Within the scope of the Gulbenkian Digital Solutions - COVID19 initiative, the Gulbenkian Foundation and EDP are providing 200,000 euros to support 19 digital applications and platforms that are committed to promoting public health within the context of a pandemic, in an universal and immediate way.

This initiative was responded to by nearly 300 entities, including universities, research centers, associations and technology-based companies. Proposals that promote remote health care will be supported - digital clinical support, remote technical support for the operation of medical equipment (namely ventilators), management of symptoms, the use of data to study the evolution of the disease, the remote rehabilitation of stroke patients (one of first causes of death in Portugal), as well as mental health care, giving psychiatric support, but also assisting the emotional management of confined children and young people.

Projects related to scientific knowledge were also selected, including those on pattern detection and the creation of statistical models on the coronavirus, assessment of the cognitive performance of survivors of the disease, as well as others on information sharing; there are proposals that foresee the implementation of a repository of verified scientific evidence, the creation of a public knowledge network on Covid-19, the sharing of innovative solutions and the elaboration of specialized information in several languages, addressed to the Asian community.

Some of the projects supported are more geared towards supporting the population, for instance by facilitating access to medicines for confined patients, promoting good habits among the senior population, monitoring and mapping the needs of the elderly and chronically ill, and by supporting the localization of stores selling essential goods. Solutions that mobilize resources and support networks will also be supported; one platform proposes to carry out matchmaking between NGOs that need help and the citizens who offer it, while another enables matchmaking between recruitment and the fast training of informal caregivers.