TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Facedrive Inc. (“Facedrive”) (TSXV: FD) a Canadian “people-and-planet first” tech ecosystem is pleased to announce that its contact-tracing platform TraceSCAN is completing cloud migration process to power its solution through Microsoft Azure. The move marks the first step in a collaboration between the two companies, which will allow businesses and individuals around the world to easily avail of TraceSCAN’s advanced COVID-19 contact-tracing wearable solution and extend to Microsoft’s enterprise cloud applications through its partner network.
TraceSCAN wearables were created in an effort to offer ongoing frontline assistance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic through a joint effort between Facedrive Health and a group of researchers from the University of Waterloo in April 2020. It has subsequently developed a unique Bluetooth wearable technology integration, been endorsed by the Government of Ontario, and started implementation with multiple large employers as they practice safe return-to-work policies in environments where the use of mobile devices is restricted. As outlined in a Privacy White Paper released in collaboration with MT>Ventures on June 4, 2020 (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200604005310/en/Facedrive-Health-releases-“TraceSCAN”-Privacy-White-Paper-in-collaboration-with-MT-Ventures), TraceSCAN has comprehensive safeguards put in place in order to ensure user data privacy and security, such as robust encryption carried out both at rest and in transit, rotating temporary anonymous identifiers, etc. It also explains how the TraceSCAN privacy compliance framework is underpinned by the ten Fair Information Practice Principles (or FIPPs) set out in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The White Paper is publicly available and can be requested from the official TraceSCAN website at www.tracescan.ca.
TraceSCAN is a standalone contact-tracing wearable solution that is built around the most advanced Bluetooth technology. The wearable devices exchange encrypted ID’s when they are in close proximity. Users can upload their contact history periodically to Azure through kiosks that are located at the entrances and exits of participating organizations. The kiosks are also powered by Microsoft’s Surface Go 2 tablets, hence providing a complete end-to-end data transfer solution hosted on Azure.
Several months after its launch and following multiple successful implementations in Canada, TraceSCAN is now ready to extend its services to more businesses and individuals globally, and believes that Azure will benefit them by accurately and securely harnessing the data with the customer’s privacy as top priority. Azure will power the TraceSCAN platform by ensuring access to one of the largest cloud footprints available today, along with data sovereignty, hybrid capabilities, and advanced developer and data services. In addition, Facedrive and Microsoft plan to explore synergies resulting from integration, such as opportunities for TraceSCAN to use the capabilities of Azure IoT Hub, Azure IoT Central, Azure Sphere and other potential fits to use advanced workloads within Azure and connect contact-tracing data with business processes and analytics while keeping customer privacy at the forefront. Furthermore, as the collaboration evolves, more collaboration avenues may open through Microsoft’s extensive partner network, thus increasing reach of the TraceSCAN products tremendously.
“Microsoft Azure and the Microsoft Partner Network provides us with a great launchpad for our growth and expansion plans globally,” said Sayan Navaratnam, Chairman and CEO of Facedrive. “We are excited to drive this collaboration for the safety, health and well-being of thousands, if not millions of workers and their families as businesses return to work in these unprecedented circumstances,” added Navaratnam.
“Innovative companies like TraceSCAN are using the power of Microsoft Azure to help reduce the spread of COVID, while maintaining privacy for users,” said Suzanne Gagliese, GM of Microsoft One Commercial Partner Canada. “Microsoft is committed to helping partners like TraceSCAN deliver solutions that will allow customers to focus more on their core businesses. TraceSCAN’s use of our open-source cloud solution to innovate while prioritizing security and compliance is the kind of innovation that will help fuel our economic recovery.”
FOR CONSIDERATION
About Facedrive
Facedrive is a multi-faceted “people-and-planet first” tech ecosystem offering socially-responsible services to local communities with a strong commitment to doing business fairly, equitably and sustainably. As part of this commitment, Facedrive’s vision is to fulfil its mandate through a number of verticals that either leverage existing technologies of the Company or project considerable synergies with existing lines of business (the “Facedrive Verticals”). The Facedrive Verticals include its: rideshare business (“Facedrive Rideshare”), sustainable e-commerce platform (“Facedrive Marketplace”), food-delivery service (“Facedrive Foods”), social media platform (“Facedrive Social”), and its contact-tracing and sustainable health services business (“Facedrive Health”).
Facedrive Rideshare was the first to offer green transportation solutions in the TaaS space, planting thousands of trees based on user consumption and offering choices between electric vehicles (including on a subscription basis), hybrid vehicles and conventional vehicles. Facedrive Marketplace offers curated merchandise created from sustainably sourced materials. Facedrive Foods offers contactless deliveries of a wide variety of foods with the focus on delivering healthy foods right to consumers’ doorsteps. Facedrive Social strives to keep people connected in a physically-distanced world through its HiQ socialization platform that invites users to interact based on common interests on its communication platform, which offers gamification features. Facedrive Health strives to develop and offer innovative technological solutions to the most acute health challenges including its proprietary TraceSCAN wearable technology for contact tracing. Facedrive envisions changing the ridesharing, food delivery, e-commerce, social and health tech narratives for the better, for everyone.
For more about Facedrive, visit www.facedrive.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information in this press release contains forward-looking information. This information is based on management’s reasonable assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to us and are made as of the date of this press release. Actual results and the timing of events may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information as a result of various factors. Information regarding our expectations of future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities or the markets in which we operate is forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not facts but instead represent management’s expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances. Many factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
See “Forward-Looking Information” and “Risk Factors” in the Corporation’s Filing Statement dated August 28, 2019 for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions associated with these statements. Readers are urged to consider the uncertainties, risks and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information. We have no intention and undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities law.
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