the interest of many experts and commentators worldwide.

Singapore, for example, was the first country in the world to introduce a nationwide Bluetooth-based mobile application for contact tracing, called TraceTogether, on March 20, 2020. Many countries in Southeast Asia have emulated Singapore's experience and developed similar tools and solutions during the COVID-19 crisis.

One year into the pandemic, that rush toward novel technologies is not likely to slow down. Digital solutions will play an active role in the recovery phase of COVID-19 in the ASEAN region and in the gradual reopening of economies and borders.

This policy brief aims to shed some light on the potentials and limitations of the adoption of digital solutions during multifaceted crises, focusing on the example of Southeast Asia during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is based on a survey of 40 digital solutions implemented in the ASEAN region during the COVID-19 pandemic and 20 interviews of domain experts, public officials, and technology developers.

Going Digital in the Face of COVID-19

The ASEAN Region Was Already an Important Adopter of Digital Technologies before the COVID-19 Pandemic

Even before the COVID-19 crisis started, the ASEAN region had been a dynamic sandbox for technological innovations, particularly with the rise of many smart city initiatives. In the context of Southeast Asia, smart cities are defined as an ensemble of "technological and digital solutions

[that] can be utilised to resolve [urban] issues and to enhance quality and accessibility of services, thereby improving our citizens' lives across the urban-rural continuum, creating new opportunities for them and helping ensure that no one is left behind" (ASEAN 2018). Singapore has been recognized as a global technological hub with its Smart Nation initiative launched in 2014, while fast-moving cities such as Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Manila have accelerated their use of new technologies in various city domains. In its 2018 report on "Smart Cities in Southeast Asia," the McKinsey Global Institute (2018) estimated that the opportunities to make the built environment smarter in ASEAN countries

could be worth up to US$26 billion. In a region that is quickly urbanizing, the push for technology and smart city development has never been more important.

Digitalization has also been central to the region's economic integration efforts. A prime example is the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN), launched in 2018, at the initiative of Singapore, then ASEAN Chair. ASCN is "envisioned as a collaborative platform [...] to explore potential complementarities, share best practices and develop individualized action plans for smart city development" (ASEAN 2018).

Moreover, the region's experience with another disease-SARS-in 2003 highlighted the importance of fast responses and contingency plans. In some ASEAN countries, preparations to monitor, trace, and quarantine confirmed virus cases helped to save time in organizing the local responses (Kwok 2020).

Within this context, many countries in ASEAN have explored a

digital-based response to COVID-19, turning to Singapore for leadership in

the advanced use of technology to support public health efforts. In keeping with its appetite for and aptitude in digital technology, Southeast Asia has aimed to leverage its smart city assets to fight the current

pandemic, yet with various levels of success.

Yet, the Regional Digital Divide Persists

Digitalization efforts are unevenly distributed in Southeast Asia. Each country in the ASEAN region has different forms of government,

economic systems, levels of technological maturity, and human

development indicators, leading to different approaches in terms of their

digital response to COVID-19.

Countries with world-class digital infrastructure were the first to embark on innovative approaches to COVID-19, primarily to support their public health strategies. Nations with less digital capacities explored solutions at a later stage.

Looking at the levels of digital readiness in the region helps to classify the digital responses to COVID-19. Digital readiness is directly linked to

the level of national development and progress. This is apparent in figure 1, which combines the Digital Adoption Index-an index developed by the

Affiliations: : Fabien Clavier and Francis Ghesquiere, Urban, Resilience and Land East Asia and Pacific Unit, World Bank.

Acknowledgements: The authors thank Aaditya Mattoo, Tobias Pfutze, Uri Raich and Jonathan Timmis for their useful comments and suggestions. The authors also thank the different experts that were interviewed during the study of ASEAN's digital response to COVID-19.

Objective and disclaimer: Research & Policy Briefs synthesize existing research and data to shed light on a useful and interesting question for policy debate. Research & Policy Briefs carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank Group, its Executive Directors, or the governments they represent.

Leveraging Digital Solutions to Fight COVID-19:

Lessons from ASEAN Countries

Figure 1. Digital Readiness Levels in ASEAN Countries

The higher the level of national development and progress,

the higher the level of digital readiness

scale)10	100000
																		Singapore
US$ (log
														Brunei	Darussalam
															Malaysia
2019,	10000
														Thailand
capita												Indonesia
												Philippines
per							Lao PDR				Vietnam
							Cambodia
1000
GDP						Myanmar
	0.0	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.0	1.0

Digital Adoption Index, 2016

Source: World Bank 2016

World Bank to measure countries' digital adoption across three dimensions of the economy (people, government, and business)-and GDP per capita. Based on that combination, this policy brief groups Southeast Asian countries into four groups: (1) Singapore, an advanced global innovation player, prime mover, and digital pioneer, which has quickly developed a digital response to COVID-19, leveraging its Smart Nation assets; (2) digitally advanced countries that have introduced technological solutions early in the pandemic to support their public health interventions and COVID-19 policies (Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, and Thailand); (3) countries where a number of digital solutions have

emerged but that have not tapped on them fully, either because they had taken other strong measures that prevented the spread of the virus (Vietnam) or because of a lack of coordination at the government level (Indonesia and Philippines); (4) countries that have relied on traditional approaches and where digital penetration and literacy remain low (Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar).

Digital readiness is directly reflected in the levels of success in introducing and implementing digital solutions during COVID-19. Countries with high technological maturity have managed to weave digital solutions in their policy responses to COVID-19, while less tech-savvy countries have not achieved the same impacts in terms of integrating digital solutions.

COVID-19 Technology Solutions in the ASEAN Region: A Study in Contrasts

The Rise of Tailored Solutions to Fight an Unprecedented Crisis

This policy brief identified 40 digital solutions being utilized in the region, using the following five criteria: (1) solutions implemented within the ASEAN region (including foreign digital solutions); (2) solutions that are primarily addressing COVID-19 virus containment and socioeconomic challenges; (3) solutions active in urban centers; (4) solutions used by citizens or by central and local governments or both; (5) solutions having a digital interface-mobile applications, dashboards, trackers, geographic information systems (GIS) (see figure 2).

These digital solutions are fulfilling seven main functions.

Digital contact tracing. Digital contact tracing has been present in most of the ASEAN countries, with different levels of success. Since the beginning of the outbreak, contact tracing has been highlighted by WHO as an important dimension to combat the virus, together with testing and quarantining measures.

Figure 2. Country Distribution and Main Functions of Digital Solutions Used in the ASEAN Region during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2

Source: Authors' construction

Self-reportingof symptoms. Early and rapid case identification has been central during the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of online symptom reporting platforms and mobile applications has emerged as an important trend in Southeast Asia. These services can be rapidly deployed and provide advice to people showing symptoms, as well as referrals for further medical investigation.

Communication. Informational applications providing transparent data about the pandemic situation, locally and globally, are another important category of digital solutions developed in the ASEAN region. Soon after officially announcing the pandemic, WHO introduced the term "infodemic," highlighting the risks of information overabundance and rapid spread of fake news. Digital solutions and online communication channels have been used to make case reporting data accessible and transparent.

Support for policy choices and decision making. Digital tools such as GIS platforms, agent-basedmodelling, and simulation platforms have been mobilized during the pandemic to support the work of public authorities in the ASEAN region. A number of these solutions have emerged in the region, but mostly in countries with established collaboration programs between scientists and policy makers.

Behavior change. Applications and web platforms have been used in ASEAN to inform citizens about the crowd level of certain public areas and help them take decisions about potential visits. This application domain could be considered to be a niche, but it has seen the emergence of new multistakeholders initiatives, leveraging the use of big data analytics.

Aid distribution. Mobile applications aiming to streamline the distribution of aid and financial support to the urban poor are not new in the ASEAN region, but they have been accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example to introduce digital identity systems. This application domain might develop further, following the challenges encountered during the roll-out of social programs during the pandemic.

Economic recovery. New online marketplaces and peer-to-peer donation platforms to support local businesses and workers of impacted industries (such as travel and tourism, food and beverage, and creative industries) have been introduced in some Southeast Asian countries. Even if their potential to cushion the severe socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is limited, they might become more important in the future, as digitalization of small businesses accelerates in the region.

The Importance of Digital Solutions during the COVID-19 Pandemic is Supported by Evidence

Many experts have highlighted the potential of digital solutions to fight virus propagation and mitigate the impacts on the economy.

"The emerging consensus is that they have an important role in a comprehensive response to outbreaks and pandemics, complementing conventional public-health measures, and thereby contribute to reducing the human and economic impact of COVID-19" Budd et al. (2020) note. Yet, given that the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, "it is too early to fully quantify the added value of digital technologies to the pandemic response. While digital technologies offer tools for supporting a pandemic response, they are not a silver bullet."

In a study published in The Lancet, Whitelaw et al. (2020) highlight that "countries that have maintained low COVID-19per-capita mortality rates appear to share strategies that include early surveillance, testing, contact tracing and strict quarantine." In the most successful countries, these strategies have been supported by digital technologies, integrated with public health policies. Considering the challenges in terms of data collection and management, especially for contact tracing, digital solutions have proven to be very useful and easy to deploy and scale up.

Research & Policy Brief No.41

The WHO (2020) also highlighted the benefits of digital solutions early in the pandemic, stating that "digital tools offer opportunities to strengthen contact tracing for COVID-19" while insisting that "digital tools for contact tracing can only be effective when integrated into an existing public health system that includes health services personnel, testing

services, and manual contact tracing infrastructure".
Finally, an investigation of the use of four technologies during
COVID-19-Internet of Things (IoT), big data, artificial intelligence,
blockchain-by Ting et al. (2020) suggests that they can have a big impact
on public health strategies, especially IoT and big data for the monitoring,
surveillance, detection, and prevention of COVID-19. The study notes that
"there is also a longer-term goal. The immediate use and successful
application of digital technology to tackle a major, global public-health
challenge in 2020 will probably increase the public and governmental
acceptance of such technologies for other areas of healthcare, including
chronic disease in the future."
Yet, Gaps in the Use of COVID-19 Technologies Persist and New
Uncertainties about Risks Have Arisen
The speed at which governments worldwide have rolled out digital
solutions has sparked debate among scholars and society at-large.
Concerns range from the risks of privacy infringements to more
fundamental questions about the efficacy of such solutions to stop or
slow the spread of the virus.
"In the rush to act quickly," Kitchin (2020) emphasizes, "there has not
been sufficient thought and assessment given to the technical feasibility
of proffered solutions, whether they will work in practice, and the extent
to which they will provide more effective outcomes than traditional
interventions."
The use of digital solutions and the collection of highly granular or
personal data have raised concerns about privacy and ethics, especially in
the case of contact tracing and digital check-in systems in crowded areas.
In June 2020, a privacy assessment of six contact tracing applications
developed in ASEAN countries found that only one-TraceTogether in
Singapore-had a good privacy statement and sufficient accompanying
documents, clearly explaining which type of personal data was being
collected, and how it might be used or disclosed (Shepherdson 2020).
Mass testing programmes, high compliance with adequate isolation
measures, and low number of cases , as well as solid legislative
foundations for the deployment of technology, are required to ensure
that digital solutions such as contact tracing become effective while
safeguarding privacy, Kitchin (2020) notes.
In addition, specific actions are needed to reduce the digital divide among
some segments of the population, including the elderly, low-income
households and the differently-abled. Those who are less digitally-versed
have not been well included in the initial digital responses (Das and Zhang
2020).
Singapore has provided a response to this latter challenge by
introducing a "Trace Token" wearable device that can be worn by seniors
to ensure that they participate in the national contact tracing efforts. So
far, these inclusion strategies have not been replicated in the region.
Finally, in the case of digital contact tracing, many commentators have
criticized the fact that a 60 percent coverage target of the population is
difficult to achieve. Yet, Hinch et al. (2020) have shown that "even with
lower numbers of app users, we still estimate a reduction in the number
of coronavirus cases and deaths." Fraser emphasizes that "combined with
other interventions such as community testing and continued shielding of
vulnerable individuals, digital contact tracing can help prevent
coronavirus from rapidly re-emerging" (as cited in Big Data Institute,
Oxford University 2020)."	3

Leveraging Digital Solutions to Fight COVID-19:

Lessons from ASEAN Countries

Table 1. Classification of a Selection of Digital Solutions used by ASEAN Countries and Cities

Highly integrated solutions but not	Highly integrated solutions well used by citizens (B2C apps) or
well used by citizens (B2C apps)	governments (B2G solutions)
Indonesia	Brunei Darussalam
Jaki/JakCorona (communication)	BruHealth (self-reporting)
Sapawarga (aid distribution)	Cambodia
Thailand	Go.Data (support for decision-making)
Card2U (communication)	Indonesia
Mor Chana (contact tracing)	Pikobar (communication)
Thai Chana (contact tracing)	Siap Tanggap (support for decision-making)
Vietnam	Ur-scape (support for decision-making)
NCOVI (self-reporting)	Malaysia
	E-bazaar Melaka (economic recovery)
	Gerak Malaysia (contact tracing)
	Kita2Kita (aid distribution)
	MySejahtera (contact tracing)
	MyTrace (contact tracing)
	PGCare (contact tracing)
	SabahTrace (contact tracing)
	SeLangkah (contact tracing)
	Philippines
	Smart Infocast (communication)
	Singapore
	COVID-19 WhatsApp GOV.SG (communication)
	Safe Distance @ Parks (behavior change)
	Safe Entry (contact tracing)
	Space Out (behavior change)
	TraceTogether (contact tracing)
	Thailand
	SydeKick (self-reporting)
	Vietnam
	COMOKIT (support for decision-making)
	BlueZone (contact tracing)
Insufficiently integrated solutions not well	Insufficiently integrated solutions but well used by citizens (B2C apps)
used by citizens (B2C apps)
Indonesia	Indonesia
PeduliLindungi (contact tracing)	Bagirata (economic recovery)
Myanmar	Indonesia Bergerak (communication)
Saw Saw Shar (self-reporting)	LaporCovid19 (communication)
Philippines	Malaysia
FASSSTER (support for decision-making)	Vulnerability Index (support for decision-making)
RC143 (self-reporting)	Thailand
Stay Safe Ph (self-reporting)	5Lab Market (economic recovery)
We Trace Cebu (self-reporting)	QueQ (behavior change)
Source: Authors' construction
Note: B2C = business to citizen; B2G = business to government.

Analyzing the Fragmented Digital Response to COVID-19 in ASEAN

The ASEAN region has not been exempted from the debates around the use of technology during COVID-19. The ultimate impacts of these solutions are directly linked to how they were framed and introduced by their promoters.

This policy brief classifies COVID-19 technologies being used in ASEAN countries into three categories (table 1):

1. The level of integration of digital solutions within government operations during the COVID-19 pandemic
2. The level of involvement of technology partners (academia, start-ups, telecommunication companies), in either B2G (business-to-government) or B2C (business-to-citizen) applications
3. The level of participation of citizens (general acceptance of the solution).

The first two categories were assessed through interviews with experts and online research. The third was measured by the number of estimated installations in the case of B2C mobile applications (based on Apple Store and Google Play estimations), complemented with insights from interviews with experts.

This framework aims to provide an initial basis for evaluating the impacts of digital solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the context of Southeast Asia.

Policy Implications

Four main policy implications follow from this brief's research and

4 observations.

1. Ensure Government Leadership and Multilevel Coordination in Times of Crisis

In most ASEAN countries, governments, generally at the central level, took the lead in introducing digital solutions, ensuring strong coordination with public health investigations and virus containment measures. Long-term investments in government institutions and national digitalization programs have helped countries in ASEAN initiate digital responses to the numerous challenges posed by COVID-19 (Soon 2020).

The countries in the region that have been most successful in curbing the virus are the ones where leadership has been strong over the different phases of the crisis, and where learning-driven and "trial-and-error" approaches have been adopted to adjust policies along the way (Abdullah and Kim 2020).

Given the complexity and unprecedented scale of the pandemic, the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the need to work across government agencies and ministries in a whole-of-government approach and to support the transformation of digital solutions developed during the crisis phase to fit the needs and the challenges of the recovery phase.

2. Leverage Local Digital Technology Ecosystems

In times of crisis, no one can claim a monopoly on how to deal with multifaceted and complex challenges. While government action can initiate technological responses, fighting COVID-19 at a digital level means mobilizing a wide range of stakeholders and activating the various technology ecosystems and alliances that exist locally.