worldbank.org (01.05.2021) The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is having devastating impacts on the economy and people of the Philippines, and since the onset of pandemic, the Government of the Philippines (GoP) has responded with strong social protection measures. The Social Amelioration Program (SAP) enacted under the Bayanihan To Heal as One Act in March 2020 and managed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), aims to provide cash assistance to 18 million households (over 75 percent of total households) in the country.

European Commission (06.07.2021) This review provides an up-to-date economic analysis of the steps the European Union (EU) is taking towards a strong social Europe, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis. This ESDE report shows that the social impact of the COVID-19 crisis has been uneven and diverse. Regional inequalities that already existed before the pandemic may have widened, according to the review.

odi.org (09.07.2021) Before Covid-19, many countries were engaged in the process of strengthening core social protection systems and exploring ways to develop their shock-responsive capacity. However, these system-building efforts were still nascent in many low- and middle-income countries (LICs and MICs) and even in countries with more developed systems, maintaining and extending provision in response to a shock as vast, sudden and severe as Covid-19 represented a significant operational challenge.

Introduction: A number of predictive models and forecasting exercises have been developed by various organizations, such as research groups, academic institutions, hospitals, and consulting companies, with the main aim to support health systems in with COVID-19 strategic decision making, planning, and health policy formulation that help in the fight against COVID19.

ESRI (21.06.2021) COVID-19 had, and continues to have, a strong negative effect on incomes in Ireland due to widespread job losses as the measures put in place to slow the spread of the disease resulted in severe economic restrictions. Despite the existence of unemployment supports, additional income supports were introduced to protect incomes. As public health restrictions lift and the economy recovers, we face the withdrawal of such supports. We examine these supports and the role they played in supporting incomes.

social-protection.org (2021) The brief presents the Mozambican practice of preparing and publishing an annual National Statistical Bulletin on Social Protection. This practice demonstrates how this country has successfully developed a tool that harmonizes national data and underpins informed social protection decision-making, based on concrete and comprehensive data.

CEPS (14.06.2021) Digitalisation is not only changing the nature of jobs, workplaces and skills development, but also the way work is allocated. Digital labour platforms (DLPs) are driving innovation in the allocation of work. Check out the latest landscape, trends, and impact on working conditions. The report aims to improve the available data on platform work in the EU.

Big data analytics has gained wide attention from both academia and industry as the demand for understanding trends in massive datasets increases. Recent developments in sensor networks, cyber-physical systems, and the ubiquity of the Internet of Things (IoT) have increased the collection of data (including health care, social media, smart cities, agriculture, finance, education, and more) to an enormous scale. However, the data collected from sensors, social media, financial records, etc. is inherently uncertain due to noise, incompleteness, and inconsistency.

socialprotection.org (2021) This note compares the experiences of 53 low- and middle-income countries to identify drivers of timely and large-scale government social assistance responses to COVID-19. The analysis covers cash responses only and focuses on the capacity of the social protection sector and beyond. It compares response times (the first payment date) across countries and analyses their correlation with various potential drivers of timely response, including contextual, legislation and funding, social protection capacity, and service delivery factors.