EPIWATCH – rapid epidemic intelligence

EPIWATCH®️ is an advanced AI system for real-time global health intelligence. It provides specialised services, deep domain expertise and decision-support tools in infectious diseases and health intelligence. Its flagship is an advanced, real-time AI system that curates and processes vast open-source intelligence (OSINT) data to generate valid early warning systems for pandemics. It has been tested and trained and proven to have early warning capacity. The three AI systems of EPIWATCH® are Natural Language Processing, a prioritisation algorithm and custom large language models (LLMs). Together, these create highly valid signals and automated reports. EPIWATCH® comprises a web search function, database and application layer. It can run in a cloud environment or on a standalone server. EPIWATCH® also has a series of self-serve risk analysis and decision support tools such as Flucast, EPIRISK and Origins. We also provide custom mathematical modelling for decision support to assist stakeholders in choosing between competing alternatives. EPIWATCH® is a one-stop shop for infectious diseases and health intelligence.We search for intelligence in 46 languages, with over 70% of intelligence in languages other than English.

Our team of analysts review signals daily, and our team of software engineers work on continual improvement of the system. EPIWATCH® can identify potential outbreak risks earlier than detection based on traditional surveillance by harnessing vast, open source data that reflects what is happening in communities worldwide in real-time. Our AI algorithms and machine learning can identify signals of unusual spikes in clinical syndromes or diseases. Our aim is to detect early signals before governments are aware of them, hence EPIWATCH® can enhance traditional surveillance or be integrated with formal surveillance to form an end-to-end pipeline of open source and validated intelligence. It can also identify geotargeted locations for outbreak investigation, to enable earlier outbreak response and pathogen characterisation.

 

The creator, Prof Raina MacIntyre currently has a Microsoft Accelerating Foundation Models Research Grant to develop advanced AI for EPIWATCH®️ using GPT4. She funds and leads a team of analysts, epidemiologists, LLM/AI specialists and software engineers to further develop EPIWATCH®️ into a global hub of real-time epidemic detection, prevention and mitigation, with a suite of real-time decision support and risk analysis tools. Her vision for EPIWATCH®️ is to be a health intelligence service for global health protection and for public good. A philanthropic gift from Vitalik Buterin’s Balvi Filantropic Fund in 2022-23 has allowed her to expand on EPIWATCH®️ globally in low and middle income countries, making EPIWATCH®️ accessible and equitable. This is called the Shiba Inu EPIWATCH OSINT project and is focused on open-sourcing of EPIWATCH®️. In 2024 she is working with US Indopacific Command on a WarGame which features EPIWATCH®️. Innovations that she is researching now include real-time image-based analysis and application of her platform to other intelligence streams. There is vast capability in EPIWATCH®️ for wider applications in CBRN, defence, biodefense and intelligence. 

 

Visit our website for more information.

Project team

Key contact

Medicine & Health
r.macintyre@unsw.edu.au

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