How Ireland built its COVID-19 contract tracing app, which is so successful that US states want to use it

NearForm

• Ireland launched its coronavirus contact-tracing app, COVID Tracker, on July 7, and other countries have asked to use it as a basis for their own apps.
• Business Insider spoke to the technical director at NearForm, the software company that built COVID Tracker with Ireland's health authority, to find out how they avoided the pitfalls that have plagued other contact-tracing apps.
• NearForm was originally working on a centralized app that would group user data together for authorities to study, but switched to a more private, decentralized model after Google and Apple released contact-tracing tech for developers.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Countries the world over have tried to find ways to track the spread of the coronavirus through their citizens' smartphones, with varying success. Ireland's attempt stands out.

Ireland launched its contact-tracing app, COVID Tracker, on July 7, and within a week it was downloaded by around 37% of Ireland's adult population. The app garnered international attention and NearForm, the software company that built the app with Irish health authorities, has been approached by other countries, and US states, to help build overseas versions.

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