Newsletter No. 1

April 2021

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101003606.

Join us at the Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks

The HERoS project will the presented at the online edition of the Humanitarian Networks & Partnerships Weeks 2021 – an event organised by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The session dedicated to HERoS will take place on 29 April 2021 from 12h to 13h30 CET and will include the following topics:

Project overview – Prof. Gyöngyi Kovács, HUMLOG Institute – Hanken School of Economics
Governance crisis modelling and policies during COVID-19 – Prof. Kees Boersma, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Behavioural models in epidemics – Prof. Tina Comes, Technical University of Delft
Supply chain management in pandemics – Prof. Gyöngyi Kovács
Social media analytics during COVID-19 – Prof. Harith Alani, The Open University

Registration to both, the event and the specific session, is free and required.

Project news

ICU capacity data visualisation tool

HERoS partner Nordic Healthcare Group has developed an online tool to visualise occupancy rates at intensive care units in different countries and regions of the European Union between February and November 2020. It is based on datasets from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as well as national health authorities.

Availability of data concerning ICU capacity at regional and country level in real time is pivotal to organise health infrastructure at the EU level during a crisis. This tool is an example of how data can be processed to guide decision making by public authorities.

Access the tool >>

'Logistics for pandemic response’ training module

HERoS partner Hanken Scool of Economics has developed a pandemic response training module as part of the Introduction to Humanitarian Logistics MOOC that it currently offers. The ‘Disease Outbreaks’ module draws from the research carried out within HERoS and provides an overview of the different types of outbreaks and their impact, particularly on supply chains. Some of the topics discussed in the module include supply chain disruptions, mitigation strategies and civil-military cooperation. The MOOC is free, open to all and ‘always on’, meaning that prospective participants can start the course at any time.

Join the course >>

Launch of the Fact-checking Observatory

The Fact-checking Observatory builds on research by the Knowledge Media Institute of The Open University carried out within European projects related to misinformation (HERoS and Co-Inform). It generates weekly automated reports about misinformation risk areas - including COVID-19 - and indicators about the effectiveness of fact-checking articles in reducing misinformation spread.

View the Fact-checking Observatory website >>
Follow the Observatory on Twitter >>

Rapid Response Phase Results webinar

Our project completed its Rapid Response Phase in September 2020. To share results with DG SANTE and other stakeholders, a webinar was organised on 27 October 2020. .

The recording of the webinar, presentations and reports are available on the project website.

Webinar recordings and slides >>
Deliverables >>

HERoS in the news

Our project was featured in an article in Horizon Magazine entitled Lack of solidarity hampered Europe’s coronavirus response. View the article >>

HERoS coordinator Gyöngyi Kovács, was interviewed by BBC World News on collaboration and supply chain issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch the interview >>

Publications

Journals & conferences

Boersma, F.K. and R. Larruina (2021). Restoring the medical supply chain from below. The role of social entrepreneurship in the production of face masks during the COVID-19 crisis . ISCRAM Conference proceedings.
Kovács, Gyöngyi and Falagara Sigala, Ioanna (2021): Lessons learned from humanitarian logistics to manage supply chain disruptions, Journal of Supply Chain Management
Bruun, Alva and Kovács, Gyöngyi (2020): From risk to resilience in the global supply chain economy after Covid-19, a humanitarian response, Discover Society, Covid-19 Chronicles.

Blogs entries

Falagara, Ioanna (February 2021). “Your facemask impacts the global supply chains”
Bergtora Sandvik, Kristin; Comes, Tina; Kovács, Gyöngyi (November 2020). “The Coldest Cold Chain: Chilling Effects of Covid-19 Vaccines”
Falagara Ioanna; Kovács, Gyöngyi , Maghsoudi, Amin; Piotrowicz, Wojciech; Storsjö, Isabell; Vega, Diego (November 2020). “Temperature control matters! Fact sheet to prepare for COVID-19 vaccination programmes”
Boersma, Kees (March 2020). "Take human behavior in account in response to corona epidemic "