The app in the middle: Displacement of the Colombian public health surveillance system by COVID apps

This chapter investigates the impact of new applications on Colombia's health monitoring system during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular emphasis on Coronapp. The text looks at how these digital tools were presented alongside, and in some cases tried to replace, existing health monitoring systems. The public technology sector, driven by a desire to experiment, ventured into new areas, reframing the crisis as a problem that could be solved through technology. This led to an attempt to incorporate various health actors into a new technology without taking into account the existing healthcare infrastructure, while also adding unrelated features. However, healthcare professionals resisted this change and continued to use traditional data collection and processing methods. The disregard for local needs resulted in a proliferation of applications developed by local authorities and private entities, causing Coronapp to lose relevance. Ultimately, Coronapp collected data from millions of people but was never properly used by any health authority or connected to existing health infrastructure. The tension between the health and technology sectors created a complex situation, highlighting the disconnected nature of the state's response and the limitations of standalone technologies when applied to complex infrastructures.