SET for a hardcourt return this coming October, Chooks-To-Go Pilipinas 3x3 is working on an app-based system to facilitate contact tracing.
This app will use mobile-based technology developed by Global Electric Transport (GET) Philippines. It will uses QR codes to relay information between its databases.
While there have been multiple contact tracing apps rolled out in the country (read this Spot.ph guide for even more info), this collaboration between GET and Chooks-To-Go — made possible by Commissioner Eric Altamirano — will be the first to be rolled out specifically for a sports league.
How does it work?
“Players and employees who enter the 'bubble' of the location use their unique QR codes generated on the app to log their entry and exit from designated areas, such as training and game venues,” explained Kyle Tinga, sustainable transport specialist of GET Philippines.
The mobile application can be downloaded for free. It will hold the players, coaches, and other personnel’s personal information, health status, and identifiers. Upon logging in using the app, their information is then sent to a backend database that timestamps their movement inside the bubble.
“From the buildings they enter to the transport they take, careful records are kept within the database that can be cross-referenced in case of infection,” Tinga continued.
While the data being passed around via mobile phones will form the most crucial part of this system, athletes are also to be required to take periodic check-in selfies for close monitoring.
The whole ecosystem was originally developed as a transport ticketing system for COMET electric vehicles, a zero-emission e-ride. Its real-time information transferring was optimized to the sports league’s standards. (Early during the lockdown, we featured the COMET electric vehicles deployed by Pasig to help ferry frontliners.)
If its rollout next month is successful, perhaps other professional and amateur sports leagues will also adopt the system.
Alongside the PBA, Chooks 3x3 has been given the green light to return to practices late last month. They have been conducting trainings at the University of the Philippines Epsilon Chi Center.
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