World Community Grid is one of IBM's exciting philanthropic initiatives. Founded in 2004, it provides computational power available to scientists who might not otherwise be able to afford the high speed computing they require for timely humanitarian research projects. To date, 19 research projects have been hosted on World Community Grid, spinning off 30 peer-reviewed papers. Nine of the projects it has hosted have generated particularly promising results that are being further researched, or followed up with a second phase on World Community Grid.
If it were a physical supercomputer, World Community Grid would be one of the world's 15 fastest such machines. As of November 2011, World Community Grid is fed by the spare computing power of 1.9 million PCs that have been volunteered so far by 575,000 people in more than 80 countries. It gives each PC small computing assignments to perform when the devices aren't otherwise being used by its owners, then sends the results to scientists seeking a faster way to cure disease, find renewable energy materials, create clean water techniques, or develop healthier food staples.
On November 16, 2011, it was announced that The Scripps Research Institute was inaugurating a project on World Community Grid that seeks a cure for drug-resistant strains of malaria, one of the world's most prevalent and deadly diseases. Scripps believes that 100 years of research can be collapsed into just one year by using World Community Grid. Scripps scientists will use this resource to more quickly evaluate millions of compounds that may advance the development of drugs to cure mutant, drug-resistant strains of malaria. Data from the experiments will then be made available to the public. Scripps already uses World Community Grid to identify the basis of two promising AIDS drugs.
To view - "I'll Take 'Curing Malaria' for $1,000, Alex" - click here
To view "Cure Malaria-Thanks to Watson, Scripps Research Institute & IBM Think We Can," click here
To visit the World Community Grid Facebook page, click here
To learn more about the World Community Grid, click here
Images
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Popularity of World Community Grid Infographic
Date added: 19 Apr 2012
IBM's World Community Grid - Founded in 2004 by IBM, World Community Grid provides computational power to scientists looking to accelerate their research to cure disease, develop renewable energy materials, and develop healthier food staples. World Community Grid provides this resource by pooling the spare processing power of millions of PCs around the world.
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World Community Grid Infographic
Date added: 19 Apr 2012
IBM's World Community Grid - Founded in 2004 by IBM, World Community Grid provides computational power to scientists looking to accelerate their research to cure disease, develop renewable energy materials, and develop healthier food staples. World Community Grid provides this resource by pooling the spare processing power of millions of PCs around the world.
Contact(s) for the Press kit
Ari Fishkind
IBM Media Relations
914-499-6420
fishkind@us.ibm.com
Additional resources
Site links
Two compounds discovered that pave the way for new class of AIDS drug
FightAIDS@Home with World Community Grid
World Community Grid Members Explain Their Dedication
Surplus PC Power Yields Faster Cancer Research
PDF documents
World Community Grid - Malaria Project Description (74 KB)
World Community Grid - Thinking Globally, Acting Locally (199 KB)
World Community Grid - Accelerating research, tackling global issues (195 KB)