ITI Launches COVID-19 Tech Tools Clearinghouse

ITI (the Information Technology Industry Council) has teamed up with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to create a directory of tech tools to help deal with the coronavirus crisis

The directory, which is available on the ITI Web site, is divided into resources for educators, businesses and governments. 

The "education" section includes mobile, browser, and desktop education apps. For example, the site include links to remote working tools from Amazon, Adobe, Cisco, Microsoft, and others, including Amazon's free Amazon Web Services Digital Training services and Cisco's overage relief for customers of its Webex video conferencing service. 

In the "governments and community partners" bucket, Twitter said it is trying to weed out ads that try to capitalize "opportunistically" on the COVID-19 outbreak, is providing ad credits for NGO public health campaigns, and has updated its COVID-19 Search Prompt to make sure that COVID-19 searches produce "credible, authoritative content at the top of their search experience." 

The site will be updated regularly, said ITI. 

“As the world grapples with COVID-19, the tech industry is committed to playing a constructive role in responding to and helping to mitigate the spread of the virus,” said ITI president Jason Oxman. “From free platforms that can help teachers connect with students to guidance on how to optimize managing a team of employees remotely, technology companies are making tools and resources available to communities, educators, employers, and governments across the world..."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.