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    Home » Tech Shows » TechCentral » Interview: Gustav Praekelt on using WhatsApp to fight Covid-19

    Interview: Gustav Praekelt on using WhatsApp to fight Covid-19

    By Duncan McLeod24 March 2020
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    Gustav Praekelt

    Gustav Praekelt, founder of the Praekelt Foundation, the non-profit behind the department of health’s wildly successful Covid-19 WhatsApp platform, joins the podcast to talk about the service, and how it ratcheted up more than two million users in short order.

    Praekelt, a technologist at heart, explains what is involved in building something of this scale, including the challenges involved, and how the organisation is using advanced machine-learning technology to power it.

    The platform has since been repurposed for a Covid-19 WhatsApp service for the World Health Organisation, which has seen 10 million sign-ups in a matter of days — and growing fast.

    Don’t miss the conversation.

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