How Silicon Valley Is Actually Helping Government Respond To Covid 19

Despite grandiose and unrealistic pronouncements from the government of magical tech schemes, what big tech companies are actually doing is smaller in scale, iterative, research-based - and may ultimately have a significant impact. JL

Cat Zakrzewski reports in the Washington Post:

Researchers are using IBM's supercomputer to identify drug compounds to disable the coronavirus. Facebook is exploring how its data can be used to help contain the virus's spread. Google is providing $25 million in ad credits to the WHO and government agencies, and will provide more throughout the year. Twitter (is helping) governments and health organizations troubleshoot account issues and get their experts verified. Microsoft and Amazon, both headquartered in Washington state where the outbreak has been particularly acute, have been active in the local response.
Silicon Valley could play a critical role in the federal government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.  

The White House  convened leaders from top tech companies including Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and top tech trade groups to seek their help in limiting misinformation about covid-19 and tracking the virus's spread, my colleague Tony Romm reports. They also discussed how the companies could help build artificial intelligence tools to help medical researchers glean insights from a new database of coronavirus-related scholarly literature to be released in the coming days, according to a White House news release. 

“Cutting edge technology companies and major online platforms will play a critical role in this all-hands-on-deck effort,” said U.S. chief technology officer Michael Kratsios in a statement.  

The phone-and-video conversation, coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, also included representatives from across federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The meeting was a rare display of unity between the Trump administration and Silicon Valley as the nation races to respond to the coronavirus crisis. There's growing urgency as the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. grows to more than 1,000 in 39 states, and the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. 

Tech companies are ready to step up, according to the Consumer Technology Association, one of the tech trade groups that participated in yesterday's conversation with the White House. “Digital health innovations are improving how we care for the sick, communicate critical information and prevent the spread of infection,” said CTA president Gary Shapiro. “Tech companies’ products cannot only track and mitigate the spread of illness, but also help the government protect public health.”

Here’s how tech companies are planning to assist Washington in fighting covid-19:

— Researchers at the Energy Department are using IBM's supercomputer to identify drug compounds to disable the coronavirus, according to a recent company blog post. The company also made its clinical health trial software available free to federal agencies. 

— Facebook is exploring how its data can be used to help contain the virus's spread. Researchers are using aggregated and Facebook data — including mobility data and population density maps — to study how the virus is spreading, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. 

— Google is providing $25 million in ad credits to the WHO and government agencies, and it said it will provide more throughout for the year, according to a recent blog. Facebook has also promised to give the organization as many free ads as they need for their coronavirus response along with other in-kind support. 

— Twitter has opened up lines of communication with governments and health organizations to help troubleshoot account issues and get their experts verified.

Microsoft and Amazon, which are both headquartered in Washington state where the outbreak has been particularly acute, have been active in the local response. Microsoft for instance donated $1 million to Puget Sound's covid-19 response fund.

BITS: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) wants the White House's coronavirus task force to come up with a plan to crack down on foreign adversaries and scammers profiting off coronavirus misinformation, he wrote in a letter to Vice President Pence yesterday.

“In many instances, we have seen misinformation spread by those seeking to profit from untested and potentially dangerous products misrepresented as effective treatments for the virus,” Warner wrote. “Simply put — this conflicting messaging and misinformation will weaken our ability to respond to COVID-19 and significantly undermine ongoing public health efforts.”

That could include cracking down on the ways scammers target Amazon shoppers:

• Top search results for “coronavirus” on Amazon surfaced a number of bogus books on the disease ahead of Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer, Ben Collins at NBC News found. Some of the top results were plagiarized from news sources and published under the names of doctors who didn't exist. Other books found by NBC News promoted misinformation about “natural” cures not vetted by health officials.
• Fake products flooding Amazon could cost users their health, not just money. More than 100 safety masks on Amazon lacked protection and certification claims or were deceptively labeled, Alexandra Berzon and Daniela Hernandez at the Wall Street Journal found.
• That's not all: Review watchdog FakeSpot found fake coronavirus tests, including one for your dog, on Amazon.