Where to buy face masks? Survey of applications using Taiwan's open data in the time of COVID-19

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had spread rapidly since late December 2019. Personal protective equipment was essential to prevent transmission. Owing to shortage of face masks, Taiwan government began to implement quasi rationing on February 6, 2020, by allowing each resident to purchase two masks in seven days. Taiwan National Health Insurance Administration offered online data with real-time updates on face mask availability in all contracted pharmacies and selected local health centers. Based on the open data, numerous software applications quickly emerged to assist the public in finding sales locations efficiently. METHODS: Up until March 15, 2020, the Public Digital Innovation Space of Taiwan government had recorded 134 software applications of face mask availability, and 24 were excluded due to defect, duplicate and unavailability. These applications were analyzed according to platform, developer type, and display mode. RESULTS: Of the 110 valid software applications, 67 (60.9%) applications were deployed on websites, followed by 21 (19.1%) on social networking sites, 19 (17.3%) as mobile applications, and 3 (2.7%) in other modes. Nearly two thirds (n = 70) of applications were developed by individuals, one third (n = 37) by commercial companies, only two applications by central and local governments, and one by a non-governmental organization. With respect to the display mode, 47 (42.7%) applications adopted map-view only, 41 (37.3%) table-view only, and 19 (17.3%) both modes. Of the remaining three applications, two offered voice user interfaces and one used augmented reality. CONCLUSION: Taiwan's open data strategy facilitated rapid development of software applications for information dissemination to the public during the COVID-19 crisis. The transparency of real-time data could help alleviate the panic of the public. The collaborative contributions from the grassroots in disasters were priceless treasures.