BlueDot

The company was initially founded in 2008 under the project name Bio.Diaspora by Dr. Kamran Khan, a professor at the University of Toronto and infectious disease specialist at St. Michael's Hospital.{{Cite web |date=2020-06-23 |title=The first company to identify the coronavirus outbreak – Bluedot |url=https://bayslope.com/the-first-company-to-identify-the-coronavirus-outbreak-bluedot/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220224082245/https://bayslope.com/the-first-company-to-identify-the-coronavirus-outbreak-bluedot/ |archive-date=2022-02-24 |access-date= |website=Bayslope |language=en-US}} Initial development took place in collaboration with the Centre for Research on Inner City Health, Ryerson University, the University of Manitoba and several commercial airport and air transport organizations.{{Cite web |last=O'Campo |first=Patricia |title=Impact Report 2010/2011 |url=http://www.stmichaelshospital.com/pdf/crich/crich-impact-report-2010-11.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130721142723/http://www.stmichaelshospital.com:80/pdf/crich/crich-impact-report-2010-11.pdf |archive-date=2013-07-21 |access-date=2023-09-19 |website=Centre for Research on Inner City Health}}

According to Khan, the project's initial business concept was inspired by the detrimental effects of the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak on the City of Toronto. The company is said to have “attracted interest from public health, biodefense and industry groups worldwide, all of which are looking for real-time, global epidemic intelligence to protect their interests.”{{Cite web |date=2011-11-24 |title=Bio.Diaspora: Preventing the next pandemic |url=https://www.marsdd.com/news/bio-diaspora-preventing-the-next-pandemic/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220224214313/https://www.marsdd.com/news/bio-diaspora-preventing-the-next-pandemic/ |archive-date=2022-02-24 |access-date= |website=MaRS Discovery District |language=en-CA}}

Bio.Diaspora produced a report in 2009 titled “An Analysis of Canada’s Vulnerability to Emerging Infectious Disease Threats via the Global Airline Transportation Network” with funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada.{{Cite journal |last=Webster |first=P. |date=2009-10-27 |title=Improved flu screening needed at airports |journal=Canadian Medical Association Journal |language=en |volume=181 |issue=9 |pages=E195–E196 |doi=10.1503/cmaj.109-3053 |issn=0820-3946 |pmc=2764775 |pmid=19770256}}

In June 2011, St. Michael's Hospital brought Bio.Diaspora to MaRS Innovation for market potential evaluation. By 2011, Bio.Diaspora had helped several countries anticipate and react to the spread of disease at mass gatherings such as the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the FIFA World Cup, and the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Bio.Diaspora partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Harvard University to integrate the program with HealthMap, a technology that monitors public websites and global online media for news of emerging diseases.

Bio.Diaspora was relaunched as BlueDot in 2013.{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Kate |date=2016-02-22 |title=How a Toronto company used big data to predict the spread of Zika |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/how-a-toronto-company-used-big-data-to-predict-the-spread-of-zika/article_dfa274ae-659a-5496-bdd6-ae22fe0561cd.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919190717/https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/how-a-toronto-company-used-big-data-to-predict-the-spread-of-zika/article_dfa274ae-659a-5496-bdd6-ae22fe0561cd.html |archive-date=2023-09-19 |access-date= |website=Toronto Star |language=en}} After Ebola spread across Africa in 2014, BlueDot predicted its migration out of West Africa and published its results in The Lancet.{{Cite web |last=Ogola |first=Willis |date=2021-01-13 |title=How AI predicted the Coronavirus Outbreak |url=https://www.section.io/engineering-education/how-ai-predicted-the-coronavirus-outbreak/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220224183853/https://www.section.io/engineering-education/how-ai-predicted-the-coronavirus-outbreak/ |archive-date=2022-02-24 |access-date= |website=Engineering Education (EngEd) Program {{!}} Section |language=en-us}}{{Cite journal |last1=Bogoch |first1=Isaac I |last2=Brady |first2=Oliver J |last3=Kraemer |first3=Moritz U G |last4=German |first4=Matthew |last5=Creatore |first5=Marisa I |last6=Kulkarni |first6=Manisha A |last7=Brownstein |first7=John S |last8=Mekaru |first8=Sumiko R |last9=Hay |first9=Simon I |last10=Groot |first10=Emily |last11=Watts |first11=Alexander |last12=Khan |first12=Kamran |date=2016-01-14 |title=Anticipating the international spread of Zika virus from Brazil |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00080-5 |journal=The Lancet |volume=387 |issue=10016 |pages=335–336 |doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(16)00080-5 |issn=0140-6736 |pmc=4873159 |pmid=26777915}} BlueDot then reportedly predicted a Zika virus outbreak in Florida six months before it occurred.{{Cite web |title=Who We Are |url=https://bluedot.global/press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712203019/https://bluedot.global/press/ |archive-date=2023-07-12 |access-date=2023-09-19 |website=BlueDot |language=en-US}}

The company secured funding from Horizons Ventures in a Series A round in 2015.{{Cite web |date=2016-02-22 |title=BlueDot profiled in Toronto Star for anticipating Zika virus spread |url=https://tiap.ca/2016/02/bluedot-profiled-in-toronto-star-for-anticipating-zika-virus-spread/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230919190545/https://tiap.ca/2016/02/bluedot-profiled-in-toronto-star-for-anticipating-zika-virus-spread/ |archive-date=2023-09-19 |access-date= |website=Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners |language=en-US}} This was followed by an additional $9.4 million in 2019, with its primary investors being Horizon Ventures, The Co-operators, and BDC Capital's Women in Technology Venture Fund.{{Cite web |last=Stieg |first=Cory |date=2020-03-03 |title=How this Canadian start-up spotted coronavirus before everyone else knew about it |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/03/bluedot-used-artificial-intelligence-to-predict-coronavirus-spread.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919185449/https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/03/bluedot-used-artificial-intelligence-to-predict-coronavirus-spread.html |archive-date=2023-09-19 |access-date=2020-04-26 |website=CNBC |language=en}}

BlueDot and its software received significant coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic, with several jurisdictions using BlueDot software to track outbreaks of COVID-19.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-mapping-artificial-intelligence-california-governor-gavin-newsom-2020-04-23/|title=When the coronavirus hit, California turned to artificial intelligence to help map the spread|website=www.cbsnews.com|language=en|access-date=2020-04-26}}{{Cite magazine |last=Niiler |first=Eric |title=An AI Epidemiologist Sent the First Alerts of the Coronavirus |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/ai-epidemiologist-wuhan-public-health-warnings/ |url-status=live |access-date= |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210712110940/https://www.wired.com/story/ai-epidemiologist-wuhan-public-health-warnings/ |archive-date=2021-07-12 |issn=1059-1028}}

According to BlueDot, the company was the first in the world to detect the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, China. It sent an alert to its customers on December 31, 2019, and used data on airline tickets to accurately predict the virus' apparent travel to Bangkok, Seoul, Taipei, and Tokyo. This came six days before the World Health Organization sent out its own public warning.{{Cite web |last=Whitaker |first=Bill |date=2020-04-27 |title=The computer algorithm that was among the first to detect the coronavirus outbreak |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-outbreak-computer-algorithm-artificial-intelligence/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512074801/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-outbreak-computer-algorithm-artificial-intelligence/ |archive-date=2023-05-12 |access-date= |website=CBS News |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Heaven |first=Will Douglas |date=2020-03-12 |title=AI could help with the next pandemic—but not with this one |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/03/12/905352/ai-could-help-with-the-next-pandemicbut-not-with-this-one/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905110623/https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/03/12/905352/ai-could-help-with-the-next-pandemicbut-not-with-this-one/ |archive-date=2023-09-05 |access-date= |website=MIT Technology Review |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Bilal |first=Muhammad |date=2021-06-23 |title=Digital Health: Opportunities For Entrepreneurs, Scientists And Doctors |url=https://propakistani.pk/2021/06/23/digital-health-opportunities-for-entrepreneurs-scientists-and-doctors/ |access-date=2021-07-01 |website=ProPakistani |language=en-US}} In January 2020, the BlueDot team published a rapid communication titled "Pneumonia of unknown aetiology in Wuhan, China: potential for international spread via commercial air travel" in the Journal of Travel Medicine.{{Cite journal |last1=Bogoch |first1=Isaac I |last2=Watts |first2=Alexander |last3=Thomas-Bachli |first3=Andrea |last4=Huber |first4=Carmen |last5=Kraemer |first5=Moritz U G |last6=Khan |first6=Kamran |date=2020-01-14 |title=Pneumonia of unknown aetiology in Wuhan, China: potential for international spread via commercial air travel |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taaa008 |journal=Journal of Travel Medicine |volume=27 |issue=2 |doi=10.1093/jtm/taaa008 |issn=1708-8305 |pmc=7107534 |pmid=31943059}}

On March 23, 2020, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that it had contracted BlueDot through the Public Health Agency of Canada for COVID-19 modelling and monitoring.{{Cite web |date=2020-03-23 |title=Canada's plan to mobilize science to fight COVID-19 |url=http://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/03/23/canadas-plan-mobilize-science-fight-covid-19 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220224201446/https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/03/23/canadas-plan-mobilize-science-fight-covid-19 |archive-date=2022-02-24 |access-date= |website=Prime Minister of Canada |language=en}}

In May 2022, outbreak intelligence analysts BlueDot prepared reports using anonymized data for the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to help it understand travel patterns during the pandemic. Canadian citizens' cell phone data accessed under direction from PHAC to view a detailed snapshot of people's behaviour, including visits to the grocery store, gatherings with family and friends, time spent at home and trips to other towns and provinces.{{Cite web |last=Woolf |first=Marie |date=2022-05-05 |title=Canadians' trips to liquor stores, pharmacies tracked via phones during pandemic |url=https://www.cp24.com/news/canadians-trips-to-liquor-stores-pharmacies-tracked-via-phones-during-pandemic-1.5890349 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220506055451/https://www.cp24.com/news/canadians-trips-to-liquor-stores-pharmacies-tracked-via-phones-during-pandemic-1.5890349 |archive-date=2022-05-06 |access-date= |website=CP24 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Pat |date=May 2022 |title=Collection and use of mobility data by the Government of Canada and related issues |url=https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/441/ETHI/Reports/RP11736929/ethirp04/ethirp04-e.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726004633/https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/441/ETHI/Reports/RP11736929/ethirp04/ethirp04-e.pdf |archive-date=2022-07-26 |website=House of Commons of Canada}}

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Category:Canadian companies established in 2009

Category:Software associated with the COVID-19 pandemic