In April 2020, the Committee for Microbiology and Related Disciplines (Department of Medical Sciences of ANUBiH) launched a two-year scientific research project to monitor the spread of COVID-19 infection in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the aim of supporting public health institutions involved in the epidemic surveillance system.

In this way, the Academy of Sciences of Bosnia and Herzegovina became one of the first research institutions in the country to react promptly to the pandemic by launching a series of volunteer projects to help the Bosnian-Herzegovinian society fight the spread of the infection more effectively and adapt to all its consequences.

From the very beginning, significant support for the project was given by the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as numerous public health institutions involved in the fight against the epidemic.

The project began with the establishment of an expert system for monitoring and preventing the spread of COVID-19 - Epidemiological Location-Intelligence System (ELIS), which is intended for scientists, experts and professionals in the field of health and other relevant areas for monitoring and research of epidemics.

For the realization of the research, the following were established: information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, application platform, and data sets and models relevant for monitoring the spread of the disease and biostatistical analysis.

As part of the epidemic location intelligence system, a geoportal for data geovisualization, communication and entry has been developed (ELIS geoportal).

Time-lining animation of the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases by municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina