North Carolina-based machine learning company Tanjo AI has moved to the final round in the $500K Pandemic Response Challenge run by XPRIZE and sponsored by Cognizant.

Finalist teams were selected from semifinalists from 28 countries following an independent judging panel’s assessment of teams’ predictions of COVID-19 transmission rates and patterns.

Launched in November 2020, the Pandemic Response Challenge comprises two phases. In Phase 1, concluded earlier this month, contestants were tasked with analyzing local COVID-19 data, intervention strategies, and mitigation policies to develop and test a prediction model that could anticipate global infection spikes.

The teams had access to foundational models from Cognizant’s Evolutionary AI team, which applied artificial intelligence to COVID-19 data sourced from Oxford University and John Hopkins in Spring 2020.

Tanjo AI’s Community Confidence COVID-19 machine learning dashboard is designed to give business owners and community stakeholders real-time intelligence and predictive modeling on population health risk, consumer sentiment, and community resilience. Users can access this information in an easily understandable way that helps them view the risk to their organization or region, and they will even be able to simulate the impact of implementing evidence-based recommendations.

Cognizant and XPRIZE will award a prize purse of $500K at the conclusion of the challenge on February 26, 2021.