Covid-19 Vs Technology: AWS and the 20 million for diagnostic solutions
The emergency that the whole world is experiencing is taking on incredible proportions every day. In every corner of the planet, you are fighting against an invisible enemy that is moving faster than ever. Thus, Covid-19 has disrupted the lives of each of us, creating a health, economic and social crisis.
Stop it or slow it down. There are only two options that we can contemplate at the moment.
That’s why AWS, a leading cloud computing company, is announcing an initiative to support global research institutions, startups, and companies as they meet the COVID-19 challenge.
AWS resources, including cloud services and computing power, could be very useful tools for developing faster and more effective diagnostic methodologies as well as for developing treatments against the virus.
“As the virus continues to spread, we are acutely aware of the impact this is having on families, businesses, and communities,” AWS writes. “This is a global health emergency that will only be solved by governments, corporations, universities, and individuals working together to better understand this virus and eventually find a cure. Amazon is a large company with several businesses, and each one is looking for ways that can come in handy”.
AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative
AWS will launch the
AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative
, a program that supports emergency response organizations by bringing better and more accurate diagnostic solutions to market and promoting better collaboration between organizations working on similar problems.
As part of this, AWS is committing an initial investment of $2 0 million to accelerate diagnostic research, innovation, and development to accelerate the collective understanding and detection of COVID-19 and other innovative diagnostic solutions to mitigate future infectious disease outbreaks.
Funding will be provided through a combination of AWS credits and technical support to help research teams harness the full potential of the cloud to address this challenge.
The program will be open to 35 accredited global research institutions and private entities that use AWS to support research-driven workloads for diagnostics development, specifically tests that can be done at home or in a clinic with same-day results.
Given the need, the focus will initially be on COVID-19, but AWS is also considering other infectious disease diagnostics projects.
“The world needs more innovation in the private sector to combat this pandemic,” saidSteve Davis, a member of the World Health Organization’s Digital Health Technical Advisory Group and a member of the AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative’s Technical Advisory Group. “Amazon’s commitment and participation -Concludes- They are highly valued, especially since the lack of significant next-generation diagnostic tools remains a major gap in most healthcare systems. A platform to connect research, digital capabilities and new products globally is a crucial undertaking».
