Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said his company will commit $225 million to support local and global COVID-19 response efforts. This includes $8 million in cash, $210 million in products, and up to $5 million in grants and funds matching Cisco employees’ donations to nonprofits.
In a blog post outlining Cisco’s commitment, Robbins said these resources will support health care and education, government response, and critical technology. Part of this will go to the United Nations Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, which supports the World Health Organization’s (WHO) worldwide efforts to help prevent, detect, and manage the virus’ spread.
Through its Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) program, Cisco will provide funding for heads of state, government agencies, and businesses to deploy COVID-19-related technology solutions. “We are also empowering those on the front lines with access to our critical technologies with our free Webex and security offers,” Robbins wrote. To date, these programs have secured more than 2.2 people online and Webex has hosted virtual response meetings for the French, Canadian, German, Colombian, and other global governments.
Microsoft Prioritizes First RespondersIt’s noteworthy that Microsoft is also prioritizing first-responders in its efforts to support customers using its Azure cloud, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365, and other products and services during the pandemic. “As demand continues to grow, if we are faced with any capacity constraints in any region during this time, we have established clear criteria for the priority of new cloud capacity,” according to a Microsoft blog post. “Top priority will be going to first responders, health and emergency management services, critical government infrastructure organizational use, and ensuring remote workers stay up and running with the core functionality of Teams. We will also consider adjusting free offers, as necessary, to ensure support of existing customers.”
In the Cisco blog, Robins also said that today Cisco and “several other” Silicon Valley companies along with local elected officials will announce a multi-million-dollar financial assistance program for at-risk people in area.
As the coronavirus continue to spread globally, several technology companies have invested billions in cash, products, and research initiatives to fight the spread and find a cure. Last Friday, Amazon committed at least $20 million for COVID-19 diagnostic research via its AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative. This new program is open to accredited research institutions and private entities that use Amazon Web Services (AWS) to run research-oriented workloads related to point-of-care diagnostics (testing that can be done at home or at a clinic with same-day results).
Dell Donates MillionsAdditionally, Dell Technologies has donated millions of dollars and technology to help communities treat and contain COVID-19. This includes an initial donation of $284,000 for surgical masks, protective clothing, and eye protectors for local hospitals in China, and a $853,000 in-kind IT infrastructure donation to the Hubei Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China.
Dell also allocated another $3 million in cash and technology donations to support “front-line organizations working to treat and contain COVID-19 around the world.”
And the tech giant set up a fundraising page where employees can donate to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation to help in the relief efforts. Through its Dell match program, the company will match every employee donation up to $10,000 per employee per year.