Novid20: Corona Warning System for Reduction of the Infection Rate should be Available at the End of March
Legal Advice on Development of Crisis ManagementApp Pro Bono for the Common Good
A team of more than 80 people from all over Austria, led by the business administration student and start-up founder Michael Kowatschew, is working intensively on the development of an automated Corona warning system, in the form of a smartphone app, aimed at combatting the rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus. The app is expected to be available at the end of March.
The technology platform Novid20 is conceived to slow down the infection rate of the Covid-19 virus by notifying app users of risk zones. The app is to be utilized by crisis management as an additional measure to curb the extremely rapid spread of infection. An international expansion of the Novid20 app is planned.
This is one of the leading private initiatives in this field. The non-profit association “NOVID20 – Technologieplattform zum Krisenmanagement”, currently being established, is being supported by the physician Franz Wiesbauer, numerous app developers, scientists, and legal experts, as well as data-protection and technology companies.
Binder Grösswang is advising pro bono on various legal aspects of the project, in particular regarding the foundation of the non-profit sponsoring association in accordance with the Austrian Federal Act on Associations.
Binder Grösswang partner and company law expert Christian Zwick says: “We are happy to be able to contribute to combatting the rapid spread of the Corona virus by supporting a project like Novid20, which serves the common good, in particular by advising on the establishment of the underlying non-profit association. We continue to wish the Novid20 team all the best and are confident that the use of current technology as an additional course of action, like similar measures in South Korea or Singapore, can lead to the success we are all hoping for.”
Binder Grösswang has always attached high importance to supporting non-profit projects on a pro-bono basis. The Novid20 team is being advised by Binder Grösswang’s company law expert Christian Zwick (partner) and IP/IT expert Ivo Rungg (partner).
Further cooperation partners are the technology and data-security companies Dolphin Technologies and Capacity Blockchain Solutions. Further advisers on data protection are DataGuard and CMS, as well as Nikolaus Forgó, Head of the Department of Innovation and Digitalisation in Law at the University of Vienna.