NTT DATA and the City of Austin have partnered to release a new digital tool that will allow citizens to electronically schedule COVID-19 tests, the company announced on Friday.

“The launch of the Public Testing Enrollment Form is a pivotal point in the testing capability for our community,” said Dr. Mark Escott, Austin-Travis County Interim Health Authority. “As we gather more data through widespread testing, we are provided a bigger picture in the impact of COVID-19 in Austin-Travis County.”

The joint application will also enable the city to securely trace anonymized positive results to assess testing demand and identify high-risk areas for proactive response. Citizens will be able to access and use the Public Testing Enrollment Form, effective immediately.

Based on responses to common symptoms of COVID-19, citizens may be eligible to electronically schedule a test within a 15-minute window at one of five city-wide locations. Once a test is scheduled, citizens will securely receive a one-time-use QR code on the application’s portal to facilitate quick identification and check-in at the testing sites and securely obtain test results.

If a citizen who uses the application tests positive for COVID-19, they will receive an automated email message directing them to the portal that contains instructions on how to mitigate additional community spread of the virus, as well as guidance on how to monitor symptoms to determine if additional medical supervision is necessary.

NTT DATA and Austin will utilize the anonymized data to develop a COVID-19 heat map, which will indicate areas having a greater need of resources, such as tests and hospital beds. In addition, Austin will provide an automatic exposure questionnaire on the portal for citizens who test positive.

The partnership will gather details on how the virus might have spread, including travel and visits to high-traffic areas. The application will also be able to send follow-up emails or text messages asking citizens to check the portal and report on their well-being so medical care can be escalated if necessary.

“This digital tool will give the City of Austin a clearer picture of how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting citizens. They can then proactively allocate health resources to harder hit areas,” said Chris Merdon, SVP, Public Sector, NTT DATA Services, a global IT services provider with its U.S. headquarters located in Texas.

The portal will also include information on COVID-19 and automated chatbots to help answer questions, as well as a community chat feature that allows citizens to connect to each other electronically.

The application portal will be hosted on a FedRamp-secured platform engineered by the city. NTT DATA and its partners will maintain compliance with applicable privacy laws, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

“NTT DATA is well-positioned to help any government entity leverage the latest technology to fight this pandemic, and we expect to roll out what we developed and implemented with the City of Austin to other communities to help combat this horrible virus,” Merdon added.

About NTT DATA

NTT DATA partners with clients to navigate and simplify the modern complexities of business and technology, delivering the insights, solutions and outcomes that matter most. We deliver tangible business results by combining deep industry expertise with applied innovations in digital, cloud and automation across a comprehensive portfolio of consulting, application, infrastructure and business process services.

NTT DATA Services, headquartered in Plano, Texas, is a division of NTT DATA Corporation, a top 10 global business and IT services provider with 120,000+ professionals in more than 50 countries, and NTT, a partner to more than 85 percent of the Fortune 100.

Intelsat has announced that Intelsat 901 has returned to service after the successful docking with the first Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-1) from Northrop Grumman and the company’s subsidiary, SpaceLogistics, Intelsat announced on Friday.

“With a focus on providing the best customer experience in our industry, Intelsat is proud to have pioneered this innovative first with Northrop Grumman. We see increased demand for our connectivity services around the world, and preserving our customers’ experience using innovative technology such as MEV-1 is helping us meet that need,” said Intelsat chief services officer Mike DeMarco.

Intelsat 901 docked on Feb. 25, 2020, marking the first time that two commercial spacecraft docked in geostationary orbit. Since February, MEV-1 has assumed navigation of the combined spacecraft stack reducing its inclination by 1.6° and relocating IS-901 to its new orbital location.

Intelsat then transitioned approximately 30 of its commercial and government customers to the satellite on April 2, 2020. IS-901 has been operating at the 332.5°E orbital slot and providing full service to Intelsat customers.

Intelsat has labeled life-extension services as a cost-effective and efficient way to minimize service disruptions, enhance the overall flexibility of its satellite fleet and better support the evolving needs of its customers.

“I want to thank Northrop Grumman, SpaceLogistics and our valued Intelsat customers, who put their trust in us to successfully execute this historic mission. As commercial space-servicing technology progresses, Intelsat looks forward to pioneering new applications in support of our customers’ continued success,” said Tom Wilson, vice president, Northrop Grumman Space Systems and president, SpaceLogistics, LLC.

Under the terms of the contract, Northrop Grumman and SpaceLogistics will provide five years of life extension services to IS-901 before returning the spacecraft to a final decommissioned orbit. MEV-1 will enable the company to provide additional mission extension services for new clients including orbit raising, inclination corrections and inspections. Intelsat has also contracted Northrop Grumman for a second MEV (MEV-2) to service Intelsat 1002 satellite to occur in late 2020.

“Now that MEV-1 has successfully delivered on its mission to place the Intelsat 901 satellite back into operational service, we will continue to pioneer the future of on-orbit servicing through our multi-year technology roadmap leading to additional services such as inspection, assembly and repair,” added Wilson.

Following Northop Grumman’s services with Intelsat, Joe Anderson, vice president of operations and business development at SpaceLogistics, said that the Mission Extension Vehicle 1 spacecraft will return Intelsat 901 to its working orbit after integrating with the satellite in another out-of-way orbit.

Anderson also noted that SpaceLogistics will assess the use of MEV to repair spacecraft under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites initiative. The company plans to use a DARPA-provided robotic arm to integrate mission-extension pods to satellites to support propulsion functions.

“This is a great thing that will allow us to do services beyond what the MEV does,” said Anderson. “MEV does just docked life extension.”  The second MEV mission, MEV-2, is scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2020 and begin life-extension work for Intelsat’s 1002 satellite by the year’s end.

About Intelsat

As the foundational architects of satellite technology, Intelsat operates the world’s largest and most advanced satellite fleet and connectivity infrastructure. We apply our unparalleled expertise and global scale to connect people, businesses and communities, no matter how difficult the challenge. Intelsat is uniquely positioned to help our customers turn possibilities into reality – transformation happens when businesses, governments and communities use Intelsat’s next-generation global network and managed services to build their connected future.