It’s a tiny, microscopic principality; its area is just a little more than 1/20 of Athens. A population of barely 40,000. Yet it has a capital called Vaduz. It’s mountainous, nestled between Austria and Switzerland, has ski resorts, and of course is a laundry (“tax haven” in polite terminology). None of this stops it from leaping to the forefront of the 4th industrial revolution. With Covid-19 lending a hand.
The government of Liechtenstein, perhaps even Prince Johannes Adam Ferdinand Alois Josef Maria Marco d’Aviano Pius (for short: Hans-Adam II) himself, therefore decided that, for the sake of public health (they have a problem there too, with the Alpine air?), every citizen must wear a high-tech biometric bracelet that will continuously transmit health data (temperature, pulse, cough intensity, who knows what else?) to a central database—in neighboring Switzerland.
For the first time, 2,000 of the principality’s citizens have put it on / worn it. Their data are collected, analyzed, algorithmized, and Mauro Pedrazzini, the Prince’s interior minister, is satisfied. The clinical data study is carried out by the Swiss ministry of health, and everything is being tuned so that starting in September the wristbands will be distributed / worn by everyone— all 40,000 of them: let the sly tyrant covid-19 dare come close! The device is an evolution of a similar one successfully launched by the Swiss tech company Ava, aimed at monitoring the female cycle (but which women need such a gadget?)
Some cloud out there, in Switzerland, is very busy: with a sample of 40,000 captives of hygienist surveillance, in the middle of Europe, many useful conclusions will emerge. And let Preciado say that “wearables aren’t needed, mobiles are just fine.” The 40,000 continuous, 24/7 health-data streams are a special opportunity for testing. To calibrate the algorithms, to improve them… You don’t go straight to millions of streams like that…
The boss always needs something extra! Always!! Especially if it’s about health and its protection? Ohhh how many sacrifices you have to make!