Microsoft allocates $20m to COVID-19 data analysis

Microsoft says it’s immediately putting $20 million from its Al for Health program toward analytical tools that can help researchers and public health officials get a handle on the coronavirus pandemic, according to foreign media.

"AI for Health will collaborate with nonprofits, governments, and academic researchers on solutions, and bring our experience to the table, providing access to Microsoft AI, technical experts, data scientists, and other resources.”

“We’re focusing our efforts in five specific areas where we think data, analysis, and the skills of our data scientists can have the biggest impact,” Kahan wrote today in a blog post about the effort. Those areas are:

• Data and insights relating to safety and economic impacts.
• Treatment and diagnostics, enabling research to further the development of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics.
• Allocation of resources, including recommendations on the use of limited assets, such as hospital space and medical supplies.
• Dissemination of accurate information to counter misinformation.
• Scientific research to study and understand COVID-19.