The coronavirus does not stop at borders but tracing and warning apps can help identify and break the chain of infections. Today, most Member States have launched their own national apps on a voluntary basis. To achieve this, the European Commission has supported the efforts through the creation of common guidelines (toolbox) enabling the individual apps to talk to each other and make use of a European Federated Gateway Server to notify citizens about possible exposure to infections across the EU.

In the context of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, in January 2022 we kicked off the work on a new study focusing on lessons learned, best practices and epidemiological impact of the common European approach on digital contact tracing and warning apps to combat and exit the pandemic. The study is commissioned by DG CONNECT, European Commission and is carried out by empirica and Rand Europe.
In this study, we will collect and analyse EU-level actions on cross-border interoperability, coordination, implementation, and epidemiological impact of digital contact tracing and warning apps by Member States, EEA countries, Switzerland, and the UK.

We will develop a methodology and monitoring framework to gather evidence and evaluate the use and comparative performance of digital contact tracing and warning apps in the EU. We will perform an impact assessment of the identified apps across EU Member States.

Over the next months, we will carry out a detailed literature review as well as a series of consultations with relevant stakeholders and experts at national level who have been involved in the development and operation of contact tracing apps. We will analyse the collected data and insights from the consultations and prepare a final study report. The report will be complemented by country factsheets with at-a-glance information about relevant figures and information on the digital contact tracing efforts at national level.
The final study report and country factsheets are expected to be available in autumn 2022.