IBM is donating software to help stop the spread of Ebola


IBM is using its software expertise to help solve the Ebola crisis — the company is donating technology to Nigeria and Sierra Leone's governments.
IBM is giving Sierra Leone a "citizen engagement and analytic system" to help citizens communicate with the government via text messages and phone calls about potential outbreaks. Location data from the citizens' cellphones will help the government determine the threat levels in various regions.
The technology in Nigeria, meanwhile, will "strengthen the Lagos State government's preparedness for future disease outbreaks," the company said in a statement. The World Health Organization officially declared Nigeria free of Ebola, and IBM has donated its cloud-based Connections technology to the Nigerian government to ensure the country does not see a new Ebola outbreak. The Connections software will "strengthen the coordination of public health emergency response teams," according to IBM.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
IBM volunteers are also spearheading a global effort to classify all of the open data sources that pertain to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. To create the Ebola Open Data Repository, the volunteers have asked various organizations to contribute data.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
5 weather-beaten cartoons about the Texas floods
Cartoons Artists take on funding cuts, politicizing tragedy, and more
-
What has the Dalai Lama achieved?
The Explainer Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader has just turned 90, and he has been clarifying his reincarnation plans
-
Europe's heatwave: the new front line of climate change
In the Spotlight How will the continent adapt to 'bearing the brunt of climate change'?
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year high
Speed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, change
Speed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
speed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kids
Speed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sick
speed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last year
speed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive order
speed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measles
Speed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths