This innovation proved its pedigree during the Covid-19 pandemic although it was developed almost 20 years earlier.

Dr. Kamran Khan, an infectious disease physician in Toronto, set up BlueDot after the SARS epidemic struck in 2003. BlueDot is an epidemic intelligence company that uses masses of data, artificial intelligence, scientific knowledge and digital technologies to help governments learn as early as possible about outbreaks of disease.

By the time COVID-19 began, Dr. Khan’s system was in peak form. BlueDot began tracking the novel virus from Wuhan, China long before most people on Earth had any inkling anything was wrong. The company issued its first warnings to clients nine days before the World Health Organization alerted the world, and published one of the first scientific papers on the new coronavirus.