Public Health Emergency Response Use Case: Blockchain for a Mobile Workforce Sachiko A. Kuwabara, PhD, MA Director, Office of Risk Management and Operational Integrity Division of Emergency Operations | Center for Preparedness and Response ymf5@cdc.gov ACT-IAC Healthcare Blockchain Forum 27 March 2019

Use Case: Mobilizing Surge Capacity

CDC’s Mission: CDC works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S. As the nation’s health protection agency, CDC saves lives and protects people from health threats. To accomplish our mission, CDC conducts critical science and provides health information that protects our nation against expensive and dangerous health threats, and responds when these arise.

Deployment of CDC Experts When & Where Needed Risks to a timely and effective response Ability to rapidly mobilize surge capacity Current State: Systems that Support Mobilization “Siloed” Data Legacy Systems Lack of Trust in the Data

Challenges Shallow data pool for analytics Manual data entry (low trust data, entry errors, etc) Highly ambiguous requirements completion process for deployers Requirements verified manually (phone, email) Communication difficult, ambiguous contacts Overwhelming amount of pre-deployment information Inconsistent, difficult, non-system tracked safety check-ins Information learned on return not easily used to improve future deployments

Opportunities to Leverage Emerging Technology To make our emergency management systems More intelligent More secure More effective To collect, analyze, and communicate data To streamline processes and enable better decision making

Why Blockchain?

Benefits of Blockchain for Emergency Response? Allows data owners to retain ownership while still participating in eco-system Secure, cross-organizational data sharing; facilitates intra-agency participation Smart contracts drive automated workflow, actions and robust data trail Immutability of critical data for compliance, safety, analytics, etc. Automated, high-trust data and immutability create robust foundation for artificial intelligence

Goals: Enable more sophisticated, streamlined processes Enhance our use of data to drive decisions Improve capacity and efficiency by connecting disparate data systems and modernizing operations Share and utilize data to enhance coordination, leading to more informed, data driven decision making Centralized coordination, decentralized execution

Proof of Concept

Our Approach Start small Human-centered design and discovery Agile development and rapid prototyping principles Leverage existing consortiums Integration with new and existing systems (enterprise solution) Cross-functional project team Focus on user experience Microservices Expansion strategy

Explore Viability of Blockchain Technology Analyze and map out business process Prioritize and define exact opportunities to optimize emergency response process, and facilitate advanced automation techniques. Leveraging rapid prototyping principles, work collaboratively with stakeholders to develop a product that, meets business needs, and is approachable and easy to use.

Web App, Mobile App, DLT Establish an incorruptible, distributed database House structured and unstructured deployment data (i.e., readiness state) Aggregate information from other systems Build a limited mobile app to show the value of cognitive automation and how it can reduce deployment time

Return on Investment Decrease amount of time required to clear, track and monitor deployed assets Increase data quality, usability and transparency Improve feedback loop among users Expand use of advanced data analytics

Next Steps: Scale solution Focus on access to additional data and deployment insights Refocus business/Agency mindset How can data help to answer tough questions and automate the answering of easy ones? Minimally Viable Product (MVP) - 2019 ATO Process & Implementation

Considerations

Technical Considerations Public/Permissioned On chain/off-chain Scalability, auditability requirements Operating environment Authority to Operate (ATO) process Operating Costs

Other Considerations Culture/Organizational Readiness Decentralized Nature – Rules and Regulations Governance

Balancing Hype with Tangible Experiences Showcase Technology Demonstrate Value Engage stakeholders in incremental process

Thank you.