Vodafone Foundation has begun an international hunt for climate change research partners as it seeks to expand the focus of its crowd-focused smartphone app DreamLab.
The foundation is looking for partners in Ireland and further afield that are conducting research that requires the large-scale processing power of DreamLab to analyse data on climate change.
Qualifying organisations in Ireland would need to have an existing climate research project that is technically compatible with DreamLab and is addressing a specific climate-related issue that appeals across the 17 countries currently hosting the DreamLab platform.
The specialist crowdsourcing app accelerates scientific research by using the combined processing power of dormant smartphones while users charge them. The network is equivalent to a virtual supercomputer capable of processing billions of calculations without collecting or disclosing any users’ data.
Research
The app was launched in the UK in December 2018, and since then two million DreamLab users have signed up in 17 countries, including Ireland, with previous research including potential treatments for Covid-19 and cancer.
"The impact that DreamLab has had since its development in 2015 when it comes to cancer research, and more recently, Covid-19, has been incredible. We have been blown away by the collective processing power of Vodafone customers who have downloaded the app and the success that we have seen so far shows us the power we could have in helping to address climate change by using DreamLab to help in driving climate research," said Liz Roche Head of Foundation and Sustainable Business at Vodafone Ireland. "We know that we can achieve so much when we work together, and we welcome the opportunity to work with organisations in Ireland to help tackle the emergency that is climate change."
