The Vodafone Foundation has launched an international hunt for climate change research partners, including across Ireland, to help expand the focus of its DreamLab smartphone app.
DreamLab is a specialist crowdsourcing app that accelerates scientific research by using the combined processing power of dormant smartphones while users charge them.
Its research has already contributed to Covid-19 research in the UK with Imperial College London and cancer research in Australia.
With more than 2 million downloads across 17 countries, the network of smartphones created by DreamLab is equivalent to a virtual supercomputer capable of processing billions of calculations without collecting or disclosing any users' data.
As COP26 is being held in Glasgow this week, Vodafone Foundation Ireland is looking for organisations across the country who are conducting research that requires the large-scale processing power of DreamLab to analyse data on climate change.
To qualify, they 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.
DreamLab is available to download worldwide and is free to use for Vodafone customers in Ireland, Albania, Australia, Czech Republic, DRC, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Italy, Lesotho, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Spain and the UK.
Liz Roche, Head of Foundation and Sustainable Business at Vodafone Ireland, said 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," Liz Roche said.
"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," she added.
