Platform Business in Korea: Advent and Growth of Kakao

With the rapid development of ICT technology, a platform business is exerting a dominant influence in various fields. This type of a business has a great ripple effect in that it creates value by engaging and connecting various market actors such as producers, suppliers, and business partners to the platform ecosystem, rather than directly selling independent products or services. In this vein, the current study introduces the emergence and growth process of Kakao, which has a monopolistic dominance in the Korean mobile messenger market, as an example of a platform business. This company started to be distributed to Korean consumers in 2010 and is currently exercising its market influence in various fields such as commerce, entertainment, finance, and transportation, and more growth is expected in the future. Based on the case investigation, the background of Kakao’s success can be interpreted with a combination of various reasons, such as Korea’s developed ICT environment, a large game users’ population, quick service launch, the strategy to utilize the founder’s previous work experience, and service development geared towards Korean consumers.

Prioritizing COVID-19 Contact Tracing During a Surge Using Chatbot Technology

When COVID-19 cases surge, identifying ways to improve the efficiency of contact tracing and prioritize vulnerable communities for isolation and quarantine support services is critical. During a fall 2020 COVID-19 resurgence in San Francisco, California, prioritization of telephone-based case investigation by zip code and using a chatbot to screen for case participants who needed isolation support reduced the number of case participants who would have been assigned for a telephone interview by 31.5% and likely contributed to 87.5% of Latinx case participants being successfully interviewed. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(1):43–47. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306563 )

What Is the Customer Value of the Circular Economy? Cross-Industry Exploration of Diverse Values Perceived by Consumers and Business Customers

A growing number of companies provide CE products, technologies, services, and solutions, and similarly, an increasing number of researchers have analyzed sustainable and CE business models providing knowledge about CE technology businesses. However, this research has focused almost solely on the providers’ perspective on CE business and offerings, remaining silent on the customer perspective. Therefore, this study contributes by focusing on the customer value of CE innovations and solutions, conducting an explorative qualitative multiple-case investigation among customers of diverse CE businesses, and mapping diverse customer value dimensions, including economic, functional, emotional, and symbolic, and comparing them as perceived by consumer and business customers. The findings show that the functional value of CE offerings dominates. We develop conceptual maps for CE customer value for a theoretical understanding of the CE from the customer perspective and provide insights for managers to assert the value of their CE solutions.

COVID-19 Contact Tracing Outcomes in Washington State, August and October 2020

Introduction: Case investigation and contact tracing are important tools to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2, particularly when implemented efficiently. Our objective was to evaluate participation in and timeliness of COVID-19 contact tracing and whether these measures changed over time.Methods: We retrospectively assessed COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing surveillance data from the Washington State centralized program for August 1–31, 2020 and October 1–31, 2020. We combined SARS-CoV-2 testing reports with contact tracing data to compare completeness, reporting of contacts, and program timeliness.Results: For August and October respectively, 4,600 (of 12,521) and 2,166 (of 16,269) individuals with COVID-19 were referred to the state program for case investigation. Investigators called 100% of referred individuals; 65% (August) and 76% (October) were interviewed. Of individuals interviewed, 33% reported contacts in August and 45% in October, with only mild variation by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and urbanicity. In August, 992 individuals with COVID-19 reported a total of 2,584 contacts (mean, 2.6), and in October, 739 individuals reported 2,218 contacts (mean, 3.0). Among contacts, 86% and 78% participated in interviews for August and October. The median time elapsed from specimen collection to contact interview was 4 days in August and 3 days in October, and from symptom onset to contact interview was 7 days in August and 6 days in October.Conclusions: While contact tracing improved with time, the proportion of individuals disclosing contacts remained below 50% and differed minimally by demographic characteristics. The longest time interval occurred between symptom onset and test result notification. Improving elicitation of contacts and timeliness of contact tracing may further decrease SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations averted by case investigation and contact tracing in the United States

Importance: Evidence of the impact of COVID-19 Case Investigation and Contact Tracing (CICT) programs is lacking. Policymakers need this evidence to assess its value. Objective: Estimate COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations averted nationwide by US states' CICT programs. Design: We combined data from US CICT programs (e.g., proportion of cases interviewed, contacts notified or monitored, and days to case and contact notification) with incidence data to model CICT impacts over 60 days period (November 25, 2020 to January 23, 2021) during the height of the pandemic. We estimated a range of impacts by varying assumed compliance with isolation and quarantine recommendations. Setting: US States and Territories Participants: Fifty-nine state and territorial health departments that received federal funding supporting COVID-19 pandemic response activities were eligible for inclusion. Of these, 22 states and 1 territory reported all measures necessary for the analysis. These 23 jurisdictions covered 42.5% of the US population (140 million persons), spanned all 4 census regions, and reported data that reflected all 59 federally funded CICT programs. Intervention: Public health case investigation and contact tracing Main Outcomes and Measures: Cases and hospitalizations averted; percent of cases averted among cases not prevented by vaccination and other non-pharmaceutical interventions (other NPIs). Results: We estimated 1.11 million cases and 27,231 hospitalizations were averted by CICT programs under a scenario where 80% of interviewed cases and monitored contacts, and 30% of notified contacts fully complied with isolation and quarantine guidance, eliminating their contributions to future transmission. As many as 1.36 million cases and 33,527 hospitalizations could have been prevented if all interviewed cases and monitored contacts had entered into and fully complied with isolation and quarantine guidelines upon being interviewed or notified. Across all scenarios and jurisdictions, CICT averted a median of 21.2% (range: 1.3% - 65.8%) of the cases not prevented by vaccination and other NPIs. Conclusions and Relevance: CICT programs likely had a substantial role in curtailing the pandemic in most jurisdictions during the winter 2020-2021 peak. Differences in impact across jurisdictions indicate an opportunity to further improve CICT effectiveness. These estimates demonstrate the potential benefits from sustaining and improving these programs.

Implementing a digital system for contact tracing and case investigation during COVID-19 pandemic in San Francisco: a qualitative study

Lay summary During the COVID-19 pandemic, many health departments implemented digital systems to collect, store, and share data for case investigation and contact tracing (CICT). In San Francisco, much of the contact tracing workforce was entirely remote and had little to no public health experience. Given this unique situation, we wanted to understand their experience with the digital system to inform future implementation of digital systems for public health responses. This case study describes how CICT workers in San Francisco experienced and used the digital system and how it could be improved. We conducted semi-structured 90-minute interviews and a short survey with a sample of 37 CICT workers, and found that, overall, the digital system was easy to learn and improved workers’ experience of data management during the pandemic. The digital system was also important in fostering a supportive and collaborative work environment. We found that the system could be improved to better support culturally sensitive care and highlight the importance of digital systems in ensuring equitable public health responses.

Establishment and Evaluation of a Large Contact-Tracing and Case Investigation Virtual Training Academy

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Virtual Training Academy (VTA) was established to rapidly develop a contact-tracing workforce for California. Through June 2021, more than 10 000 trainees enrolled in a contact-tracing or case investigation course at the VTA. To evaluate program effectiveness, we analyzed trainee pre- and postassessment results using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. There was a statistically significant (P < .001) improvement in knowledge and self-perceived skills after course completion, indicating success in training a competent contact-tracing workforce. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print October 28, 2021: e1–e5. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306468 )