The KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence (KIOS CoE), in collaboration with the CYENS Center of Excellence, developed the contact tracing app, CovTracer – Exposure Notification (CovTracer-EN), thus contributing to the effort made at a national and European level in breaking the chain of coronavirus infections and saving lives. The app was developed under the supervision of the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the National eHealth Authority.
The CovTracer-EN is part of a wider European effort, which aims at the development of privacy-preserving contact tracing apps in EU Member States that can “talk” with each other. To this end, the European Commission has launched the European Federation Gateway Service (EFGS) which allows the exchange of encrypted information between national backend servers for enabling the cross-border interoperability of the apps.
The KIOS CoE is contributing to this ongoing effort as the Technical Coordinator of the project. It hosts and maintains, on behalf of the Ministry of Health, the CovTracer-EN backend server and database that allow app users to receive exposure notifications within their devices in case of possible contact with a confirmed positive case. In addition, the KIOS CoE handles the secure communication with the EFGS, so that CovTracer-EN users are able to receive notifications when travelling across Europe in case they are exposed to other infected EU citizens using their own national apps.
CovTracer-EN is available in both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cy.gov.dmrid.covtracer
Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/covtracer/id1510330601
More information about the app is available at: https://covtracer.dmrid.gov.cy/dmrid/covtracer/covtracer.nsf/home_en/home_en?OpenDocument
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Emergency Support Instrument programme under grant agreement No. CYPRUS-LC-01591248.
