Google Health Partnership · 2020–2022

Published in Nature

COVID-19
Open Data

Our partnership with Google Health produced the world's largest open-source COVID-19 dataset—published in Nature, used by the WHO, World Bank, and IMF, and built to give decision-makers a fighting chance.

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190+ Countries · 22,000+ Locations · Published in Nature

22K+

Locations

190+

Countries

2.5M

Lives Lost

Nature

Published

The Crisis

Why This Work Mattered

When COVID-19 struck in 2020, the world faced an unprecedented challenge: making critical health decisions without comprehensive, accessible data.

Governments, health organizations, and researchers needed real-time, reliable information to save lives. But data was fragmented, inconsistent, and often inaccessible.

From 2020 to 2022, we partnered with Google Health to solve this crisis, creating the largest open-source COVID-19 dataset in the world—empowering decision-makers from the WHO to local health departments.

This wasn't just data. It was infrastructure for survival.

Fig. 01 — Google Health Partnership

Published Research

Peer-reviewed, in Nature

Two papers documenting the methodology, scale, and best practices behind the COVID-19 Open Data project.

American Journal of Health Education

The Mango Model: Best Practices in the Creation of a COVID-19 Open Data Project Through a Partnership with Google Health and the Non-Profit FinMango

Oscar Wahltinez, Scott Glasgow, Aurora Cheung, James F. Glasgow, Martin Noguera, James W. Glasgow & Pamela Neidert Hoalt

A comprehensive case study documenting the methodologies, challenges, and best practices in building a global-scale open data infrastructure during a pandemic. This paper provides a blueprint for future public health data collaborations between technology companies, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations.

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Nature (Scientific Data)

COVID-19 Open-Data: A global-scale spatially granular meta-dataset for coronavirus disease

Oscar Wahltinez, Aurora Cheung, Ruth Alcantara, Donny Cheung, Mayank Daswani, Anthony Erlinger, Matt Lee, Pranali Yawalkar, Paula Lê, Ofir Picazo Navarro, Michael P. Brenner & Kevin Murphy

We present a comprehensive open repository of COVID-19 indicators combining data from multiple authoritative sources, providing unprecedented coverage of 22,000+ global locations across 190+ countries. This infrastructure enabled real-time tracking and analysis for public health decision-making worldwide.

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The Dataset

What made it revolutionary

Global Scale

22,000+ locations across 190+ countries, from national governments to local health departments.

Real-Time Updates

Continuously updated infrastructure enabling immediate response to emerging health threats.

Open Access

Completely free and open-source, democratizing access to critical health data worldwide.

Policy Impact

Used by WHO, World Bank, IMF, and governments for evidence-based health policy decisions.

Research Quality

Published in Nature, the world's most prestigious scientific journal, ensuring rigorous standards.

Collaborative

Built through partnerships with leading tech companies, academic institutions, and health organizations.

Impact & Recognition

How the work saved lives

"This remarkable team of big hearted and selfless volunteers has worked tirelessly on top of their many life commitments to attempt the compilation of the world's largest epidemiological database. This work has gone into vaccine research, helped governments decide public policy, and guided travel safety measures."

Oscar Wahltinez, Software Lead 'COVID-19 Open-Data'
Aurora Cheung, Technical Program Manager 'COVID-19 Open-Data'

Google, LLC.

Global Institutions

WHO/COVAX, World Bank, IMF, USAID

Academic Research

Harvard University, Verily, Research Institutions

Policy Decisions

Governments worldwide for public health policy

Vaccine Research

Supporting global immunization efforts

Want the full technical breakdown?

View Implementation Case Study → Read Appreciation Letter →

Featured In

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The Team

Built by brilliant minds

This project was only possible through the dedication of researchers, data scientists, and volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to maintain the world's most comprehensive COVID-19 dataset.

Core Team

Led the project from inception through completion (2020-2022)

Pam Hoalt, PhD

James Glasgow, PhD

Ojasvinee Singh, JD

James Glasgow, Pharm.D.

Rebeca Lozano

Kishan Patel

Uday Patel

Kevin D'Souza

Enrico Buoro

Martin Noguera

Erik Liang

Scott Glasgow

Bruna Chixaro

Chelsie Kindangen

Bill Maimone

Ahana Samat

Research Contributors

Provided critical insights about pandemic impact on local economies and manual curation of regional data sources

Angelica Carlos, Nathan Immel, Josh Burton, Anthony Schilt, Nicholas Lange, Corina Newsome, Kevin Doyle, Hector Garcia, Dylan Forman, Bryce Chappelear, Esha Sharma, Marc Via, PhD, Sam Holtzapple, Swetha Sukumar, Tristan Groenewold, Jon Li, Essie Francis, Anna Cava Grosso, Jared Orr, Caitlin Murphy, Alex Mitchell, Bailey Mohri, Harsha Haribhaskar, Leigh Mante, Nathan Manthei, Ishaan Dey, Antonio Machioni, Daniel Choi, Amber Wall, Azzzaam Kapadia, Tobias Abramenko, Siona Pathak

Data infrastructure saved lives.

Support our continued mission to build the data systems that power health equity worldwide.

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COVID-19Open Data