Covid Alert Application Installation

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The decision

2020-09-30 · Toronto City Council · amended

As filed

City Council on September 30, October 1 and 2, 2020, adopted the following: 1.City Council request the Chief Technology Officer, in collaboration with the Chief Information Security Officer, Chief People Officer, and the Chief Communications Officer to push the COVID Alert app to City managed mobile devices, and implement communications to promote activation and use of the app. 2. City Council encourage other governments

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and public sector organizations to take a similar approach to utilizing public assets and encourage businesses with corporate assets to do the same.

On the agenda

As the city filed it

In July 2020 the Government of Canada released its Covid Alert app for mobile devices. This free software is designed to utilize wireless technology to inform citizens should they come into close proximity of another user of the app who has tested positive for Covid-19, so that they may take appropriate steps to limit the spread of the virus. The software works best when a critical number of users enable the technology, and the more applications installed, the more effective that it is.

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Since then, media reports have indicated a modest uptake among Canadians despite the wide availability of the free app. While organizations across the country have made enormous efforts to combat the spread of Covid-19 through physical distancing, modified operations, restrictions, sanitization and handwashing, the free application appears to be underutilized. This software is a valuable tool in the fight against Covid-19, gaining strength in numbers. The City of Toronto manages over 9,000 mobile devices for employees, and potentially thousands more within the span of influence of Council in the broader public sector. Given the negligible cost of deploying this software in an organized manner of across its mobile devices, I am requesting that the City government investigate deploying this software across every device in the mobile fleet. If successful, this could pave the way for other public and private sector organizations to do the same.

Staff recommended

The General Government and Licensing Committee submits this item without recommendation.

Considered

2020-09-14 · General Government and Licensing Committee · forwarded without recommendation
Decision as filed
The General Government and Licensing Committee submits this item without recommendation.
Clerk’s note
The General Government and Licensing Committee: 1. Directed the City Manager, in consultation with the Medical Officer of Health, to report directly to the September 30, 2020 City Council meeting on the feasibility of installing the Covid Alert app on all City of Toronto managed mobile devices and the necessary steps to maximize the benefit of the software.
2020-09-30 · Toronto City Council · amended

On the record

The item as the City filed it

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