Tech Company COVID 19 Initiatives

How the Tech Industry Has Mobilized to Respond to the Pandemic

In a recent interview, business mogul Mark Cuban said, "How companies treat workers during a pandemic could define the brand for decades"

Here at Lincoln, we believe technologists and innovators have an important role to play in addressing our nation’s most pressing problems. So we wanted to highlight tech companies that are supporting our nation and providing services to communities that are struggling.

Free Services

Amazon

• Amazon created a $5million relief fund for small businesses near Seattle's South Lake Union and Regrade neighborhoods. Click here to apply for grant funding consideration. Amazon also contributed $1 million to a new Seattle Foundation fund to complement the work of public health officials and expand the local capacity to address the outbreak as efficiently as possible Amazon Music and Amazon Devices are working with Musicians on Call to bring streaming music to hospital patients. While in-person visits are on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, patients are able to stream Amazon Music Unlimited for free, on donated Fire 7 tablets ###Allo Communications
• Allo Communications is a fiber-optic internet provider servicing parts of Nebraska and Colorado. The company is offering 50 Mbps broadband service for free for 60 days to households without Internet service, reducing fees for 60 days for existing and new broadband customers in need, and waiving service modification fees for businesses and residences.

Altice

• Altice is offering free internet service for 60 days to households with K-12 and college students. Those seeking access to internet can call: 866-200-9522 to enroll in Optimum region 888-633-0030 to enroll in Suddenlink region

AT&T

• AT&T won’t terminate service and will waive late payment fees of any wireless, home phone or broadband residential or small business customer for the next 60 days due to an inability to pay. It's waiving domestic wireless plan overage charges for data, voice, or text for residential and military families; delivering 60 days of free and unlimited use of Caribu, an app that enables families to connect through a video-call to read books, draw and learn together in real-time no matter where they are. Customers that are financially struggling will not have their services disconnected.

BEK Communication

• BEK will provide its Lightband Internet service free for 4 months and immediately double customer internet speeds at no additional charge and help ensure connectivity by implementing a no late fee or disconnects policy due to economic hardships. Customers that are financially struggling will not have their services disconnected.

Bluejeans

• Bluejeans is offering free access to our video conferencing service to first responders and NGOs helping communities manage outbreaks and protect citizens from further exposure. First responders and NGOs may have organization-wide access to BlueJeans for an initial period of 90 days, and BlueJeans may extend that term as needed, Please sign up here. Additionally, Bluejeans is offering free resources for businesses navigating their new online workforce.

C Spire

• C Spire is a telecommunications company offering internet services specifically to households and hospitals in Mississippi, USA. The company is offering free virtual screening through its telehealth app. With no insurance required, patients experiencing symptoms can schedule appointments and quickly connect face to face with a UMMC clinician over video chat.
• The firm is repurposing its closed stores to pilot complimentary WiFi for students in select parking areas. At select C Spire retail locations, students and parents can pull into our parking lot, park their vehicle and log onto complimentary high-speed WiFi to help them work on school assignments.

CableONE/Sparklight

• Will be making unlimited data available on all internet services for the next 30 days and waiving late fees for its customers for the next 60 days. Additionally, Sparklight is offering payment deferrals to customers who call to make arrangements.

Charter Spectrum Mobile opened their WiFi hotspots for public use and expanding its Spectrum Internet Assist program, to eligible low-income households and those impacted by COVID-19

Comcast

• Comcast is offering free access to Xfinity WiFi hotspots in businesses and outdoor locations across the USA. This offer applies to non-Comcast customers as well. Please click here for a map of Xfinity WiFi hotspots across the country.
• Comcast is also offering 60 days of complimentary Internet Essentials service for all new customers and for existing Internet Essentials customers, they're increasing the speed of the program's internet service to 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream. For a current overview of everything Comcast is doing, click here.

Cox

• Cox is offering the first two months free of Connect2Compete internet service for those that qualify. Please click here to apply for the service. For those that don't qualify, Cox is offering discounted internet rates and free online education tools for K-12 students.

Discord

• Discord is offering dedicated, free to use, invite-only class space where educators can organize real-time teaching environments with up to 50 people at a time

Dropbox

• Dropbox is working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to offer free Dropbox Business subscriptions for a three-month period to nonprofits and NGOs that are focused on fighting COVID-19. Dropbox encourages organizations working to stop the virus or providing relief to those impacted are to apply here

Google

• Google announced it would be rolling out free access to advanced features for Hangouts Meet to all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers globally through July 1st. That means that organizations can host meetings with up to 250 participants, live stream to up to 100,000 viewers within a single domain, and record and save meetings to Google Drive. Normally, Google charges $13 extra per user per month for these features in addition to G Suite access under its “enterprise” tier, which adds up to a total of $25 per user per month.

Hotwire Communications

• Offering free 100 Mbps broadband for two months to new customers that are students and in low-income households.

Microsoft

• Microsoft is offering a free six-month trial globally for a premium tier of Microsoft Teams. Originally designed to ramp up communications between hospitals, schools, and businesses, this feature is now available globally and all restrictions on user numbers have been lifted. Microsoft is also donating $1 million to a fund for Seattle-area rapid response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Rackspace

• Rackspace is a cloud computing company offering free 6-month program to anyone participating in relief efforts (including pharmaceutical and scientific research, healthcare, educational, and non-profit organizations) needing massive amounts of computing services to fight the spread and reduce the impact of COVID-19. Current Rackspace customers can now add Microsoft Teams to their Office 365 account for free for 6 months ###Spectrum Mobile

Zoom

• Zoom has stepped up and become the new favorite for seamless Face-to-Face communication between patients & providers, friends & families. students & educators. Please click here to see the long list of free applications and tutorials to move your communications through Zoom

Donations

Amazon

• Amazon is donating more than 250,000 critical items to patients in quarantine or recovering from COVID-19 across the Seattle area. Items include linens, towels, shelf-stable food, Amazon Devices, entertainment items, and other supplies.

Apple

• Apple has raised $15 million worldwide to help treat those who are sick and to help lessen the economic and community impacts of the pandemic. The company is also committing to matching employee donations two-to-one to support COVID-19 response

Doordash

• Doordash announced commission relief and marketing support for new and existing Doordash partner restaurants to help them generate an additional $200 million in sales this year. Doordash is also joining forces with community organizers to deliver an estimated one million pounds of groceries and prepared food through the national partner United Way Worldwide. Doordash is also supporting the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, Fresher Sacramento, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Facebook

• Facebook is investing $100 million to help 30,000 small businesses in over 30 countries where Facebook employees live and work as well as a Business Resource Hub with tips and trainings to help businesses navigate challenges. Facebook will also donate $20,000 in cash to the Chinese Newcomers Service Center (CNSC), a local San Francisco-based nonprofit, which supports businesses in its Chinatown. The company also said it would be donating another $5,000 total in non-expiring Facebook ad credits to those in the community who want it.
• Facebook announced its $10 million for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, $10 million for the Centers for Disease Control Foundation, and another $1 million and free advertisements to the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat Coronavirus Health Misinformation
• In-house, Facebook is allowing employees worldwide to work from home until April 10th and providing a $1,000 bonus for employees.

Google

• Google announced an $800+ million commitment to support small- and medium-sized businesses, health organizations and governments, and health workers on the frontline of this global pandemic. This includes, but isn't limited to, a $250,000 Google.org grant to the Hubei Red Cross Foundation, an internal campaign inviting Googlers to donate that has already raised over $1 million, A pool of $20 million in Google Cloud credits for academic institutions and researchers to leverage Google's computing capabilities and infrastructure as they study potential vaccines to combat COVID-19, a campaign to raise $7.5 million for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, and a donation of $25 million in ad credits to the WHO and government agencies.

Grubhub

• To provide financial relief to Grubhub's drivers and restaurants, they created the Grubhub Community Relief Fund. With this fund, all Donate the Change contributions at the end of your purchase will go to charitable organizations that support drivers and restaurants impacted by the coronavirus.
• Gruhub and their subsidiaries are also temporarily deferring commission fees for impacted independent restaurants for up to $100 million to help increase restaurant's cash flow, allowing them to pay their employees and weather this difficult situation. Grubhub is also matching all promotions run by independent restaurants with the Smart Promotions feature to help make their investments in growth twice as effective.

Lyft

• Lyft is donating tens of thousands of rides to those with essential transportation needs especially for families and children, low-income seniors, and doctors and nurses. Lyft partnered with EO Products to distribute more than 200,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and other cleaning supplies to drivers, at no cost to them. In-house, Lyft will provide funds to drivers should they be diagnosed with COVID-19 or put under individual quarantine by a public health agency.

Postmates

• Postmates created the Fleet Relief Fund to provide members of our Fleet with a relief credit to be used for health expenses such as co-pays or wellness products. Additionally, to support small businesses, Postmates will temporarily waive commission fees for businesses in the SF Bay Area. Any interested SF-Bay Area merchant can create an account and start delivering without additional cost during the pilot. Postmates is also working with restaurant associations and city governments to better support local restaurants.

Quicken Loans

• The Quicken Loans Community Fund and Gilbert Family Foundation announced a combined $1.2 million donation to address the ongoing impact of coronavirus in the corporations home cities of Detroit, Cleveland, Phoenix, and Charlotte.

Verizon

• Customers get access to SHOWTIME, Epix, Quizlet, Chegg, Bookful and more for free with their new initative, More at Home...on Us. Please check out the link to see the full list of free benefits!
• Verizon has also launched weekly streaming music and entertainment series to support small businesses, waived late fees and overage charges for residential and small business customers impacted by COVID-19. They're offering free international calling for consumer wireless and home voice customers to CDC select countries, unlimited domestic calling for wireless consumers on limited-minute plans, waived activation fees on new wireless lines of service and upgrades, additional 15GB of high-speed data automatically added for wireless consumer and small business customers, and a new affordable Fios Home Internet option for low-income households. Click here to apply for benefits

Enterprise

Amazon

• Amazon Lex is powering smart hub technology for Electronic Caregiver, a health and safety monitoring device provider, to aid in the detection and treatment of COVID-19. The technology allows healthcare professionals to monitor vitals remotely through wearable devices. If an elevated-temperature reading occurs, the technology triggers a voice interaction between the healthcare provider with the wearable and the patient to check symptoms and assess a COVID-19 risk score. The solution can also connect to a physician-on-demand telehealth service to provide additional diagnosis and order prescriptions remotely. To support the UK government, Amazon is joining a coalition of companies, universities, and research institutions alongside the National Health Service (NHS) to deliver test kits to critical workers. This is, of course, in addition to their increased work delivering groceries to encourage social distancing.

Apple

• Apple releases new COVID-19 app and website available on the App Store. It was created in partnership with the CDC,1 the White House Coronavirus Task Force and FEMA to make it easy for people across the country to get trusted information and guidance.

eBay

• eBay has committed to shutting down all postings that exhibit unfair pricing for buyers. Effective immediately, eBay will block new listings and start to remove listings that sell: Health care masks including N95/N100 and surgical masks, Hand Sanitizer/Gel, Disinfecting Wipes

Etsy

• Etsy has started cracking down on coronavirus merchandise to avoid misinformation spreading on the coronavirus

Eventbrite

• Eventbrite's Blog site has articles and customer service representatives ready planners move their events online. They have a variety of articles, including "Making the Decision to Postpone Your Event" and "How to Host an Online Event or Webinar That Live Event Attendees Will Love."

Expedia

• Expedia published a page with resources to help individuals navigate changes in travel plans including airline policies, changing trip plans, and links to the WHO and CDC.

Google

• In healthcare, Google is developing a tool to help triage individuals for COVID-19 testing. Verily is in the early stages of development, and planning to roll out testing in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time. The site will only be able to direct people to ""pilot sites"" for testing in the Bay Area. The site will be hosted at Project Baseline, a Verily website that connects people with clinical trials. They've also launched a nationwide website that contains information and resources about the virus for individuals, educators, and businesses. Currently, on Google search, Google has launched an SOS Alert to connect people with authoritative information from the WHO about the coronavirus outbreak, and the alerts are now available in over 20 languages.

Groupon

• To support continuous revenue generation for small and medium businesses, Groupon is working with merchants to extend vouchers for up to 12 months

Intuit

• Intuit-owned QuickBooks seeded $1 million to create its Small Business Relief Initiative where they share expert tips for businesses on how to keep employees and customers safe and informed. In-house, Intuit has extended sick leave for employees and have continued to pay their hourly service workers.

Microsoft

• In healthcare, Microsoft has partnered with the Allen Institute for AI , Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, and the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health to release [the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset of scholarly literature about COVID-19](the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset of scholarly literature about COVID-19), SARS-CoV-2, and the coronavirus group. Microsoft's web-scale literature curation tools were used to identify and bring together worldwide scientific efforts and results.

Palantir

• To Track Virus and support global healthcare systems, Palantir is offering its services to hospitals to support real-time reporting of critical data.

Twitter

• Twitter, Facebook, And Instagram Are Tackling The Coronavirus fake news Problem As the crisis developed, Twitter stepped up its use of machine learning algorithms to detect the spread of false information and ensure users searching for information on the virus are shown reliable and authoritative sources such as the World Health Organization or national health agencies. In-house, the company will help all employees cover expenses for setting up home offices. Contractors, vendors and hourly workers who cannot work from home will continue to be paid for their standard working hours while the work-from-home policy is in effect. Twitter also said it will cover additional daycare expenses parents may have if their usual daycares close due to COVID-19.

In Conclusion

This pandemic has shown us that public-private cooperation ######can ###### overcome regulatory and bureaucratic lag while still spurring enterprise and entrepreneurship. Unique combinations of tech firms, universities, laboratories, governments, and countries have partnered up to solve our most pressing problems. Let's keep this same energy post-pandemic.