Contact tracing app built by JU teacher, ex-student

A teacher and a former student of Jahangirnagar University have built a smartphone app to trace the spread of the coronavirus.

The contact tracing app named COVID Finder will use Bluetooth technology to find out if its users have contacted any infected person within last 14-21 days.

Teacher of JU’s Institute of Information Technology Wahiduzzaman and former student of the institution Rajon Hossain jointly built the app.

Wahiduzzaman is also a post-doctoral research fellow at Australia’s Queensland University and Technology. Rajon is working as a software engineer at Monsterlab Bangladesh.

Wahiduzzaman said, contact tracing and isolating those who come in contact with infected person are the most important and difficult work to curb the spread of coronavirus.

COVID Finder app would facilitate contact tracing, he added.

He said, Australia and European countries have benefited from using such apps.

Wahiduzzaman said they now need the government’s support to launch the app in Bangladesh.

“We believe Bangladesh can be benefited by using this app. We’ve completed the app and can add more features if needed. But we need the government’s support to launch it,” he said.

We will able to upgrade server system and other works upon support from the government, Wahiduzzaman added.

How will COVID Finder work

The users will have to log in using their name and phone number. The app collects Universally Unique Identifier-UUID code and sends name and phone number to the relevant server.

Any relevant government body might control the server. The app uses Bluetooth technology for contact tracing.

The users will be notified about contact with any patient.