Coronavirus Emergency Extraordinary Commissioner Arcuri has signed the order giving the go-ahead to Immuni, the tracking app developed by Bending Spoon.
Italy is preparing for Phase 2. For several days now, the Italian government has been working to organize, define and optimize the reopening of production activities and the return (hopefully) to normal after the lockdown imposed by the Coronavirus emergency. A very important step forward was taken on Thursday 16 April. In the late evening, the extraordinary commissioner for the emergency Domenico Arcuri signed an order ordering the signing of the contract for the free transfer of the Immuni (immune, unaffacted ndr) tracking software license. This is an app developed by the Milanese software house Bending Spoons for contact tracing (contact tracing) necessary to control the spread of the Coronavirus from next May 4. The Immuni app will not be mandatory: only those who want to use it can download it for free from Android or IOS stores.
How Immuni works: the app for tracking against Coronavirus
The app – selected by a group of experts appointed by the Minister of Innovation – will perform two main functions. First, Immuni will provide extensive contact tracking using Bluetooth technology. The system detects when two smartphones approach each other less than 1 meter away and keeps track of all contacts. In this way, if a person tests positive for the Coronavirus, it is possible to reconstruct all his or her contacts and track potential infected persons. All this in total anonymity: once downloaded, in fact, the Immuni app records contacts in the form of encrypted identification codes. The second function of Immuni is a sort of “clinical diary” where each citizen can enter a series of relevant information (sex, age, previous illnesses, medication intake) and note any symptoms or changes in health status. The app will be “an important pillar in the management of the next phase of the emergency”, explained Commissioner Arcuri. The Commissioner went on to make it clear that, before the app is made available, a trial will be launched in a number of pilot regions “to progressively extend the voluntary option, but we hope massive numbers of our citizens will be able to endure and support this system, which we need to avoid a repeat of the previous dramatic phase”.