As we all attempt to navigate the new normal, the world’s largest tech companies are looking for ways to accelerate COVID-19 detection and response and, in general, use their technology for good in the time of coronavirus.
Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said his company later today will launch a website with COVID-19 education, prevention information, and local resources, including tools from Google to help businesses and their employees, most of whom are now working from home. The company partnered with the U.S. government on this website, and while it may not be as extensive as President Donald Trump promised in a Friday press conference about the effort, “we’ve accelerated our work to help people stay safe, informed, and connected,” Pichai wrote in a blog post.
Google also made Meet, its video conferencing app, available for free to all G Suite customers until July 1, and added resources for remote workers. Through its philanthropic arm, Google.org, the company committed $50 million to the global COVID-19 response, focusing on health and science, access to educational resources, and small-business support.
Meanwhile, Verily, which Alphabet owns, is working on a COVID-19 testing pilot program that it will roll out today. This includes testing sites in the San Francisco Bay area and an online screening tool. “Californians will be able to take an online COVID-19 screener survey through Project Baseline beginning Monday, March 16,” according to a Verily blog. “People who meet eligibility and requirements for testing will be directed to mobile testing sites based on capacity, where they will complete a nasal swab test. Once tested, individuals will be informed of their COVID-19 test results within a few days.”
Google, along with other tech giants Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook, also joined with the White House in a coronavirus task force over the weekend. The companies are looking for ways to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help solve the myriad of problems related to the pandemic, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Amazon and Microsoft are also among the Washington-based companies that have partnered with nonprofits and governments to launch a coronavirus response fund. It launched with $1 million each from the two companies and grew to more than $9 million in three days. Both companies also canceled upcoming events, told employees to work from home, and took steps to help customers work remotely.
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins in a letter to customers and partners said his company is providing “free offerings and cloud-based services across Webex, security solutions, and more that have kept newly remote workforces running productively.” The company, working with partners globally, also donated more than $1 million worth of video conferencing and networking gear to medical facilities and schools in China, Italy, and South Korea, Robbins wrote.
However, while other tech giants have canceled events or moved them to online formats, Cisco has yet to announce any changes to its annual Cisco Live event, which is slated to start on May 31 in Las Vegas.
Dell Technologies earlier this month virtualized its customer event in May, and has donated millions of dollars and technology to help communities treat and contain COVID-19.
Supercomputing for a CureAdditionally, companies including IBM, Intel, and Lenovo are using artificial intelligence (AI) and supercomputing to help find a cure for coronavirus. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are using IBM’s Summit supercomputer to help find drugs to potentially treat the virus. They digitally simulated how 8,000 different molecules would interact with the virus. “It took us a day or two, whereas it has traditionally taken months on a normal computer,” Jeremy Smith, director of the University of Tennessee/ORNL Center for Molecular Biophysics, told CNBC. The project then identified 77 molecules that researchers can now test in trials.
Additionally, Intel and Lenovo teamed up with Beijing-based BGI Genomics to accelerate the analysis of genomic characteristics of COVID-19. This project aims to help scientists investigate transmission patterns and create better diagnostic methods.
UPDATE: After SDxCentral published this story, Cisco tweeted that, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cisco Live is now a “full-scale digital event,” scheduled for June 2-3.
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