Call for Technologies by Israel Ministry of Defense / MAFAT and Ministry of Health
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עברית (Hebrew)
In Collaboration with iHLS as part of INNOFENSE Innovation Center
The State of Israel is interested in finding a technological solution that would enable to receive the results of a COVID-19 test at home by the Ministry of Health in a reliable and rapid way and authenticate the identity of the test (vis a vis the following challenges).
If you have either a partial or full technological solution for this national challenge, please contact us by mail: [email protected] or here.
Offers accepted until August 5. Offers will be checked and decisions accepted by August 26.
The Israel Ministry of Health has recently approved the use of a home antigen test kit based on a swab and a stick (as in pregnancy test), but the test has no validation and it does not provide any benefit. The correct and qualitative use of the home test kit approved by the Ministry of Health is a reliable tool with low false positive.
The Challenges
In order to assure the quality execution of a home test enabling rapid and reliable response, several challenges still prevent the capability of the Ministry of Health to take a value decision (ordering isolation or providing the green pass.)
1.A strong identification capability of the end-user who wants to make a home test.
A strong and univalent identification capability of the tested person and a strong and reliable link of the test results with that person’s identity. In addition, there is a concern regarding possible technological hurdles in various populations as well as wide suitability to all types of population (elderly, handicapped, different languages, etc.).
2. A strong authentication capability proving that the test was actually conducted to the relevant person tested
Being able to verify that the test was actually conducted to the person tested, who provided identification while verifying that the result fed by the tested person was in fact the one received from the relevant test kit after the execution of a quality sampling.
In addition, fraud attempts might be possible, such as when sampling someone else or intentionally reporting false information regarding another person for different reasons.
3. A quality test is required, in order to verify that the sampling will enable minimum false positives
- Concern that the sampling would not be as required (e.g. taking biological material from the mouth instead of the throat), lowering the sensitivity of the test, that is already not high (even tests by a professional and an immediate reporting to the Ministry of Health provide a 24-hour pass but require a PCR test in case of a positive result).
- Concern that the result will be read incorrectly (e.g. if you wait too long, there sometimes appear two lines instead of one – false positive)
The purpose of integrating home tests as part of the processes is to enable a COVID-19 routine by providing each and every person that wants to get tested accessibility to a simple, rapid, and practical way, ensuring secure day-to-day activities.
If you have either a partial or full technological solution for this national challenge, please contact us by mail: [email protected] or here.
Offers accepted until August 5. Offers will be checked and decisions accepted by August 26.
