Which tech companies are (or aren’t) helping Ukraine?
Microsoft grants Ukraine support for both documenting Russian war crimes and rebuilding Kiev's digital industry, but for the Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation, there are at least a couple of foreign companies that favor Moscow with their attitude. Facts and comments
"We have been collaborating for some time with Microsoft, which actively supported Ukraine during the war", wrote on Telegram the Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, after meeting in Davos, at the World Economic Forum, the president of the company, Brad Smith. .
"It was one of the first companies to suspend all new sales of products and services in Russia in early March and provided free services to Ukraine until the end of 2022," the minister gratefully said.
COOPERATION BETWEEN MICROSOFT AND UKRAINE
Microsoft, Fedorov reported, will work with Ukrainian authorities to both document Russian war crimes and rebuild the country's digital industry.
The minister also added that the Xbox will be officially launched in his country and there will be Ukrainian accounts and the option of the Ukrainian language in the consoles.
"Microsoft has supported and will continue to support Ukraine", is what Smith said and Fedorov wanted to underline that "it was important to hear it" directly from him and thanked the entire Microsoft team "for the great help".
HOW MUCH MICROSOFT CONTRIBUTED
Overall, Microsoft has estimated that its initiatives have provided Ukraine with digital media worth $ 242 million, Telegram reads. This includes financial grants, promotional campaigns, free access to the company's products and services and equipment.
THE INTERVENTION OF ELON MUSK
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, also earned Fedorov thanks for keeping Ukraine connected with Starlink, SpaceX's high-speed Internet service.
As Start wrote, since the first connection was switched on in early March, Starlink has reached 150,000 Ukrainians, according to Fedorov, who wrote that Musk's contribution was "a fundamental support for Ukraine's infrastructure and for reconstruction of the destroyed territories ".
STILL IN RUSSIA
But in addition to these two positive examples to which are added, among others, Apple, Dell and Intel who have severed relations with Moscow since the early days of the Russian invasion, according to Fedorov, there are two technology giants who – continuing to stay in Russia – they would be promoting Putin's war.
These are SAP, a European multinational for the production of management software, and Cloudflare, a San Francisco company that deals with making websites safer and faster and protects them from cyber attacks, including those of a distributed denial of service type.
THE GERMAN SAP
"SAP continues to work in Russia and pay taxes to help finance the Russian army," the minister told Politico at the World Economic Forum. “Many banks and banking businesses rely on SAP,” he added.
SAP is one of the leading companies in the world in the field of ERP and IT solutions for businesses. It specializes in products that include cloud services and database technology.
Last month, Politico recalls, SAP announced that it would take "further steps towards an orderly exit" from its operations in Russia and that it would increase its donations to support Ukrainian refugees by € 700,000.
THE US CLOUDFLARE
On the US Cloudflare, Fedorov stated that by staying in the country "he continues to protect Russian websites" and added: "I don't know who they are defending them from."
In April, Politico points out, Cloudflare chief executive Matthew Prince defended the company's choice to stay in Russia, arguing that "the withdrawal by Internet companies can have the undesirable effect of advancing and strengthening the interests of the Russian government to control the Internet in Russia ”. Additionally, Prince said Cloudflare is stepping up efforts to protect Ukrainian websites from cyberattacks.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/quali-aziende-tech-stanno-o-non-stanno-aiutando-lucraina/ on Tue, 24 May 2022 13:30:25 +0000.