Increasing Resilience toward COVID-19 via Risk Mapping: Co-creation of Data for Stakeholder Engagement in Hong Kong

Contemporary data tools, including interactive dashboards, have been used to monitor the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little research has been conducted on how such dashboards affect the behaviours of citizens in response to the pandemic. This study used surveys and semi-structured interviews to understand the perspectives of the developers and users of COVID-19 dashboards in Hong Kong. Results reveal that Hong Kong’s relative success in handling the COVID-19 outbreak can be partially attributed to public trust in scientific knowledge and government data on public health. At the same time, the Hong Kong government must alleviate concerns over data privacy by implementing transparent policies, such as audits by multiple organisations and cross-border data transfer agreements with Mainland China. By addressing citizens’ demands concerning data governance, the Hong Kong government could hopefully rebuild trust during a health and political crisis.