FRONT LINE: TECH GIANTSF JOIN FIGHT AGAINST OUTBREAK
As large parts of the world go into lockdown to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus, tech companies are rallying their troops to join the battle against COVID-19. From generous donations to breakthrough innovations, the biggest players in technology could be the key to unlocking a vaccine and helping to restore our world to a more normal state of affairs.
CRISIS MODE
Though news of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China has dominated headlines since January, it was only in March when governments began to wake up to the stark reality of what was ahead. Over the past several weeks, billions of people around the world have been forced into lockdown, as governments and healthcare facilities begin to grapple with one of the greatest challenges the world has ever faced. The COVID-19 virus has been declared a pandemic, and whilst death rates remain low in most nations, without a cure, there is little that hospitals can do other than support sick patients on their road to recovery.
The world’s most renowned epidemiologists and laboratories are scrambling to develop a vaccine, and though we are beginning to see positive signs with governments working together and vaccines entering clinical trials, it’s unlikely that we’ll see a vaccine before 2021. In the meantime, health authorities and companies are coming forward and acting as crucial players in response to the crisis, and though the business world has been decimated with forced shutdowns and trillions wiped off of global stock markets already, our technology giants are
putting their money where their mouth is and supporting our planet.
Canceled conferences, restricted travel and plummeting consumer confidence resulting in freefalling demand for products have naturally rocked Silicon Valley, with many of the biggest companies in the sector revealing that they’re likely to release fewer new products this year. Firms like Apple and Nvidia have lowered their revenue projections, with the former canceling its popular Worldwide Developers Conference in favor of an online-only affair this June. Apple has even said that its next iPhone could be delayed. Despite these challenges, technology companies are rallying together to offer support, launching new services to inform and educate consumers, and spending money to save people’s lives.
Technology has also had a profound impact on grocery shopping and food delivery services, with everyone from GrubHub to Amazon facing mounting pressure to introduce new, safer working practices and pay staff a higher wage. Companies have been quick to roll out a new no-contact delivery option, and many have introduced generous sick pay allowances to cover staff who go into self-isolation or quarantine with suspected COVID-19 symptoms.
TACKLING DISINFORMATION
One of the biggest challenges for governments during a global pandemic is disinformation, which can so easily be spread on social networks like Twitter and Facebook. The former began its response to COVID-19 in January, adding links to official information sources like the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whilst Wikipedia has introduced strict new measures to ensure pages that relate to medicine and the virus face higher scrutiny, with the most relevant pages only editable by peer-reviewed medical journalists. YouTube is censoring COVID-19 videos and conspiracy theories, and all networks have updated their policies to punish those who spread lies and false information, permanently banning or suspending their accounts.
In China, where the outbreak began, popular social media app WeChat and livestreaming service YY have been censoring any coronavirus-related keywords, whilst the government called for the Plague Inc game to be removed from the App Store. Companies like Apple have introduced new COVID-19 apps and sections in Apple News and the App Store, whilst Google and Facebook are donating millions of dollars in advertising credits to governments, used to share vital public health information such as handwashing, social distancing, and directing citizens to the most appropriate healthcare resources like websites and apps so as not to overwhelm vital services like emergency responders and hospital beds. Both Google and Facebook rely heavily on advertising spend from small businesses and will no doubt suffer during
the virus, but have adopted a “we’re all in this together” mantra at our time of need.
TRANSITIONING TO TELEWORKING
Technology companies are also working to mitigate the effects of the epidemic, with streaming giants like YouTube, Netflix, and Apple TV+ reducing video quality to maintain internet access and limit bandwidth congestion as billions of consumers stay indoors. Other companies are opening up their teleworking software to small businesses for free or at discounted prices, with Zoom - a video conferencing app - offering unlimited access to schools in the US, and Microsoft Teams opening up access to everyone. Apple, too, has introduced a range of new resources for consumers and businesses making the switch to home working, and its suite of productivity tools - like Pages, Numbers, and Keynote - are available for free inside of the online iCloud ecosystem.
Many consumers have questioned whether our breakneck transition to remote working will change the way we work forever, encouraging more firms to hire and operate remotely, and though it’s unlikely that everyone will be working from the sofa for the rest of their lives, an extended period of lockdown could drive permanent changes.
LIVE-SAVING DONATIONS
Where technology giants can really make a difference, however, is in donations. Apple CEO Tim Cook has already donated more than nine million medical masks to help combat
the medical equipment shortages in the United States, with potentially life-saving N95 masks pulled from the company’s stockpiles following the recent wildfires in California. The announcement followed dozens of reports from nurses and medical personnel in the United States pleading for personal protective equipment, something governments and nurses around the world are struggling to come by following significantly increased demand. Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already donated 720,000 masks to healthcare workers, whilst Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has donated more than 250,000 masks. Combined, more than 18 million masks have been pulled from reserves from tech stockpiles, and Facebook says it is committed to sourcing and funding more of them.
Companies have also been getting out their checkbooks with Facebook offering $100 million in advertising grants to small businesses during these unprecedented times, whilst Amazon has committed to hiring another 100,000 people in the United States to cope with increased demand for its services as more and more consumers go into isolation and avoid crowded spaces like supermarkets and drugstores ahead of an expected enforced lockdown soon.
Perhaps the most generous donation so far, however, is from billionaire Elon Musk, who has ordered more than 1,200 ventilators from China, shipping them to Los Angeles for hospitals in the region. Since then, the entrepreneur has instructed manufacturers at his New York plant to design and create ventilators “as soon as humanly possible,” and it’s a similar picture in other parts of the world, with vacuum giants Dyson and GTech designing ventilators for UK hospitals. Ford and 3M have partnered, repurposing their manufacturing sites to produce ventilators and protective equipment for healthcare facilities.
Amazon is also getting in on the action, picking up and delivering at-home testing kits as part of a new research effort. Though this is only happening at Seattle’s King County right now as a trial, it’s expected to roll out around the world as more and testing kits become available. In the UK, Amazon will join Microsoft, Google, Palantir, and London-based Faculty AI to use data “to make informed, effective decisions” in treating the coronavirus outbreak on a more local level.
Google’s parent company Alphabet has introduced a website to triage suspected COVID-19 cases and direct them to testing sites, whilst King’s College London researchers have launched a tracking app to help scientists identify high-risk areas, see who is most vulnerable, and understand how fast the virus is spreading in particular regions, with a view to ramp up testing and facilities on a needs-must basis, helping to reduce strain on vital health services and save as many lives as possible.