Faced with a health situation that remains difficult, XPRIZE and Cognizant have launched the Pandemic Response Challenge. The aim of this competition is to harness the power of data and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide decision makers, health officials and business leaders with the information and advice needed to implement public safety measures. They will need to maximize their ability to keep economies open at the local level while minimizing the resurgence of virus-related cases. The latest reports indicate that a COVID-19 vaccine may arrive in the near future, making the speed at which populations are vaccinated a key variable in strategies to reopen societies and restore the global economy. Based on the AI technology and models developed by Cognizant, and using data compiled by the COVID-19 Government Response Tracker in Oxford (based at the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University), the registered teams will build data-based AI models that predict local transmission rates of COVID-19 and prescribe response and mitigation measures. The latter, tested under "what-if" scenarios, are shown to minimize infection rates as well as negative economic impacts. Effective models can also serve as a roadmap for future crises. Amir Banifatemi, Director of Innovation and Growth at XPRIZE said :
"This challenge will challenge some of the world's brightest innovators to address the immediate threats to our economies and livelihoods. Through global collaboration, the outcome of this award could make a difference in the use of data and AI to lead the way through a range of economic scenarios created by the competing teams. With vaccines on the horizon, these predictive and prescriptive models for opening up society will continue to be useful in the near future".
Brian Humphries, CEO of Cognizant said:
"The way forward to reopening the world's economies will be based on collaboration. We are pleased to partner with XPRIZE to bring together a global and interdisciplinary ecosystem of innovators to leverage their AI expertise to help us emerge from this pandemic. As these teams build on Cognizant's Evolutionary AI basic research ™, we look forward to the solutions they will provide to help decision-makers deal with COVID-19 and future humanitarian crises".
The Pandemic Response Challenge is the first competition launched as part of the collaboration between XPRIZE's AI and Data for Good, a community of volunteer data scientists, developers and designers using their skills to solve global challenges through the use of data, machine learning and AI. Chaesub Lee, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, explained :
"COVID-19 highlighted the importance of AI's ability to predict impending epidemics and accurately diagnose symptoms. The potential of AI to advance health is a long-standing pillar of the AI for Good movement co-organized with XPRIZE. In response to this critical issue, I am pleased to continue our valuable partnership and support this challenge in response to the pandemic".
A $500,000 award will be presented at the end of the competition in February 2021. Unlike other XPRIZE competitions, the urgency to end the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic led Cognizant and XPRIZE to introduce an accelerated four-month timeline for the challenge. Teams must register to join the competition by December 8, 2020. During Phase 1, the teams will provide accurate predictions of VIDOC-19 transmission based on local data, unique response strategies and mitigation policies and practices by December 22, 2020. In Phase 2, the top 50 teams will provide prescriptive models that will be evaluated in terms of minimizing the number of cases and minimizing the rigour (i.e. cost) of response plans (RPPs). Phase 2 will be completed in February 2021. Throughout each phase, the teams will benefit from cloud computing and computing services, provided by the support partner, AWS, to facilitate the development of their solutions. To date, 92 teams from 21 countries have registered to participate. Together with partners such as the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, Intel, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the City of Los Angeles, the University of Texas at Austin, WorldQuant Predictive, Alpha Intelligence Capital and AIQ, XPRIZE has recruited the following global experts to join the Pandemic Response Challenge Advisory Board:
  • Philipp Roesler, former Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister of Economics and Technology of Germany
  • Toby Phillips, Head of Research and Policy, Digital Pathways at Oxford; Executive Director, Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker
  • Jeanne Holm, Deputy Mayor of Budget and Innovation, City of Los Angeles
  • Stacey Shulman, Vice President, Internet of Things Group, Intel Corporation; Chief Innovation Officer - Retail, Banking, Hospitality, & Education, Intel Corporation
  • Lauren Meyers, Professor, Departments of Integrative Biology and Statistics and Data Science, Director, UT COVID-19 Modeling Consortium
  • Melissa Rowe, Vice President, Global Research Talent, RAND Corporation; Affiliate Faculty, Pardee RAND Graduate School
  • Dr. Paulo Chapchap, CEO, Hospital Sírio-Lebanês
  • Mariya Filipova, Innovation Ambassador, Anthem, Inc.
  • Thor Aspelund, Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Iceland
For more information on the challenge and team registration, visit XPRIZE.org/pandemicresponse Translated from XPRIZE et Cognizant lancent le Pandemic Response Challenge visant à l’accélération de l'utilisation de l'IA

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