Todos os vírus, inclusive o SRS-CoV-2, causador do COVID-19, mudam com o tempo. A maior parte das mudanças não impacta de forma expressiva as propriedades do vírus. No entanto, algumas dessas mudanças podem afetar características como a facilidade de transmissão, a severidade da doença ou a efetividade de vacinas, medicamentos, ferramentas de diagnóstico ou outras medidas sociais e de saúde pública.

All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, change over time. Most changes have little to no impact on the virus’ properties. However, some changes may affect the virus’s properties, such as how easily it spreads, the associated disease severity, or the performance of vaccines, therapeutic medicines, diagnostic tools, or other public health and social measures.

No dia 1 de junho, o Certificado digital de COVID da União Europeia alcançou mais um importante marco: a implementação do sistema técnico a nível europeu, o que permite a verificação dos certificados de forma segura e privada. O certificado da UE foi proposto pela Comissão para que se retomem as viagens seguras neste verão. Ele será gratuito, seguro e acessível a todos. Disponível tanto em formato digital quanto no papel, ele será uma prova que determinada pessoa foi vacinada contra a COVID-19, testou negativo, ou recuperou-se da infecção.

Today, the EU Digital COVID Certificate has reached another important milestone with the go-live of the technical system at EU level, which allows to verify certificates in a secure and privacy-friendly way. The EU certificate was proposed by the Commission to resume safe travelling this summer. It will be free of charge, secure and accessible to all. Available in digital format or on paper, it will be a proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, tested negative, or recovered from an infection.

Today, the EU Digital COVID Certificate has reached another important milestone with the go-live of the technical system at EU level, which allows to verify certificates in a secure and privacy-friendly way. The EU certificate was proposed by the Commission to resume safe travelling this summer. It will be free of charge, secure and accessible to all. Available in digital format or on paper, it will be a proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, tested negative, or recovered from an infection.

Achável, Acessível, Interoperável e Reusável (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability, em inglês) – os princípios FAIR – foram criados com a intenção de definir um conjunto mínimo de práticas e princípios condutores relacionados, mas ao mesmo tempo independentes e separáveis. Tais princípios e práticas permitem que máquinas e humanos achem, acessem, interoperem e reutilizem dados e metadados. Os princípios FAIR foram dfinidos em um artigo de Mark Wilkinson et al. em 2016. Eles devem ser considerados como elementos inspiradores, e não regras rígidas. Isso significa que eles podem levar a diferentes interpretações e ambiguidade.

Para combater a proliferação de utilizações dos princípios FAIR baseadas em diferentes interpretações, o Grupo de Trabalho da Research Data Alliance (RDA) "FAIR data maturity model", criado em janeiro de 2019, tem o objetivo de desenvolver um conjunto de critérios base comuns para os FAIR, como uma recomendação da RDA. Ao longo de 2019 e do primeiro semestre de 2020, esse Grupo de Trabalho estabeleceu um conjunto de indicadores e níveis de maturidade para esses indicadores. Como resultado desse trabalho, um primeiro conjunto de diretrizes e uma checklist sobre a implementação desses indicadores foram produzidos, com o objetivo de prosseguir com o alinhamento das diretrizes de avaliação dos FAIR com as necessidades da comunidade.

Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability – the FAIR principles – intend to define a minimal set of related but independent and separable guiding principles and practices that enable both machines and humans to find, access, interoperate and re-use data and metadata. The FAIR principles were defined in 2016 in an article by Mark Wilkinson et. al. The principles have to be considered as inspiring concepts but not strict rules. This means that they may lead to diverse interpretations and ambiguity.

To remedy the proliferation of FAIRness measurements based on different interpretations of the principles, the RDA Working Group “FAIR data maturity model” established in January 2019 aims to develop a common set of core assessment criteria for FAIRness, as an RDA Recommendation. In the course of 2019 and the first half of 2020, the WG established a set of indicators and maturity levels for those indicators. As a result of the work, a first set of guidelines and a checklist related to the implementation of the indicators were produced, with the objective to further align the guidelines for evaluating FAIRness with the needs of the community.

As governments roll-out mass COVID-19 vaccination programmes, debate has grown on the issue of vaccine passports and status apps.

The long-awaited report "Assessment of the EU Member States' Rules on Health Data in the Light of GDPR" has finally been published. Based on a string of workshops and consultations in the first half of 2020, the report provides a comprehensive overview of the fragmented approach on the use and re-use of health data across Member States. (also available: Country fiches for all EU member states)

The long-awaited report "Assessment of the EU Member States' Rules on Health Data in the Light of GDPR" has finally been published. Based on a string of workshops and consultations in the first half of 2020, the report provides a comprehensive overview of the fragmented approach on the use and re-use of health data across Member States. (also available: Country fiches for all EU member states)

The long-awaited report "Assessment of the EU Member States' Rules on Health Data in the Light of GDPR" has finally been published. Based on a string of workshops and consultations in the first half of 2020, the report provides a comprehensive overview of the fragmented approach on the use and re-use of health data across Member States. (also available: Country fiches for all EU member states)

Para explorar todo o potencial de rastreamento de contatos e aplicativos de alerta para quebrar a cadeia de infecções por coronavírus além das fronteiras e salvar vidas, a Comissão, a convite dos Estados-Membros da UE, criou um sistema em toda a UE para garantir a interoperabilidade - um chamado de 'gateway'. Após uma fase piloto bem-sucedida, o sistema vai ao ar hoje com a primeira onda de aplicativos nacionais agora vinculados a este serviço: o Corona-Warn-App da Alemanha, o rastreador COVID da Irlanda e o immuni da Itália. Juntos, esses aplicativos foram baixados por cerca de 30 milhões de pessoas, o que corresponde a dois terços de todos os downloads de aplicativos na UE.

To exploit the full potential of contact tracing and warning apps to break the chain of coronavirus infections across borders and save lives, the Commission, at the invitation by EU Member States, has set up an EU-wide system to ensure interoperability – a so-called ‘gateway'. After a successful pilot phase, the system goes live today with the first wave of national apps now linked through this service: Germany's Corona-Warn-App, Ireland's COVID tracker, and Italy's immuni. Together, these apps have been downloaded by around 30 million people, which corresponds to two-thirds of all app downloads in the EU.

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) enduring challenge is to retain a technological and military advantage while upholding and promoting democratic values, working with our allies, and contributing to a stable, peaceful international community. DoD’s development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) reflects this challenge.
The Defense Innovation Board (DIB) recommends five AI ethics principles for adoption by DoD, which in shorthand are: responsible, equitable, traceable, reliable, and governable. These principles and a set of recommended actions in support of them are described in this document.