Teamwork and Collaboration is the key success factor for Corona Warn-App Success

Forget crypto – team spirit is the new hard currency of tech

This week we’re looking back: to one year ago and the launch of the German government’s Corona-Warn-App (CWA). SAP and Telekom developed the app from start to finish in just 50 days. The app's purpose: to provide rapid, anonymous warnings after high-risk encounters, in order to break infection chains and save lives. The numbers since then speak for themselves: more than 28 million downloads, more than 15 million digitally transmitted test results, more than 475,000 shared positive test results. At the peak of the third wave, peaks of more than 5,000 positive test results were shared daily via the CWA. These are strong numbers that show what an important digital building block CWA is in the fight against the pandemic.

Work on the app certainly didn’t stop there. A new personal contact log, a dashboard to monitor key Covid statistics, cluster detection, rapid test results and vaccination certificates have since been added. The app was not a finished product at launch. It is being continuously developed in an agile manner. A little better every day, so to speak. The experts' assessments show that we can be proud of our app – and I say "our" app very deliberately, because at SAP and T-Systems, we put our hearts and souls into it. The trade journal Connect stated: The German CWA topped an international data-security comparison of several government warning apps. With the highest score and a clear lead. The verdict: "German app users can rely on the best security scores in our comparison." (https://www.connect.de/vergleich/corona- arn-apps-international-sicherheit-test-3201626.html)

Small virus reveals big room for improvement

This small virus revealed big digital gaps in many areas of life. We now see society responding with a renewed focus on the potential of digitalization to deliver real solutions. Augmented reality, blockchain, cloud and edge computing are no longer niche topics. This is an exciting development. The more people engage with these topics, the more constructively and transparently we can shape digital society, together.

Of course, even the most advanced technologies need human creativity and dedication. The CWA in particular is a clear example of this. In this project we see SAP, Deutsche Telekom, the Robert Koch Institute, the Fraunhofer Society and the German Ministry of Health working together across organizational boundaries. All the required skills are bundled together in this project team. Decisions are made quickly and with conviction. Everyone is kept up to date on the current status of the project and what needs to be done. Everyone is pulling in the same direction. Without this kind of commitment and team spirit, any amount of technology can take you only so far. That's why my conclusion after a year of the CWA: the new hard currency of the technology industry isn’t crypto – it’s team spirit!