Amazon Web Services Inc. today announced a $20 million program to support organizations that are working on new, better ways of diagnosing the coronavirus.

The COVID-19 testing methods currently in use can require waiting a day or more to see if a patient is positive. Under the new program, AWS will support accredited research institutions and private firms that are working on same-day diagnostics solutions to speed up testing. AWS will provide participants with assistance in the form of cloud infrastructure credits for their workloads plus technical support. 

“We believe we can make a difference with the AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative program for several reasons,” Teresa Carlson, the vice president of worldwide public sector at AWS, wrote in a blog post. “First, accurate detection is the tip of the spear for any effective pandemic response strategy. Second, diagnostics research has historically been underfunded and largely deprioritized in favor of a focus on vaccines.”

AWS will manage the program with help from an outside technical advisory group consisting of “leading scientists, global health policy experts and thought leaders” in the field of infectious disease diagnostics. On the participant side, 35 research institutions, startups and other firms have signed up to take part in the initiative so far.

Carlson wrote that the goal of the program is not only to boost coronavirus research but also to promote more collaboration between organizations. Additionally, AWS will consider backing projects focused on other infectious diseases besides COVID-19, though it will be the main focus.

Being the industry’s biggest cloud provider by sales, AWS counts among its customers quite a few organizations involved in the global effort to curb the coronavirus. F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, a user of the cloud giant’s machine learning services, has developed a test that it said can speed COVID-19 diagnosis by a factor of 10. The U.S. Health and Human Services Department is an AWS customer as well along with a number of other government departments. 

AWS’ Carlson, a regular guest on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE studio, provided a glimpse into the cloud giant’s work with the public sector and universities during her most recent appearance.

The “collaboration happens between the public sector, the university with students, and us,” Carlson detailed on theCUBE at AWS re:Invent in December. “What we bring to the table is technical talent, our technology and our mechanisms and processes. We want you to bring your best and brightest students, let’s bring public sector in the fold, they bring challenges that are real that we can take on, and then they [the universities] can go back and absorb.”

AWS will be taking initial applications for the AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative until June 30, according to the official landing page. The program is open to researchers globally. 

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