Dear friends,
The unfolding Covid-19 crisis calls for individuals and organizations to step up and contribute to the common good. I believe that the tech community has an important role to play in slowing the progress of the virus and shortening the time it takes society to recover.
- Tech businesses can offer free or reduced-cost services, as well as extra support, to healthcare providers. I’m seeing a lot of unfulfilled needs in healthcare systems that communication and visualization tools might address. I’m providing IT support to doctor friends. Many of us can help with this.
- Individuals and organizations alike can combat fake news by calling out inaccurate and ill-informed perspectives and passing along accurate, timely information. Keeping digital channels free of misinformation and open for rapid dissemination of important news is critical.
- It’s especially important to encourage the free flow of information among researchers, healthcare systems, and epidemiologists, including data that can feed analytics or AI systems.
- Help others wherever you can, especially people in greater need.
In my neighborhood, I’ve been gratified to see people volunteering on a local messaging app (Nextdoor) to shop for groceries or help out the elderly. We all need to pull together and lend a hand wherever we can.
And of course, I hope you will take care of yourselves and your family.
Stay safe,
Andrew