Microsoft Fights Ebola

Over recent months the news has understandably been dominated by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. It has killed thousands in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and with no known cure or vaccine for the virus fatality rates are between 50 and 75%.

In an attempt to provide assistance to the research community and help bring technology, governments together Microsoft is making its cloud platform available to tackle the challenge of Ebola.

Researchers must be affiliated to an academic institution and your aim must be focused on developing a better understanding of the spread of Ebola, with the aim of creating a cure for the virus. Researchers are required to submit a proposal of no more than 3 pages and this must details the intent of the project and how they intend to use Microsoft’s resources to achieve that.

It is always easy to be cynical about big business doing charitable events but we think Microsoft should be applauded for opening up their technological expertise to help researchers fight a virus that has been described as the biggest threat to humans since AIDS.