When the pandemic shut down the primary economy of Turks and Caicos, resort owners asked me to build a COVID risk tracking application to keep visitors safe while respecting their privacy. As with many fast pace projects, the needs changed and we pivoted to provide compliance to travelers, providing a medical insurance policy that enabled an estimated $100M in tourism travel during the pandemic and provided travelers an easy destination map on their mobile experience.

To the end user, the application was simple. But, the government challenges were significant. We needed to provide the government with a tracking mechanism that made them comfortable, while securing the traveler’s security and privacy. So, we started with an application that border control agents could use to scan in travelers upon landing on the island. Their compliance and testing status would be verified by a simple scan, that they were “safe.”

A traveler could produce their scan ID to prove they were compliant and safe

Simple scan to verify a tourist was “Safe”

Once a tourist entered the island, and scanned “Safe” they can easily find restaurants and entertainment spots that are verified safe to visit. This model supported local business and provided safety to visitors, while maintaining the island’s zero tolerance for infection.We provided this tech for review to the government, and they chose a different provider for political reasons. So, we pivoted the application to facilitate compliance and sell travel insurance.

In addition to providing a revenue source for the investors, we helped the island safely allow visitors, at an estimated $100M tourism benefit to the island.

Stakeholders needed a simple way to update content on their custom application, so we added a Content Management System that allowed both administrators of the app itself to update things like news and Terms of Service, as well as empowered businesses to update their listings.

This project is a good example of a moonshot. Private property owners on an island dependent on tourism, desperate to reopen for business during the COVID pandemic. We started with a government focussed solution, pivoted to a travel information application, and added features and redesigns along the road to solve for problems as they came up.

The kind of partnership we can offer supports the very nature of innovation. Build fast, learn, and adapt!