The government’s decision to try and develop its own ‘test and trace’ app seems bizarre at first glance. Who is going to be better at developing an app, the UK government or Apple and Google? Even inside government, there are those who regard the decision to try and go it alone as technological hubris.
But the reason that the government is so keen to determine its own app is that the decentralised Apple and Google one doesn’t allow you to easily identify where infections are spiking. The government really wants this information as it is key to its plan for easing social distancing restrictions and keeping on top of the virus. As the plan published today puts it, the government wants to stop hotspots developing ‘by detecting infection outbreaks at a more localised level and rapidly intervening with targeted measures’.
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