Skip to content
An official website of the OECD. Find out more
Created by the Public Governance Directorate

This website was created by the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI), part of the OECD Public Governance Directorate (GOV).

How to validate authenticity

Validation that this is an official OECD website can be found on the Innovative Government page of the corporate OECD website.

A high-tech mobile app that tracks the Covid-19 infected cases through GPS and bluetooth features.

Innovative response

Ehteraz - an app that uses a GPS feature and Bluetooth to track and control COVID-19 cases in Qatar.
*The project is under final stages of development and expected to go live soon.
The profile of each user is linked to a QR Code that automatically extracts the user’s health information from official entities. Classifying users will be done based on the following categories:
* Red – for people who have tested positive for Covid-19
* Yellow – for individuals who have been placed in quarantine facilities
* Grey – suspected cases, individuals who exhibit symptoms, or who have been in contact with Covid-19-positive cases but have not been tested
* Green – healthy individuals who do not exhibit any symptoms, or who have tested negative
If a case of coronavirus infection is discovered, the application enables the competent authorities to track the areas where this person was present in - from the time of downloading the app until the moment of infection. In the process, the authorities can also ascertain all the people, or a large percentage of people who have had contact with the infected, as long as the application is used. After identifying these people, they will receive messages through the app that they may have had contact with an infected person and will have priority in testing.
If a person recovers from the virus, the application returns to Grey and a particular period is specified for checking again to make sure of the full recovery. The color of the application will then turn Green.
The application maintains the privacy of everyone and only the health authorities can see the details of each person.

Specific issues addressed and anticipated impact

This application is intended to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Qatar and spread awareness, precautionary instructions, and developments issued by the official authorities.

Organisations/institutions involved

In charge: Ministry of Interior
Jointly Developed by:
• Ministry of Transport and Communications
• Ministry of Public Health

Potential issues

No answer provided as of yet