I am Generation Equality: Ramida “Jennie” Juengpaisal, designer and developer of a COVID-19 tracker in Thailand

I am Generation Equality because…

I am a digital product designer and front-end developer, and I believe that women can make a meaningful contribution to the society through technology. We should have more diversity in the tech industry.

For too long, the STEM fields have been shaped by gender biases that exclude women and girls. There is a lot of women working in the tech industry, but they don't have platforms to show their potential. Despite this, women and girls are pushing the boundaries every day.

Providing reliable information in uncertain times

When the COVID-19 pandemic started, information kept spreading on social media without any proof or proper media coverage. I asked myself, 'why is there no place that gathers all the information about COVID-19 cases so that we can checkeasily?'. Thisquestion turned into the idea of developing a website that curates news and data about the virus. That was the beginning of "COVID Tracker by 5Lab".

Social media plays a significant role in spreading fake news, but some people are clueless about this. "COVID Tracker by 5Lab" is providing credible information about the coronavirus situation—about places that may be contaminated and should be avoided, or places that are now sterilized, nearby hospitals and the costs of testing for COVID-19 in each hospital, etc.With this information, we hope toreduce panic among people.

The "COVID Tracker by 5Lab" started with a simple idea to visualize the information from the Ministry of Health and make it easy to understand— it was a hackathon that was done in one night!

We gained four million unique users within five days of launching. This was way beyond our expectations. Our next step is to provide even more health-related information on COVID-19.

Three actions you can take to engage more women in COVID response: 

• Discuss this issue with your friends and family to raise the awareness and importance of having women in COVID-19 response.
• Speak up for current female responders of COVID-19 
• Support women in tech and other industries

Women on the front lines of COVID-19 response

I believe what I am doing is important, and data transparency is key.

With more accurate data, the government and people can make more effective decisions With transparent information, people on the front line of COVID-19 can get suitable support and resources.

There are a lot of women responders in the front line of COVID-19 as nurses, doctors, other health-care workers, immigration officers and more. Furthermore, there are also a lot of people working hard and making critical contributions that we may neglect, such as housekeepers, caregivers or domestic workers, who are often women. From the media, we also see the rise of domestic violence because of the stay-at-home orders.

Ramida Juengpaisal, 24, from Thailand, is a digital product designer and front-end developer from 5 Lab Group co., ltd. a creative software company that created the COVID-19 Tracker in Thailand. She aims to bridge design and technology to make a better society.

Original article published on UN Women Asia and the Pacific