A Review on Technology-Based Contact Tracing Solutions and Its Application in Developing Countries

Abstract

To mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a plethora of technology-based contact tracing (CT) applications have been proposed, designed, and deployed by private and government entities in various countries globally in order to return society to some semblance of normalcy. Although most of the modifications done on the underlining protocols mostly focus on the privacy and ethical concerns of these solutions, pragmatic applications within developing countries are not considered, as applications in most cases are considered to be ubiquitous. This disparity leads to a design-reality gap as the involved entities fail to pay attention to the local conditions in which these systems could be deployed. In this work, an in-depth analysis of state-of-the-art technology-based CT protocols is discussed while considering the compatibility of these designs with the reality of lopsided levels of digital divides and other structural inequalities in developing countries. In addition, a number of existing solutions implemented in developing countries are delineated. Furthermore, pragmatic applications that consider social and technological infrastructures to bridge the gaps in these infrastructures are discussed as well as possible recommendations that could be implemented to effectively mitigate the spread of pandemic outbreaks in developing countries.