[Paper Review] Mobile phone data and COVID-19: Missing an opportunity?

Nuria Oliver, Emmanuel Letouzé+22 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Mar 27, 2020

COVID-19 epidemiological studiesMathematics19 references106 citations

TL;DR

The paper argues that mobile phone data could guide COVID-19 interventions and evaluate distancing measures, but important gaps hinder their use, and it offers recommendations to mobilize this resource.

ABSTRACT

This paper describes how mobile phone data can guide government and public health authorities in determining the best course of action to control the COVID-19 pandemic and in assessing the effectiveness of control measures such as physical distancing. It identifies key gaps and reasons why this kind of data is only scarcely used, although their value in similar epidemics has proven in a number of use cases. It presents ways to overcome these gaps and key recommendations for urgent action, most notably the establishment of mixed expert groups on national and regional level, and the inclusion and support of governments and public authorities early on. It is authored by a group of experienced data scientists, epidemiologists, demographers and representatives of mobile network operators who jointly put their work at the service of the global effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Motivation & Objective

• Assess how mobile phone data can inform government and public health decisions during COVID-19.
• Identify gaps and why mobile data have been underutilized despite potential benefits.
• Propose actionable recommendations to overcome barriers and enable rapid data-driven responses.

Proposed method

• Review of the potential roles of mobile phone data in guiding COVID-19 actions and measuring control measures.
• Identification of gaps, barriers, and reasons for scarce use of mobile data in health crises.
• Recommendations for establishing expert groups and government support to enable rapid deployment of mobile data insights.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the potential uses of mobile phone data for guiding COVID-19 interventions and evaluating physical distancing?
• RQ2 What gaps and barriers prevent effective use of mobile phone data in pandemic response?
• RQ3 What governance and collaboration mechanisms can unlock the value of mobile data for public health during COVID-19?

Key findings

• Mobile phone data have proven value in similar epidemics and could help tailor interventions and assess control measures.
• There are key gaps and reasons for limited data use that need to be overcome.
• Urgent action includes establishing mixed expert groups at national and regional levels and ensuring government and public authorities are involved early.