Snohomish County Researched an Emergency Management System for Better Supply Distribution

Washington, DC – October 6, 2020 - Snohomish County had started the research and development of a prototype Emergency Management System even before the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in the United States.

On January 21, 2020, a 35-year old man returned home from a family visit overseas and was quickly diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. After spending more than a week in isolation at the Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, the man fully recovered at home under self-quarantine.

“The first confirmed case in the United States occurred in Snohomish County, and we were able to respond quickly and effectively. Our country has been through similar crises before and has shown its resilience,” said Dave Somers, Snohomish County Executive. “Fortunately, before COVID-19 hit we were modernizing our emergency management systems, including the research and development of a prototype with Dragonchain. If the system was expanded beyond proof of concept, it could be used to ensure accurate information related to inventory such as medical supplies would be available in realtime to those needing it.”

If built, the prototype can potentially be deployed by Snohomish County or any public or private entity. With continued work on the system, it can be HIPAA compliant, as the system has decentralized identity capabilities. With provable tracking of inventory levels, such as test kits, ventilators, generators, and usage rates, we can have a clear picture of all available emergency supplies, and how these supplies should be distributed based on priority. This allows Snohomish County to better serve our community.

“It’s incredible to see that in just over a decade, blockchain has gone from something completely novel to a technology easily adapted to face the largest public health crisis our country has seen in a century,” said Arry Yu, Chair, WTIA Cascadia Blockchain Council. “The goal of the Cascadia Blockchain Council is to help other companies in our region reach their full potential, and I’m proud to see one of our members going above and beyond to protect our community.”

The prototype can be adapted to show any of the records in a health management system, including who has access. The system can prove records are legitimate and accurate, and ensure sensitive data has not been tampered with. The prototype provides a timestamp to prove when a test was performed and who participated in the process. Prior systems were outdated and lacked the flexibility to address each unique situation. The prototype is flexible and changes can be made depending on the needs of the public. Snohomish County will continue to research and develop forward-thinking solutions, with the health, privacy, and safety of our residents the top priority.

What is Dragonchain?

Dragonchain was originally created at Disney in 2014. The system was focused on solving business problems at an enterprise scale. In 2016, Disney released the platform under an open source license. The original team from Disney commercialized the platform in 2017.

Dragonchain is an affordable hybrid blockchain software development platform, offering secure and fast deployment of blockchain powered business solutions written in any programming language, interoperable with any external blockchain, legacy system, and application, hosted in any cloud or onpremise environment.

What is Decentralized Identity (DID) e.g. Factor?

Factor is a GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA capable identity management platform to increase security, reduce risk of customer PII storage, and simplify authentication.