Microsoft to donate $1billion for 'public good'

Microsoft has pledged to donate $1 billion in Microsoft cloud services to support 'public good.'

In a blogpost by its President and Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith, Microsoft said the money will be used to support 700 nonprofits and 900 university projects.

Explaining the rationale, Smith said, "Cloud computing has emerged as a vital resource for addressing the world’s problems."

"Cloud services can unlock the secrets held by data in ways that create new insights and lead to breakthroughs, not just for science and technology, but for addressing the full range of economic and social challenges and the delivery of better human services."

"They can also improve communications and problem-solving and can help organizations work in a more productive and efficient manner."

For the nonprofit community, Microsoft said it will build a longstanding global software donation programs to create a comprehensive and industry-leading donations program to provide cloud services to nonprofit organizations worldwide.

This will ensure that nonprofits have access to the full suite of Microsoft’s cloud services, the company said.

The cloud resources will be used to significantly expand Microsoft Azure for Research program, which grants free Azure storage and computing resources to help faculty accelerate their research, Smith said.

The money will also be spent on improving “last mile” internet connectivity – the hope is countries that are under connected will begin to enjoy some of the luxuries more developed internet nations have – such as broadband at home.