This report highlights spatial computing's role in improving infectious disease outbreak responses through data science and simulation.
The 21st century has seen major epidemics and pandemics caused by infectious diseases such as coronaviruses, influenza, and most recently, monkeypox. The spread of infectious diseases within human populations can be conceptualized as a complex system composed of individuals who interact and transmit viruses via spatiotemporal processes that manifest across and between scales. The complexity of this system ultimately makes it difficult to understand, predict, and effectively respond to infectious disease outbreaks. As spatial data becomes increasingly available at high spatial and temporal resolutions, and computing resources can more efficiently handle such data, there are new opportunities for data science and simulation-based solutions to improve public health.
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Kim et al. (2025) studied this question.
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