Maine Tech Community Rallies to Launch Site to Help Protect State from COVID-19

Maine Tech Community Rallies to Launch Site to Help Protect State from COVID-19 - Hallo World !!! Sports History, In this article you read by title Maine Tech Community Rallies to Launch Site to Help Protect State from COVID-19, We've prepared this article well so you can read and retrieve information on it. Hopefully the contents of the post Article Rocky Coast News, What we write can you understand. Okay, happy reading.

Title : Maine Tech Community Rallies to Launch Site to Help Protect State from COVID-19
link : Maine Tech Community Rallies to Launch Site to Help Protect State from COVID-19

Sports History |

Portland, ME - Pledgetoprotectme.org, created by Mainers for Mainers to spark widespread community engagement and protect the state from COVID-19, goes live today. In just two weeks, after 65 local professionals joined a first of its kind, Virtual Hackathon called “Flatten the Curve: Hacking COVID-19”, hosted and facilitated by a Portland based start-up called MyHealthMath, Maine’s tech community has developed a new website product and an invitation to a social challenge to help keep Maine safe and keep Maine home.

Pledgetoprotectme.org brings laser focus to the single most important action an individual can take to protect themselves, their families and their neighbors from COVID-19 and change the course of the disease in Maine: they can take a pledge to stay home. 

Users take the pledge and in turn encourage others in their social networks to do the same. The site harnesses Maine values of autonomy, self-determination and responsibility and provides social recognition, connection, resources and clear, apolitical, bite-sized coaching to help people adopt the new norms of physical distancing and staying home, actions required to change the course of COVID-19 in the state. 

Dr. Elizabeth Coté MD, MPA the Chief Mission Officer of MyHealthMath, one of 20 national Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellow and a direct care provider at Catholic Charities St. Francis Recovery Center thought up the Hackathon two weeks ago and it instantly gained traction in the robust Maine tech community. Dr. Coté highlighted the urgency of the Pledge, a concept that quickly rose to top priority for the group from a pipeline of dozens of innovative ideas generated by the hackathon group to mitigate COVID-19 in Maine.

“We each have power and control, to an extent we don’t even realize, to alter the impact of COVID-19 on our lives and those of our family members and neighbors. These are uncertain, overwhelming times. But one thing that is crystal clear; the single most important thing you can do to help the situation is to stay home as much as possible.” 

Experts agree that the devastation of COVID-19 could vary widely depending on actions taken at the state level and implemented by individuals. The White House recently cited an estimate modeled by the Imperial College of London that predicted up to 2.2 million people in the United States would die if no action were taken to slow the virus (Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team, March 16, 2020). 

The same White House Coronavirus Task Force issued their own estimates at 100,000 to 240,000 deaths Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing. Issued April 1, 2020 The White House based their prediction on modeling from the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which assumed all U.S. states would implement stay at home orders within the week and keep them in place until at least June 1. 

Regardless of the data, assumptions or modeling used to predict the consequences of COVID-19, all agree that the course of the pandemic largely depends on states’ actions and individual adherence to physical distancing and staying at home.

“The virus has already caused great suffering, but the future course of the pandemic is up to us. If each of us changes our daily behavior for the greater good, and encourages others to do the same, together we could exponentially decrease the virus’ devastation and crush the curve.” added Dr. Coté

The group is delighted that the site’s release coincides with Governor Mills’ “Stay Healthy at Home” Order. They hope the grassroots groundswell individual responsibility and social nudging promulgated by the website will inspire individuals to comply with the restrictions of the mandate. Humans are social beings and radical behavior changes, like staying home, are more successful with social reinforcement.

“That such a large group of tech talent, including a first year computer science student, a veteran tech company executive and even Senator Angus King, came together, virtually of course, and converged on this priority, speaks volumes about the state, our resources and the potential we have to flatten the curve” said David Widener, Chief Technology Officer at MyHealthMath. Maine businesses, The Via Agency, SaviLinx and Cross Employee Benefits sponsored the Hackathon, and StartUp Maine and Maine StartUps Insider supported the effort.

“It’s been so rewarding to work on this project with such amazing humans!” said lead illustrator and graphic designer Pam Chévez; “If the app sparks a fraction of the good-will, talent and energy that the process of making it has, it will be a wild success and save Maine lives.” 

The call is still out for dedicated community partners and volunteers to come together to help share the pledge, educate and encourage Mainers to stay at home. Visit pledgetoprotectme.org or email megan@pledgetoprotectme.org for ways to join the effort and learn more.

ABOUT PLEDGE TO PROTECT ME

Pledge to Protect ME is a diverse pool of Maine talent, led by MyMaineMath that includes developers, business analysts, UI/UX designers, entrepreneurs, government officials, and public health experts rapidly developed, tested and are now deploying the first innovative product aimed at flattening the curve. They continue to work on a pipeline of innovative ideas generated by the Hackathon, an event co-sponsored by The Via Agency, SaviLinx, Cross Benefit Solutions and supported by Startup Maine and Maine Startups Insider. 

ABOUT MYHEALTHMATH (MHM) 

MyHealthMath is an Insurtech firm enabling efficiency and savings for employers and their employees through the collective power of informed decisions. Combining innovative decision-support technology and human interaction, MyHealthMath reduces health insurance costs and optimizes the health insurance marketplace. Based in Portland, Maine, MyHealthMath has direct and SaaS clients throughout the US. As a neutral third-party, MyHealthMath guarantees objectivity and confidentiality for all individual use data collected from claim reports and individual interviews.

That's an article Maine Tech Community Rallies to Launch Site to Help Protect State from COVID-19

Oke fine article Maine Tech Community Rallies to Launch Site to Help Protect State from COVID-19 This time, hopefully can benefit for you all. Well, see you in other article postings.

You are now reading the article Maine Tech Community Rallies to Launch Site to Help Protect State from COVID-19 With link address https://sports-zoneh.blogspot.com/2020/04/maine-tech-community-rallies-to-launch.html

Tweet

Subscribe to receive free email updates: