Politicians, policy makers and public servants have never faced a situation like this. They immediately need policies that really work. Best practices can serve as an inspiration, a starting point and a proof of concept.
A government’s initiative equips people with innovative solutions and services
To improve peoples’ lives during lockdown and quarantine, the Italian Ministry for Technological Innovation and Digitalisation launched an initiative offering citizens innovative solutions and services.
ID could function as a debit card to receive financial benefits
A government is exploring ways to transfer benefits to citizens without bank accounts.
Reconfiguring streets for physical distancing
The city of Portland gives more space to pedestrians and cyclists to make sure that commuters can move freely in times of physical distancing.
Discovering a whole country from home
An online platform lets people experience their country and learn new skills for free while staying home.
Instagram channel promotes supporting local businesses
An Instagram channel presents small businesses and ways to support them.
A platform that tells citizens how they can support their government
The government of Ontario started an initiative to empower citizens to help fight coronavirus. Citizens can offer emergency products and innovative solutions or volunteer to support the government’s response to Covid-19.
Map of locations for free meals
The city of Philadelphia has created a map for places offering free food.
Building a global open-source platform for low-cost solutions
The United Nations Development Programme and Hackster.io join forces with the world’s brightest technology companies to develop solutions for those who will be hardest hit by this pandemic.
#WirvsVirus – Hackathons develop solutions to manage the crisis
The biggest Hackathon ever helped to develop digital solutions for more than 800 challenges and thus tackle the secondary effects of Covid-19.
Helping governments to understand and compare policy responses
The government response tracker is designed to help researchers, policymakers and citizens understand whether increasingly strict measures affect the rate of infection, and identify what causes governments to implement stricter or less strict measures.
Using behavioral insights to enforce policy compliance
To reinforce the adherence to government policies by making them more normal and more obvious, the “Nudge theory” can be applied.
Collecting worldwide government responses
To support public servants during the Covid-19 crisis, worldwide policies to tackle the spread of Covid-19 are provided in an open document.