Project AEDES

Project AEDES, by CirroLytix is a tool that correlates dengue cases and deaths with real-time data from climate, google searches, and remote sensing, to predict potential dengue hotspot locations.

Website: https://aedesproject.org

Type of Digital Public Good

  • ✅  Open content
  • ✅  Open data
  • Open software
  • Open standard
  • Open AI model

1. Is it relevant to one of the Sustainable Development Goals?

  • 3. Good Health and Well-being

    Evidence: In 2019, the Philippine government declared a national epidemic as the country struggled to contain its worst dengue outbreak since 2012. Total reported dengue cases reached 420,453 and deaths at 1,565 - a 78% increase in infections (235,994) and 33% increase in deaths (1,181) from 2018. With manual reporting, release of dengue data is delayed which hampers the health sector’s ability to effectively deal with the threat. There was a need to move the emphasis from treatment to prevention. Project AEDES was then developed to improve public health response and address the challenge of getting real-time on the ground information on dengue. The application is envisioned to guide and help the general public, government officials, policymakers, and health workers understand the spread of dengue in their communities, locate at-risk areas for outbreaks and probable habitats of mosquitoes, and implement interventions.

    Link to Evidence: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/9/17/philippines-worst-dengue-outbreak-in-years-kills-over-a-thousand
    http://iris.wpro.who.int/handle/10665.1/14461
    https://aedesproject.org/#ourWork

2. Does it use an appropriate open license?

Yes, this project is licensed under the following license(s):

3. Is ownership clearly defined?

Is the ownership of the project and everything that the project produces clearly defined and documented?

Yes

If yes - please link to the relevant copyright, trademarks, or ownership documentation for the project.

https://github.com/Cirrolytix/aedes_dpg/blob/main/readme.md
https://www.earthobservations.org/geo_blog_obs.php?id=472

4. Does the license of libraries/dependencies undermine the openess of the project?

Does this open project have mandatory dependencies (i.e. libraries, hardware) that create more restrictions than the original license?

Yes

If yes - are the open source components able to demonstrate independence from the closed component(s) and/or are there functional, open alternatives?

Yes

If yes - please describe how the open source components are independent and/or list the open alternatives for the closed component:

An alternative to the current weather data service is to source out directly from free and open access satellite data. We are proposing to use the following alternate weather indicators for weather data are: Land Surface Temperature and Precipitation both of which are available from Terra/Aqua and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) missions, respectively. These can be used as alternative weather sources which can be sourced for free from the NASA and USGS data products:
https: //gpm.nasa.gov/data
https://gpm.nasa.gov/data
https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/tools/appeears/

5. Is there documentation?

Does some documentation exist of the source code, use cases, and/or functional requirements. For software projects, this should be present as technical documentation that would allow a technical person unfamiliar with the project to launch and run the software. For datasets and data projects, this should be present as documentation that describes all the fields in the set, and provides context on how the data was collected and how it should be interpreted. For content collections, this should indicate any relevant compatible apps, software, hardware required to access the content and any instructions about how to use it.

Yes

If yes - please link to the relevant documentation:

6. Is non PII data and/or content accessible?

Does this project collect or use non-personally identifiable information (non-PII) data and/or content?

No

If yes - is there a mechanism for extracting or importing non-personally identifiable information (non-PII) from the system in a non-proprietary format?

No

If yes - describe the mechanism for extracting or importing non-personally identifiable information from the system in a non-proprietary format:

Not applicable

7. Does the project adhere to privacy and other applicable international and domestic laws?

Has this project taken steps to ensure adherence with relevant privacy, domestic, and international laws? For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union or the Supplementary Act A/SA.1/01/10 on Personal Data Protection for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (yes/no)

Yes

If yes, please list some of relevant laws that the project complies with:

  • In the Philippines, the Data Privacy Act of 2012 is enacted to ensure privacy and data protection. The law applies to practices or activities engaged in processing of personal data. AEDES does not collect, store or transfer PII data.

If yes, please describe the steps this project has taken to ensure adherence (include links to terms of service, privacy policy, or other relevant documentation):

  • All dengue cases and deaths data used by AEDES had been collected from publicly released reports of the Department of Health, Philippines and does not contain any personal patient information.
    https://aedesproject.org/privacy

8. Does the project adhere to standards and best practices?

Does this project support standards? (i.e. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 or other standards such as those listed on W3C)

Yes

Which standards does this project support (please list)

  • HTML5
  • CSS3
  • AJAX
  • JSON
  • HTTPS
  • GeoTIFF
  • SSL

Can you point to evidence of your support? (i.e. please link to your validator, open test suite, etc.)

Was this project built and developed according to or in adherence with any design, technical and/or sector best practices or principles? i.e. the Principles for Digital Development?

Yes

Which principles and best practices does this project support (please list)

  • We refer to the Principles for Digital Development and describe below how our work with AEDES have applied these principles:
  • 1. Design with the User
    With the general public, LGUs, policymakers, and public health officials as intended target users of AEDES, we developed the application on a user-friendly web interface for ease of accessibility. We have presented this to WHO Philippines and we have gotten feedback from a healthcare professional on how and what to improve in the application.
  • 2. Understand the Existing Ecosystem
    Dengue is already an existing public health problem not only in the Philippines and but also in many Asian and Latin American countries. As the product needs to be improved further, we are working with other researchers and scoping for funding opportunities.
  • 3. Design for Scale
    We are now closely working with other researchers to further improve AEDES. We want to expand the functionalities of AEDES and incorporate a dengue risk index. We have used the MVC Framework (Model, View, Controller) which isolates application functionality into self-contained components. We also utilized the API from Sentinel Copernicus Satellites to get satellite images with vast date ranges.
  • 4. Build for Sustainability
    Since the data captured is from global and public remote sensing service, the application can continue gathering data. There is a plan to create a social enterprise around the dengue prediction service, by incorporating other risk frameworks, we can generalize the process and ensure that other indicators will also be integrated. The results and/or insights will be offered on a subscription basis.
  • 5. Be Data Driven
    Data, as it moves along its value chain from creation to actionable insights, underpins the overall workflow of AEDES. Also, by leveraging the three main disciplines of analytics - Descriptive, Predictive, and Prescriptive, AEDES facilitates a holistic approach to dengue prevention and control and empowers its intended users to make informed decisions.
  • 6. Use Open Standards, Open Data, Open Source, and Open Innovation
    AEDES was built through an open innovation challenge by NASA, we also advocate the use of Open Source technologies such as Python, PHP for tools, QGIS for geospatial analysis, Sentinel Copernicus Satellites for data, and government sources for weather and health-related data. AEDES prototype is also publicly hosted 24/7 for free. We welcome collaborators to improve and provide feedback to the AEDES implementation.
  • 7. Reuse and Improve
    AEDES at its core was developed by reusing prior work by other researchers. By combining three research papers related to using social listening, stagnant water detection, and dengue prediction we have developed the application. We are planning on using other research to integrate risk frameworks to improve the current workflow of AEDES.
  • 8. Address Privacy & Security
    We dont collect, store, or transfer any personal information. AEDES website also uses HTTPS (Positive SSL) for website security.
  • 9. Be Collaborative
    The team has expanded since winning the hackathon and have been closely working with dengue researchers and experts (Dr. Thaddeus Carvajal, Wilson Chua, and Dr. Michael Promentilla). We are also continuously exploring collaborative initiatives to work on improving the many aspects of the AEDES (i.e., Prediction models, Data Sources, Remote Sensing methodologies)

9. Does the project do no harm by design?

Has this project taken steps to anticipate, prevent and do no harm by design?

On the whole, does this project take steps to ensure that it anticipates, prevents and does no harm by design?

Yes

Is there any additional information you would like to share about the mechanisms, processes or policies that this project uses to avoid doing harm by design?

We use the Data Ethics Canvas Tool to ensure ethical use of data at every stage of the project.
https://theodi.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ODI-Data-Ethics-Canvas-2019-05.pdf
All datasets were sourced from official publicly available records. Also, predictive models generated are subject to peer-review and probable identified mosquito hotspots are recommended to undergo monitoring and on-site validation.
The website is encrypted with a paid SSL certificate to guarantee users of authenticity of viewed data or content on the site, confidentiality of activity done, and ensure protection. The certificate also comes with a static site seal displayed on the site as a visual indicator of secure connection.
Since AEDES primarily uses weather, social listening, and public-health aggregated data, we do not gather any personally identifiable information that poses risk to its users. All information being used AEDES can be gathered through publicly available sources from respectable organizations.

9.a. Data Privacy & Security

Does this project collect or store personally identifiable information (PII) data and/or content?

No

If yes - please list the types of data and/or content collected and/or stored by the project:

Not Applicable

If yes - does this project share this data and/or content with third parties?

No

Please describe the circumstances with which this project shares data and/or content with third parties. Please add links as relevant.

Not Applicable

If yes - does the project ensure the privacy, security and integrity of this data and/or content collection and has it taken steps to prevent adverse impacts resulting from its collection, storage and distribution.

No

If yes - please describe the steps, and include a link to the privacy policy and/or terms of service:

Not Applicable

9.b. Inappropriate & Illegal Content

Does this project collect, store or distribute content?

Yes

If yes - what kinds of content does this project, collect, store or distribute? (i.e. childrens books)

Datasets, and satellite images, charts of statistical models, hotspot maps.

If yes - does this project have policies that describe what is considered innappropriate content? (i.e. child sexual abuse materials)

Yes

If yes - please link to the relevant policy/guidelines/documentation.

Project AEDES relevant links:
Privacy Policy and Terms of Use:
https://aedesproject.org/privacy
No other content shall be posted on the website other than the data.

If yes - does this project have policies and processes for detecting and moderating innappropriate/illegal content?

No

If yes - please describe the policies and processes for detecting, reporting and removing innapropriate/illegal content (Please include the average response time for assessment and/or action. Link to any policies or descriptions of how inappropriate content is handled):

No content may be posted other than the datasets in the AEDES data portal

9.c. Protection from harassment

Does this project facilitate interactions with or between users or contributors?

No

If yes - does the project take steps to address the safety and security of underage users?

Not Applicable

If yes - please describe the steps this project takes to address risk or prevent access by underage users:

Not Applicable

If yes - does the project help users and contributors protect themselves against grief, abuse, and harassment?

Not Applicable

If yes - please describe the steps taken to help users protect themselves.

Not Applicable

Development & deployment countries

List of countries this project was developed in.

  • Philippines

List of countries this project is actively deployed in.

  • Philippines