Community-Centered Epidemic and Pandemic Information and Engagement Platform, the Hive.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic underlined that communities are key in sharing trusted, timely and relevant information especially during a health emergency where the overabundance of information makes it difficult to make decisions to protect one's health. The WHO Hive project grew out of the desire to create a community-centered solution with the potential to change the way credible health information is shared, adapted, understood and used for health-related decision making before, during and after an epidemic or pandemic. The Hive online platform provides a safe space for knowledge-sharing, discussion, and collaboration, including access to timely scientific information through direct engagement with WHO subject matter experts, and the true innovation lies within the platform's ability to leverage the power of communities to crowdsource solutions to community concerns and needs. The platform is equipped with a set of synchronous and asynchronous features and tools to encourage coworking and facilitate cross-sectorial collaboration. The Hive seeks to leverage the expert communities to share resources and knowledge for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and provide an environment that is able to respond to the challenges faced in a complex information ecosystem.