Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jul 6;8(7):e34605.
doi: 10.2196/34605.

Assessing the Implementation of Digital Innovations in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic to Address Key Public Health Functions: Scoping Review of Academic and Nonacademic Literature

Joseph Francombe  1 , Gemma-Claire Ali  1 , Emily Ryen Gloinson  1 , Carolina Feijao  1 , Katherine I Morley  1 , Salil Gunashekar  1 , Helena de Carvalho Gomes  2
Affiliations

Assessing the Implementation of Digital Innovations in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic to Address Key Public Health Functions: Scoping Review of Academic and Nonacademic Literature

Joseph Francombe et al. JMIR Public Health Surveill. .

Abstract

Background: Digital technologies have been central to efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, a range of literature has reported on developments regarding the implementation of new digital technologies for COVID-19-related surveillance, prevention, and control.

Objective: In this study, scoping reviews of academic and nonacademic literature were undertaken to obtain an overview of the evidence regarding digital innovations implemented to address key public health functions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to expand on the work of existing reviews by drawing on additional data sources (including nonacademic sources) by considering literature published over a longer time frame and analyzing data in terms of the number of unique digital innovations.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review of the academic literature published between January 1, 2020, and September 15, 2020, supplemented by a further scoping review of selected nonacademic literature published between January 1, 2020, and October 13, 2020. Both reviews followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) approach.

Results: A total of 226 academic articles and 406 nonacademic articles were included. The included articles provided evidence of 561 (academic literature) and 497 (nonacademic literature) unique digital innovations. The most common implementation settings for digital innovations were the United States, China, India, and the United Kingdom. Technologies most commonly used by digital innovations were those belonging to the high-level technology group of integrated and ubiquitous fixed and mobile networks. The key public health functions most commonly addressed by digital innovations were communication and collaboration and surveillance and monitoring.

Conclusions: Digital innovations implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been wide ranging in terms of their implementation settings, the digital technologies used, and the public health functions addressed. However, evidence gathered through this study also points to a range of barriers that have affected the successful implementation of digital technologies for public health functions. It is also evident that many digital innovations implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are yet to be formally evaluated or assessed.

Keywords: COVID-19; digital health; digital technologies; key public health functions; mobile phone; pandemic; scoping review; surveillance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) flow diagrams for the review of academic literature (left) and nonacademic literature (right; review time frame for academic literature: January 1, 2020, to September 15, 2020; review time frame for nonacademic literature: January 1, 2020, to October 13, 2020).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of digital innovations using each high-level technology group in the review of academic literature (left) and nonacademic literature (right; review time frame for academic literature: January 1, 2020, to September 15, 2020; review time frame for nonacademic literature: January 1, 2020, to October 13, 2020). GIS: Geographic Information Systems.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Budd J, Miller BS, Manning EM, Lampos V, Zhuang M, Edelstein M, Rees G, Emery VC, Stevens MM, Keegan N, Short MJ, Pillay D, Manley E, Cox IJ, Heymann D, Johnson AM, McKendry RA. Digital technologies in the public-health response to COVID-19. Nat Med. 2020 Aug;26(8):1183–92. doi: 10.1038/s41591-020-1011-4.10.1038/s41591-020-1011-4 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Golinelli D, Boetto E, Carullo G, Nuzzolese AG, Landini MP, Fantini MP. Adoption of digital technologies in health care during the COVID-19 pandemic: systematic review of early scientific literature. J Med Internet Res. 2020 Nov 06;22(11):e22280. doi: 10.2196/22280. https://www.jmir.org/2020/11/e22280/ v22i11e22280 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mbunge E, Akinnuwesi B, Fashoto SG, Metfula AS, Mashwama P. A critical review of emerging technologies for tackling COVID-19 pandemic. Hum Behav Emerg Technol. 2021 Jan;3(1):25–39. doi: 10.1002/hbe2.237. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/33363278 HBE2237 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vargo D, Zhu L, Benwell B, Yan Z. Digital technology use during COVID-19 pandemic: a rapid review. Human Behav Emerg Technol. 2021 Jan;3(1):13–24. doi: 10.1002/hbe2.242. doi: 10.1002/hbe2.242. - DOI - DOI
    1. Cohen IG, Gostin LO, Weitzner DJ. Digital smartphone tracking for COVID-19: public health and civil liberties in tension. JAMA. 2020 Jun 16;323(23):2371–2. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.8570.2766675 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types