An Orlando nonprofit is recruiting volunteers to process data for researchers studying the Zika virus.
Hands On Orlando matches volunteers to group projects such as sorting donations at food banks. Executive Director Chris Allen also enlists people whose computers, tablets and phones can help create a collective supercomputer through an app.
The World Community Grid developed from an IBM Corporate Citizenship project. To run massive computer simulations, the grid breaks down data to process in the background on personal devices without accessing private information.
Allen is recruiting volunteers for OpenZika, an international project searching for an anti-viral drug to fight Zika. The Orlando Sentinel reports 16 computers in Allen's office are participating.
World Community Grid program manager Juan Hindo says the project could help researchers scale up the scope of their work.
