In our socio-technical analysis of COVID-19 in Italy and South Korea, we prescribed a disruptive combination of social interventions and we predicted (derived) the Apple / Google initiative for a non-intrusive approach to contact tracing. Apple / Google used “ambidextrous thinking” (a form of systematic innovation) to solve the tension between the effectiveness and intrusiveness of contract tracing with a distributed Bluetooth architecture.

Biology vs. Economy: A False Choice (a socio-technical analysis of COVID-19 in Italy and South Korea — with Livio Mariano @ Altair Engineering, a simulation vendor in Italy)

published as the lead article @ ORMS Today — the journal of operations research and management science

INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and Management Science — the publisher of ORMS Today) counts 29 recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economics as authors

COVID-19 response from OR / MS perspective — it seems like we need to shine more of that light on this subject. A comprehensive problem-solving approach combined with rigorous quantitative analysis.

Our quantitative analysis of COVID-19 in Italy and South Korea produced potential implications for global response. We simulated the underlying biological parameters and their interactions with corresponding social interventions. We identified particular configurations that would enable policymakers to battle the virus without destroying the economy.

Our analysis suggests a combination of broad and narrow social interventions with increased emphasis on contact tracing; we anticipated the emergence of the Apple / Google initiative for a non-intrusive approach to contact tracing.

This article was also published in print format @ ORMS Today in the June 2020 issue.

COVID-19 / Systematic Innovation @ ORMS Today #2