Micron Gives, the philanthropic program from Micron Technology Inc., has already given away over $115 million and more than 10,000 grants to support learning and help communities. Now the organization’s aim is at supporting safe access to water, one of the most valuable resources to human needs.

The semiconductor provider announced that it is providing water grants that will support access to water for the communities where Micron operates. It is also collaborating and empowering water.org with advanced computing expertise to gain valuable insights into financial and loan patterns.

“We’re global, and we’re located in water-scarce areas of the world. So it really became a Micron issue too,” said Dee Mooney (pictured) executive director of Micron Gives, when talking about how Micron is collaborating with water.org. “This will be a great opportunity for us to utilize information to enrich lives and bring in some of our advanced computing expertise along with our philanthropy to help them reach their mission even greater and faster.”

Mooney spoke with Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and David Floyer (@dfloyer), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Micron Insight event in San Francisco. They discussed Micron giving back, Micron Gives and water.org, and Micron grants (see the full interview with transcript here). (* Disclosure below.)

[Editor’s note: The following has been condensed for clarity.]

Vellante: What’s happening with Micron Gives? Tech for good — we love the tech for good stories. Tech companies are really taking this seriously. Give us the update.  

Mooney: We are so proud of our company that they established a foundation 20 years ago to give back to our global community. And since then we have given $115 million away and over 10,000 grants. So we have seen a lot of different opportunities in our global communities, and it has just been fabulous that our company supports this good work. 

Vellante: So you talked today about water.org. What’s going on there, why is that important, and what’s your role there? 

Mooney: When we were taking a look at really what is the primary basic human need, we discovered that it really is the need for water. And there are millions of people that cannot access this precious resource. So as we took a look at this, there was a lot of information that this organization collects, so we thought, “Well this will be a great opportunity for us to utilize information to enrich lives and bring in some of our advanced computing expertise along with our philanthropy.

We’re global, and we’re located in water-scarce areas of the world. So it really became a Micron issue too. It’s one of our biggest environmental issues that we talk about.

Vellante: Give us some of the grants that you guys have given.  

Mooney: Last year at this event we announced our Advance Curiosities. And we announced three recipients last year, and since then we have four more. That’s UCLA, RIT, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Washington.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Micron Insight event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Micron Insight event. Neither Micron Technology Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE