Jameel Institute Launches Open-Access Pandemic Modeling Tool at Singapore Event

DAEDALUS Explore lets policymakers simulate health and economic trade-offs across 67 countries

When COVID-19 arrived, governments were making consequential decisions about school closures, travel restrictions, and vaccine rollouts with limited tools to model what those choices would cost — in lives, in economic output, and in years of education lost. The Jameel Institute at Imperial College London has spent several years developing a platform designed to fill that gap before the next pandemic arrives.

DAEDALUS Explore, launched in Singapore in May 2026, is a free online dashboard powered by DAEDALUS, an integrated economic and epidemiological model that combines data on disease transmission and economic activity to project health, mortality, and financial outcomes under different scenarios. The tool currently supports seven hypothetical respiratory pathogens with pandemic potential — covering characteristics found in SARS, several COVID-19 strains, and multiple influenza viruses — across 67 countries.

Users with no modeling background can compare the projected impact of interventions such as managing international travel, reopening schools, or scaling vaccine coverage, and can evaluate the cost-benefit of preparedness investments like expanded healthcare capacity or vaccine manufacturing. The platform is available to governments, public health agencies, and the public alike.

The launch event in Singapore, hosted by the Jameel Institute in collaboration with Community Jameel, Griffin Catalyst, and Singapore’s Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response (PREPARE), followed a technical preview at the Jameel Institute’s annual London symposium in November 2025. Community Jameel, founded by Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel KBE, is a co-founder of the Jameel Institute and has supported the Economics of Pandemic Preparedness Initiative since the program launched at the 2022 Philanthropy Asia Summit. An Arab News Japan feature on the Jameel family’s Japan connections offers further background on Community Jameel’s presence in Asia.

DAEDALUS is already deployed by governments, the UK Health Security Agency, His Majesty’s Treasury, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, among others. Future versions of DAEDALUS Explore will cover additional pathogens, improve functionality, and expand data resolution for more countries.