Infodemic Management Workshop 9 and 16 June 2021

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE BOOKLET WITH AGENDA & SPEAKERS

What is the infodemic?

At the same time as we are experiencing a pandemic, the world is also experiencing an “infodemic”: an overabundance of information (some accurate and some not) that occurs during an epidemic. It spreads between humans in a similar manner to an epidemic, via digital and physical information systems. In this situation, fake news and rumours (misinformation) appear on the scene, along with manipulation of information with doubtful or deliberately bad intent (disinformation). It makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it. Infodemics can impact citizens in every country, and addressing them is a new and centrally important challenge in responding to disease outbreaks. At the same time, though, the current COVID-19 infodemic is an opportunity to find and adapt new preparedness and response tools. WHO's Information Network for Epidemic (EPI-WIN) took the lead in this effort and provides resources, guidance and regular updates on their website.

What is the aim of this workshop?

This workshop aims to gather and present experiences, lessons learned and good practices on infodemic management during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Infodemic management has been approached in many different ways in the European countries, depending on their capacity, the resources and the institutions involved. What was tried? What worked/did not? What was difficult? What profiles were involved in infodemic management or should have been more involved? What tools were useful? What could be done to be prepared for the next crisis? These are some of the main questions we would like to respond to with the help of our speakers coming from different European countries with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Each speaker will highlight their national infodemic management experience and then discuss with the other speakers and the audience. Some practical tools and exercises for infodemic management will also be proposed.

What is PHIRI?

The Population Health Information Research Infrastructure for COVID-19 (PHIRI) aims to identify, access, assess and reuse for research population health and non-health data in Member States and across Member States that can underpin public health policy decisions relevant to Covid-19. PHIRI is funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The PHIRI project covers 41 partners in 30 European countries. One of PHIRI's expected outcomes is the identification of best practices for handling the COVID-19 pandemic at public health and clinical management level. This includes the COVID-19 response to the infodemic and health mis/disinformation. In this regard, PHIRI is delighted to propose this workshop to share experiences, lessons learned and good practices in infodemic management. Sharing is caring!

Goodie Bag:

Were you not able to attend the one or both days of the workshop? Explore this amazing goodie bag and relive the event!

PHIRI Infodemic Management Worshop - Goodie Bag

Date, time, length:

• 9th and 16th June 2021
• 9h30-13h30 CEST including lunch break.
• Similar agenda for both dates but different speakers

Agenda & speakers:

Find the complete agenda & more details about the speakers here!

Speakers & topics DAY 1 - 9 June 2021:

• Petronille Bogaert, Sciensano:"Welcome to the PHIRI infodemic management workshop."
• Christine Czerniak, WHO: "Introduction to the key concepts of infodemic management."
• Rebecca Winkels, Wissenschaft im Dialog (Science in Dialogue), Germany.
• Giovanni Zagni, Pagella Politica, Italy: "Scaling up the efforts: Fact-checking in Italy during the pandemic."
• Leonardo Heyerdahl, Institut Pasteur, France: "Opportunities and challenges of blending online and offline social listening of infodemics."
• Stefan Mandic-Rajcevic, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia: "Ups and downs on infodemic management in Serbia."
• Vitalba Crivello, European Science Media Hub: "ESMH: knowledge-based science communication to tackle the infodemic."
• Tina Purnat, ECDC: Leading and moderation of the discussion.
• Laura Espinosa, ECDC: Presentation of the Epitweetr tool.

Speakers & topics DAY 2 - 16 June 2021:

• Petronille Bogaert, Sciensano: "Welcome to the PHIRI infodemic management workshop."
• Tina Purnat, ECDC: "Introduction to the key concepts of infodemic management." & moderation of the discussion.
• Anna-Leena Lohiniva, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finland.
• Jolanta Bilinska, Patients Safety Foundation, Poland: "Good practice & information about the Covid-19 pandemic in Poland."
• Jose Alcami Pertejo, ISCIII, Spain: "From papers to media, lessons from the pandemics and infodemics."
• Claudia Dima, National Institute of Public Health, Romania: "The Green Phone  - a risk communication tool in the COVID-19 pandemic."
• Sara Rubinelli, University of Lucerne: "Interdisciplinarity in infodemic management - a focus on WHO competency framework."
• Laura Garcia & Marie Bohner, First Draft:  "How to spot online vaccine misinformation narratives." Workshop session.