IBM dedicates computing power to fight Ebola
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 10/27/2014 10:33 AM
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IBM is teaming up with the Sierra Leone's Open Government Initiative, Cambridge University's Africa's Voices project, telco firm Airtel, and Kenya's Echo Mobile for various efforts aimed at fighting the deadly disease.
Since internet connections are hard to come by in many areas, IBM and the Open Government Initiative are developing a system so that people can report Ebola related issues via SMS or voice calls.
Khadija Sesay, director the Open Government Initiative, said: "For us to tackle Ebola, it is crucial to maintain an open dialogue between the government and the people of Sierra Leone. IBM has enhanced our work on citizen engagement through the use of innovative technology, and opened up an effective communication channel with the general public so that we can learn from their input and create actionable policies in the fight against Ebola."
IBM Research chief scientist Dr. Uyi Stewart said: "We are uniquely positioned to use innovation to help tackle some of the continent's biggest challenges. We saw the need to quickly develop a system to enable communities directly affected by Ebola to provide valuable insight about how to fight it. Using mobile technology, we have given them a voice and a channel to communicate their experiences directly to the government."
Meanwhile, another Microsoft co-founder has pledged a nice chunk of change to help fight the outbreak. Paul Allen has set up tackleebola.com and is committed to donate $100 million to the effort.
Since internet connections are hard to come by in many areas, IBM and the Open Government Initiative are developing a system so that people can report Ebola related issues via SMS or voice calls.
Khadija Sesay, director the Open Government Initiative, said: "For us to tackle Ebola, it is crucial to maintain an open dialogue between the government and the people of Sierra Leone. IBM has enhanced our work on citizen engagement through the use of innovative technology, and opened up an effective communication channel with the general public so that we can learn from their input and create actionable policies in the fight against Ebola."
IBM Research chief scientist Dr. Uyi Stewart said: "We are uniquely positioned to use innovation to help tackle some of the continent's biggest challenges. We saw the need to quickly develop a system to enable communities directly affected by Ebola to provide valuable insight about how to fight it. Using mobile technology, we have given them a voice and a channel to communicate their experiences directly to the government."
Meanwhile, another Microsoft co-founder has pledged a nice chunk of change to help fight the outbreak. Paul Allen has set up tackleebola.com and is committed to donate $100 million to the effort.
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