Amber Hickman |
The Olena Zelenska Foundation, founded by the first lady of Ukraine, has partnered with Microsoft to explore how technology can be used to help protect citizens and enable Ukraine to remain operational despite the war.
According to the report by Ukrinform, the foundation’s press service, Microsoft has so far supported Ukraine with cybersecurity solutions, helping non-profit, humanitarian and internal organisations that investigate war crimes against Ukrainian civilians.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the overall assistance from Microsoft to Ukraine is more than $400 million,” the report stated.
The Olena Zelenska Foundation was established in September 2022 and aims to raise funds to rebuild Ukraine, with a particular focus on medicine, education and humanitarian aid. Zelenska has emphasised the need for technology to help the country resolve issues such as blackouts, lack of electricity and poor internet connectivity.
The collaboration with Microsoft comes after Zelenska met with Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, at Web Summit 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal in November. At the summit, Zelenska took to the stage to deliver a speech on the power of technology in the war.
“I believe that technology should be used to create, and to save and help people, not to destroy,” said Zelenska. “I believe that such technology is the future. If it is not, there simply will not be a future to look forward to.”
Further details about the Microsoft partnership will be released soon.