WASHINGTON, USA – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has joined forces with Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, to provide free access to geospatial technology in response to the COVID-19 emergency in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
Governments in the region will be able to use a custom COVID-19 solution to track critical equipment and assets availability, manage supply chains, and maintain business continuity.
Leveraging Esri’s Disaster Response Program, and based on the specific needs of IDB member countries, this collaboration provides access to technology resources that can enhance the region’s response to the immediate public health emergency posed by COVID-19.
Concretely, governments in the region will be able to leverage Esri’s analytical models and implement dashboards and control centers to monitor the spread of the virus and identify where intervention is needed.
“With ESRI, we have developed a collaborative relationship focused on working with IDB clients to solve complex problems and combat COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Nuria Simo, the IDB’s chief information officer and general manager of department of information technology. “We believe ESRI’s leadership in disaster response programs, technical knowledge and assistance in the use of geographic information systems, usage of georeferenced data, and access to analytical tools can greatly benefit the region in its fight against the virus, while helping us meet other important needs in the countries we serve.”
“We are very proud to assist IDB in providing support to Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president.
“The ability to understand emergency management capacity is crucial to handling a crisis like this, and it is our mission to offer enhanced technological capabilities that empower governments around the globe to respond faster, and with the best data resources at their disposal.”
In addition to supporting the public health response, the partnership will also support the three other priority areas identified by the IDB as it works to address COVID-19 in LAC, including the creation of safety nets for vulnerable populations, economic productivity and employment, and the development of fiscal policies to relieve economic impacts.