• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
  • Volunteer
    • Internship with The Online Citizen
  • Donation
  • Subscription
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

TraceTogether app was inspired by US high school project, GovTech invited student to support its development

by 0033
11/06/2020
in Tech
Reading Time: 2 mins read
6

Government Technology Agency (GovTech) staff demonstrate Singapore's new contact-tracing smarthphone app called TraceTogether, as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Singapore on March 20, 2020. - The mobile app using Bluetooth technology developed by GovTech in collaboration with the Ministry of Health informs user who had close contacts to confirmed coronavirus cases was launched in Singapore on 20. (Photo by Catherine LAI / AFP)

With doubts and questions revolving around the TraceTogether mobile application that was said to facilitate in COVID-19 contact tracing, it was revealed that this particular technology originated from the United States.

According to a reported released by Reuters yesterday (10 June), Singapore’s contact tracing project was apparently inspired by a 2014 US high school project that won an international prize, but there were no sponsors or investors to support further development.

Rohan Suri, who was a student at Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Virginia, developed a prototype called kTrace with his schoolmate in light of the Ebola epidemic in Africa.

The duo appealed to medical aid organisations and the US government to bring their creation to the frontlines. However, no one was interested in their project even though they won third place for systems software at the 2015 International Science and Engineering Fair.

Things took a turn when Singapore’s GovTech approached Mr Suri regarding his contact tracing technology on 24 January. GovTech’s senior director Jason Bay invited the now 21-year-old student to support the development of the TraceTogether app.

Therefore, the current Stanford University student spent February and March volunteering on GovTech’s TraceTogether app with fellow Stanford students Nikhil Cheerla and Daniel Lee.

The students revealed that they gave Singapore a roadmap by sharing kTrace’s code and providing advice in virtual meetings on stronger privacy protections. They also collected 13 phones to help test the Bluetooth technology.

Mr Cheerla stated that Singapore was “just looking around for any way to speed up the development process”, adding that they “fit in”.

GovTech clarified that Mr Bay contacted Mr Suri “to understand his experiences and considerations in designing kTrace for Android”. It was also reported that the latter “did not commit code to TraceTogether”, nor did the agency use kTrace in the development of TraceTogether.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Recent Posts

  • Frantic hunt for Indonesian submarine as rescuers hone in on radar contact
  • Open letter to ASEAN Leaders: Recommendations from CSOs in Myanmar and SEA to Special ASEAN Summit on Myanmar
  • PM Lee announces major reshuffle of 7 ministries; Lawrence Wong to assume role of Finance Minister from DPM Heng
  • Asking for a ban on visitors from heavily infected countries does not necessarily equate to racism
  • India’s COVID-19 surge and the new variant: what we know
  • Japan rolls out vaccine slowly, despite looming Olympics
  • Doctor criticises MOH for discharging an infectious COVID-19 patient prematurely from hospital
  • Death by Zoom: virus-hit Indonesia orders executions online

Trending posts

Would PAP use the military in event of a "freak" election?

WP MP Louis Chua encourages public to ensure their CPF nomination is in order, following recent encounter with a case which didn’t

Netizens urge a ban on flights from India; slam experts who say it is not yet necessary

Doctor criticises MOH for discharging an infectious COVID-19 patient prematurely from hospital

Mismanagement of public property at Sungei Api Api must stop; tax dollars down the drain

Petition calls Singapore Government to ban travellers from India as COVID-19 cases soar there

S’pore to ban non-resident visitors from India starting 23 Apr, “until further notice”: MOH

Ng Chee Meng to confer award to Chee Hong Tat at May Day Awards 2021

When will Singapore return to normal given the continued imported cases?

Why is S’pore still allowing workers from high-risk countries to arrive when other countries do not?

Load More
June 2020
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930 
« May   Jul »
  • About Us
  • Volunteer
  • Donation
  • Subscription
  • Letter submission
  • Contact Us

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

wpDiscuz
6
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
| Reply