Comparison of COVID-19 contact-tracing apps in the context of public policy: the cases of Turkey and South Korea

Abstract

The healthcare systems of almost every country have been facing an unprecedented crisis since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. In response, numerous countries have designed and launched their unique applications to inform their citizens about COVID-19 and to follow their health situation. While South Korea has been showing an effective fight against COVID-19, Turkey is one of the most affected ones by the virus. This paper aims to identify key differences and similarities between the contact tracing apps that are used by Turkey and South Korea during COVID-19. In this way, it addresses how two members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), one developing (Turkey) and other developed (South Korea) countries, integrated their public policies and crisis management responses with the mobile phone applications and at what scale they are successful. Also, this paper investigates how these differences/similarities between their applications have affected their paths in the pandemic. Comparing their applications, it discusses policy-making processes, technological differences, and contact tracing strategies with policy recommendations for other countries.