The ideation of POSTCOVID-AI would not have been possible without the experience we gained in a previous citizen science project: CovidAffect. This project was launched during the initial phase of the lockdown in our country (March 2020). The main objective was to collect and make publicly available data on the evolution of the Spanish population's state of mind during the coronavirus health crisis. These data would allow the creation of a "map" of the mood of the population, marginalised across provinces, which could be used by administrations and institutions in the management of the pandemic.
The results of CovidAffect were published, academic wise, in the prestigious journal Scientific Data of the Nature Group. At the dissemination level, an article was also published in the online platform The Conversation, where we were able to synthesise the most salient elements resulting from this experience.
For our team, CovidAffect has been a turning point in the way we do research. The project was carried out thanks to the selfless efforts of several scientists and especially to the invaluable contribution of hundreds of anonymous people from all over the country who contributed to the sampling of their mood over several months. All the lessons learnt in this project provide an excellent knowledge base to undertake POSTCOVID-AI, aiming for more ambitious and conclusive goals.