Nicholas G. Reich

The COVID-19 Forecast Hub is an essential platform dedicated to providing accurate and up-to-date forecasts regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Established in March 2020 by the Reich Lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, this collaborative hub aggregates predictions from over 50 global research groups, storing more than 100 million rows of standardized forecast data. The hub facilitates informed decision-making by offering interactive visualizations that allow users to compare various predictive models side by side.

The Forecast Hub's ensemble model combines multiple predictions into a cohesive overview, available weekly to the public and health officials. This model encompasses forecasts of new hospitalizations at county, state, and national levels in the U.S. Collaborating with agencies like the CDC, the hub actively supports public health efforts by providing critical insights into outbreak forecasting. With a commitment to transparency, the hub’s data is made openly available under a CC BY 4.0 license, ensuring that its findings reach a broad audience and contribute effectively to pandemic management strategies.