Incubating pandemic preparedness: a social algorithm for community-participatory intelligence in health security

This perspective article introduces a novel approach to pandemic preparedness, advocating for community-participatory intelligence as a central component of health security. Developed through literature analysis and building on experiences from the West African Ebola crisis and COVID-19, the article presents the "incubator workshop"—a structured social laboratory where small, diverse groups comprising community members, frontline workers, local authorities, and civil society actors collaboratively map deviations in system performance, draw on positive deviance, and produce actionable plans. The methodology is grounded in principles from community-based participatory research, positive deviance theory, and systems thinking, and provides detailed guidance on composition, facilitation, and data governance to ensure legitimate and inclusive participation.

The article finds that existing preparedness frameworks often overlook the local context, trust, and informal networks critical during crises. Key recommendations include institutionalising incubator workshops as recurrent mechanisms within preparedness cycles, ensuring clear decision rights and reciprocal value flows, and investing in sustainable, paid participation and facilitation. The author stresses that communities must retain authority over what knowledge is shared and that participation must be resourced and protected against tokenism, elite capture, and extractive practices. Embedding community intelligence into routine national and global health security processes is highlighted as a practical step toward more adaptive, equitable, and effective pandemic responses.