A number of Information Technology (IT) organizations have banded together and launched an all-in-one information application for COVID-19 in Pangasinan.

Nestor Panopio, a resident of Dagupan City, as chief operations officer of Information Technology Master’s Guild (ITMG), said the INA (Intelligent Nurse Assistant) was developed to serve as the go-to app for netizens using Facebook.

“Some of its functions include self-assessment based on the DOH Triage Algorithm, news blasting via Messenger from reliable news sources, and information regarding COVID-19 such as the number of positive cases in the country, hotlines among others”, said Panopio.

As a virtual frontliner, INA will provide round-the-clock information dissemination to its subscribers.

Aside from providing up-to-date news based on the Department of Health and other legitimate news agencies, Panopio added INA is also capable of providing COVID-19 hotlines on both local and national level.

INA also boasts its “Magsumbong o Magpuri” function by collecting information on the ground and submitting it to authorities for immediate action. (However, “users must provide consent to be able to collect this data as provided by RA10173 or Data Privacy Act of 2012” to use that function).

Out to battle fake news circulating in social media, Panopio, with ITMG and two other developers from Cagayan decided to develop an assistance app that would broadcast news via Messenger “to inform our users with accurate news and information”, said Panopio.

INA was finally conceptualized and developed on March 15 in collaboration with other organizations like the Cagayan-based HackTheNorth, and Kalasag.

Despite the early initial launch, Panopio admitted that there is still room for improvement.

“I hope you can try to use INA and please give us feedback regarding your experience”, he said.

Netizens may access INA through Facebook Messenger URL m.me/covid19phwatch (Ahikam Pasion)

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