# Virtual Summit 16-18.3.

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/covid-19-virtual-summit

> Join us for multiple days of live streamed content from Singularity University's community of global experts on COVID-19, the current challenges and solutions, and future impact on our health, business, government, and communities.

This is an open access notebook started by [@loleg](https://twitter.com/loleg) for notes and observations from the virtual conference. Please feel free to post any comments using the comment button while viewing, or directly in the text.

Catch up via Twitter at https://twitter.com/singularityu/

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Singularity University ([su.org](http://su.org/)) was founded in 2008 by Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil, aimed at "individuals wanting to understand how they could use technology to tackle global challenges"[[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularity_University)], and is a benefit corporation headquartered at NASA's research campus in Silicon Valley. They provide educational programs (without traditional university qualifications), run innovation partnerships and a startup accelerator. Health is one of the [Grand Challenges](https://su.org/about/global-grand-challenges/) the institution aims to address.

## Day 1


[Twitter](https://i.imgur.com/ZKWER3U.png) | [Cloudflare](https://i.imgur.com/irz9RyB.png)

Off to a rocky start, with a half hour delay as over 18'000 people in a huge chat room which [had to be disabled](https://twitter.com/singularityu/status/1239582675683295235), probably some other issues getting the show on a roll. This is not a dress rehearsal. Crowdcast, the platform used for this event, has apparently had no trouble hosting events of more [than 30'000](https://www.crowdcast.io/about) in the past. Founder [Sai Hossain](https://www.elleandcompanydesign.com/blog/business-spotlight-on-sai-hossain) shares tips for large-scale online events such as [hack.summit()](https://medium.com/crowdcast-news/how-to-create-a-virtual-live-video-event-for-30-000-people-dff952bf7896) in their blog, [LIVE Institute](https://medium.com/crowdcast-news). I'm not sure what the link to SU is, but it's a rather embarassing start to a very ambitious program.

Here in Switzerland the federal council has just announced a country-wide shutdown. I'm closing up the office, heading home and will try to reconnect in an hour.

**Session 1** Opening Remarks

Adam Hoffman, Vice President of global branding at Singularity University.

> "We put this together to bring together thought leaders from our community, to bring the latest of what we know with an eye towards how to empower us all to take action."

**Session 2** _Tracking epidemics, and vaccine development strategies – Dr. Divya Chander_

> Now that we know what the viral sequence is, we can identify it using CRISPR. Not Cas-9, but Cas-11 or 12. --[Dr. Divya Chander](https://twitter.com/singularityu/status/1239601413698748417)

**Session 3** _Perspectives from Responding to Other Outbreaks including SARS, Monkeypox, and Influenza – Dr. David Bray_

> Right now, up until COVID-19 - whether it was SARS, MERS, you've always been better off in an open society that allows free flows of information .. I worry though, that we may in this infodemic paralyze ourselves and demonstrate that autocracies are better for this outbreak. We have to figure out how to work across sectors, across countries, do all we can to show that open societies can respond well to this outbreak.

> We should not discount the fact that clearly COVID-19 has been a wake-up call for people. --[Dr. David Bray](https://twitter.com/singularityu/status/1239611509963186179)

**Session 4** _State of the Global Response - Dr. Daniel Kraft_

Additional channels are now being supported across social media, such as this [Periscope video](https://twitter.com/singularityu/status/1239614222071291904).

> "We're increasingly pushing care from the hospital and clinic to our home. And particularly in this time when our hospitals are going to be overwhelmed, we need to leverage our virtual care systems." --[@daniel_kraft](https://twitter.com/singularityu/status/1239617947611607043)

> "We need to be very careful in this crisis time that privacy is respected but also that privacy doesn't hinder this sharing of [health] information." --[@daniel_kraft](https://twitter.com/singularityu/status/1239621432793014272)

**Session 5** _A practical guide to staying healthy during COVID-19 – Nell Watson_

[Slides](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BmpmjP4w-taDbFKYk6xG1ZRfYcXExW3a/view)

> "Younger people may think they are invincible .. but we are finding that more than half of people under fifty are under intensive care. There are very young people affected as well."

- Consider donating masks to clinitians who will use them.
- Make your own mask, e.g. [DIY N95](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21H3VHa6nqE), https://diymask.site/ a keffiyeh, ski mask, buff whatever. Use it in a pinch.

**Session 6** _Slowing contagion – Amory B. Lovins_

> "Boosting immune competence: take care - sleep, stress management, hydration, nutrition, exercise, avoid alcohol, maintain ph balance" --[Amory B. Lovins](https://twitter.com/singularityu/status/1239655517418434562)

- All the uncontroversal ways to improve immune competence should be published now.
- Orthodox literature supports adding **vitamin D** and **zinc lozenges**, properly used at onset.
- Empirical evidence is strong that 3-5+ g/day of high quality **vitamin C** divided throughout the day is complementary to standard preventative actions.

**Session 7** _Curing Diseases & DNA – Raymond McCauley_

- [The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2](http://virological.org/t/the-proximal-origin-of-sars-cov-2/398), Kristian G. Andersen, et al 2020, puts aside doubts that this Coronavirus may be man-made.
- Nexstrain transmissions map gives us an opportunity to track any the evolution of any sequence in an epidemic.

**Session 8** _Pandemics and resilient cities – Dr. Robert Muggah_

[Slides](http://bit.ly/muggah-pandemic-and-the-city)

- Epidemics are accelerating.
- The World Bank has recently estimated that a Spanish Flu-type pandemic shaves $4 trillion off the financial markets. We will almost certainly see a recession, the prospect of a global depression are real.
- There is a tremendous trust gap at the moment (shows Cambridge study), and people are receiving conflicting messages about the COVID virus - while being suspicious of the experts - and this is dangerous.
- What happens when people cannot afford to buy bread, let along access to a hospital bed? A hint of what is to come is in our prisons. Some countries are already beginning to release non-violent offenders early.
- I am also concerned about digital threads, there is already a massive rise in cyberattacks and ransomware. As more people are working from home, there will be more attacks, and people are not going to have the support they need. We need to be ready for it.

> Megatrends in #pandemics: 🌎 Globalization 🌆 Urbanization 🏞️ Environmental degradation ☁️ Climate Change 🦠 Rise of superbugs --[Dr. Robert Muggah](https://twitter.com/singularityu/status/1239677969515200512)

- Every hour roughly 80 people are moving to New Delhi. Many pandemics hit hard at the edge of cities, not at the center. Slums and other peripheries are superspreaders. We cannot focus narrowly on securing central infrastructure.

> By 2050, 70% of the world population will live in cities, so cities may be pandemic hubs. Cities need cooperation, communication without fakes, rapid detection and shearing information. --[@a_gorniak](https://twitter.com/a_gorniak/status/1239678789682180105)

- Socio-economic determinants like chronic conditions and job conditions will affect the propensity of the pandemic. Many of the people that we depend on most are the most vulnerable. If the governments don't step in with rapid support, there will be rapid breakdown.
- There is no unifying authority. We need a G-20 for pandemics, in a major global effort.
- In a time of nationalism and national lockdowns, we need to accelerate cooperation. "I strongly believe there is no alternative to collective action to thrive, let alone survive, in this century.
- "All-of-society effort" is required, which means large pharmaceutical companies - and indeed the whole population needs to be part of the response. We all have to be looking out for the vulnerable, the disabled. Like in times of war.
- This will be strongest at the city scale. It is cities that are the first and the last line of defense. We have to harness the power of our mayors and residents for rapid detection and sharing expertise.
- There is a real opportunity right now to scale this kind of activity around the world.
- Barring a major breakthrough, we won't see a vaccine in 6-12 months, so we need to get a lot better at surveillance and relapses. Possibly for years.
- The COVID genome has already been sequenced over 300 times.


- There is a lot of innovation in testing. What we urgently need are material for diagnostics where people actually live. Especially for the poor, migrants, minorities.
- Preparing for a pandemic should happen within the geographical boundaries of a city. We might prepare a city pandemic resilience index. Folks are thinking about this.
- COVID-19 is going to be hugely disruptive, but we can expect more pandemics even if this one is addressed rapidly. Cities are the frontline of our response.
- We are seeing movements around the world of investment into circular economies, cryptocurrencies. [The inability of governments to bail out economies] will hasten this change. The current economy is at too great a risk to be sustainable.
- Much higher volume of traffic through hubs, the diversity of first world countries like Germany and Italy is partly to blame for the high rate of infection. It probably comes down to the ability of those countries to introduce detection and manage the information flow. We are seeing a major underreporting in many countries. Some countries in western Africa are very capable of dealing with pandemics after their experiences with Dengue fever and Ebola.
- As testing becomes more widespread we will see radically different numbers moving forward.
- Have a plan. Have a plan B. Have a plan C. So that your future self can adjust to the evidence that is available, to the information from your public health system. Have a network for communicating regularly. One of the biggest and most painful outcomes of this pandemic is to have close family members suffering - and the temptation to spend time with them is going to be irresistible.
- Now is the time to double down on trying to strengthen the community, finding ways to contribute your time or resources is one of the most important strategies at the moment.
- Have an adequate information stream. Don't spend all your time on Twitter, as that will lead to information paralysis.
- Look after yourself and your family. Your weakest link will otherwise breakdown the system.
- Having a plan for your family, e.g. if both parents fall ill, is critical.
- Any cities responding particularly well? Taipei and Hong Kong did early detection and handling well.

**Session 9** _Leadership in the Time of COVID-19 – Elie Losleben_

> This is a time to know your neighbors, and who is vulnerable. Community response groups are key. --[@ElieLosleben](https://twitter.com/singularityu/status/1239691943287930887)

**Session 10** _Bold Choices and Rapid Innovation - Julia Cheek_