Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 12, 2026
Setup of Consumer Wearable Devices for Exposure and Health Monitoring in Population Studies
Published on: February 3, 2023
Digital contact tracing in Aotearoa New Zealand: a scan in the right direction, or a digital dead-end?
Andrew Chen1, Tim Chambers2, Andy Anglemyer3
1Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, The University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.
Aim:
With the phase one Royal Commission COVID-19 report published, it is an opportune time to reflect on the various public health interventions used to consider if they were effective and how they could be improved. As we look to the future, it is important to understand if digital contact tracing (DCT) was an effective public health intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic and how it could be improved.
Method:
We summarise a series of articles detailing the population and public uptake of the various DCT technologies implemented in Aotearoa New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results:
New Zealand had one of the highest population uptakes of DCT in the developed world. However, there were additional barriers to the full implementation of these tools that likely reduced their efficacy.
Conclusion:
DCT was just one of many interventions aiming to eliminate, and then suppress, COVID-19. This context makes it difficult to isolate and conclude that the efficacy of DCT during this pandemic would translate to future pandemic conditions, especially if there is improved design and implementation. However, this research shows that the self-service survey approach worked better than expected, and that there is some promise in automating notification processes.
