At a time before the use of TraceTogether and SafeEntry was stepped down, and regular Fast and Easy Testing (FET) was phased out for vaccinated staff and students, uNivUS was a pivotal platform enabling the safe navigation of our campuses, and monitoring of health during the pandemic.
On 27 July 2022, NUS is honoured to receive the WSH Innovation Award at the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Awards 2022 for the uNivUS: Pandemic Suite project. Presented by the WSH Council and supported by the Ministry of Manpower, the award recognises innovative solutions which improve safety and health standards at workplaces.
NUS staff updating her health status on the uNivUS app.
What is the uNivUS: Pandemic Suite?
To ensure that the University can operate safely and continue to be a safe place for all staff and students, the NUS Office of Risk Management and Compliance (ORMC) and NUS IT jointly developed the uNivUS: Pandemic Suite during the pandemic. This is a one-stop technological platform to facilitate and manage adherence to Safe Management Measures (SMMs) across all NUS campuses. Some of these including managing and implementing contact tracing requirements, vaccination-differentiated Safe Management Measures (VDS), as well as monitor the capacity limits of venues.
How does it work?
After installing the uNivUS app on their mobile phones, staff and students need not manually perform check-in via the TraceTogether-SafeEntry (TT-SE) at each building on campus. Instead, check-ins will be done automatically through their connections to NUS Wi-Fi access points. At the backend, the University is able to use this data to remotely monitor crowd density and prevent overcrowding at popular places or during peak hours.
With over 52,000 staff and students, the uNivUS: Pandemic Suite allows the University to centrally manage the health status of the community. Staff and students can upload their vaccination certificates and FET results onto the uNivUS app. They can also use the app to self-collect Antigen Rapid Test (ART) self-test kits via vending machines placed around the campuses. The information gathered by the app allows the system to automatically determine if a staff or student is allowed on campus, or has fulfilled the necessary VDS requirements.
Chief Information Technology Officer Ms Tan Shui-Min and Senior Director of the Office of Risk Management and Compliance Dr Peck Thian Guan, who represented NUS to receive the WSH Innovation Award at the Workplace Safety and Health Awards 2022.
Senior Director from the Office of Risk Management and Compliance Dr Peck Thian Guan said, “The uNivUS: Pandemic Suite has brought about cost and time savings for the University, as well as made the process of adhering to SMMs and VDS more seamless for staff and students. It has also helped eliminate the need for manned TT-SE checkpoints on campuses.”
Chief Information Technology Officer Ms Tan Shui-Min added, “With the uNivUS: Pandemic Suite, NUS was able to successfully overcome these challenges and provide as seamless an experience for our NUS community as possible. This also affirms the ability and agility of our students and staff in embracing new processes and technology.”
Today, as we return to normalcy and build up our COVID-19 resilience, uNivUS continues to be the go-to platform for services such as health declaration and the uploading of ART results for unvaccinated individuals.