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Windows 10 May 2020 Update now available; here’s how to get it

Woman working at home on a mobile device

Windows 10 continues to play a key role in how we learn, live and work during these unique times, and we want to ensure a high quality and reliable experience, while also delivering you the latest innovations. In mid-April, we announced the initial availability of the Windows 10 May 2020 Update through the Windows Insider Program’s Release Preview ring, allowing us to both monitor and improve the quality of the release. Based on affirmative preview feedback, today we are pleased to announce that we are starting to make the May 2020 Update available. In this blog, we will cover how you can get the update and choose when to install, and availability for commercial organizations to begin targeted deployments.

How to get the Windows 10 May 2020 Update

To ensure you continue to have a reliable, productive experience with your Windows 10 devices, we are taking a measured and phased approach to how we offer the May Update, initially limiting availability to those devices running Windows 10, versions 1903 and 1909 who seek the update via Windows Update.

Beginning today, the May 2020 Update is available for customers who would like to install this latest release. If you are ready to install the update, open your Windows Update settings (Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update) and select Check for updates. Once the update appears, you can select Download and install. (Note: You may not see Download and install on your device as we are slowly throttling up this availability over the coming weeks, or your device might have a compatibility issue for which a safeguard hold is in place until we are confident that you will have a good update experience.) Once the download is complete and the update is ready to install, we’ll notify you so that you can pick the right time to finish the installation and reboot your device, ensuring the update does not disrupt your activities. This new “Download and install” capability is available for devices running Windows 10, version 1903 or version 1909. For more information on the new user update controls and how to get the May 2020 Update, watch this video.

Semi-Annual Channel released for commercial customers

Today’s release of the May 2020 Update (Windows 10, version 2004) marks the start of the 18-months servicing support lifecycle. If you’re an IT administrator, we recommend that you begin targeted deployments to validate that the apps, devices and infrastructure used by your organization work as expected with the new release and features. Windows 10, version 2004 is available through Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), Windows Update for Business and the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) for phased deployment using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager or other systems management software. For information about the latest features for commercial customers, see “What’s new for IT pros in Windows 10, version 2004.” For insights on how to update, see the Windows IT Pro Blog post on feature updates while working remote. If you’re curious about Windows Server, version 2004, which was also released today, see the Windows Server Containers blog.

Keeping you protected and productive

Given all the recent changes to work and home life, we are focused on meeting you where you are and helping you adapt to these new challenges. We have often noted that being on the latest version of Windows 10 provides you with the latest features, security improvements and control. This is even more true today. The May 2020 Update offers many new features that can save you time, make you more productive and help you have fun – in addition to further enhancing your control and choices related to updates. Find out more in the “What’s new in the Windows 10 May 2020 Update” blog.

We will closely monitor the May 2020 Update experience and share timely information on the current rollout status and known issues (open and resolved) across both feature and monthly updates via the Windows release health dashboard and @WindowsUpdate. As always, please continue to tell us about your experience by providing comments or suggestions via Feedback Hub.

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Manage your child’s gaming from your Android or iOS phone with Xbox Family Settings app, now available in preview

Safety is a huge priority at Xbox, and we’ve worked for years to offer families tools to find the right balance of gaming in their lives and to fit their unique needs. Family settings on Xbox include more than 20 customizable features to help parents set screen time limits, set content filters and manage who their children can play and communicate with. This provides parents with the choice and flexibility to decide what settings are right for their children. Today, I’m excited to announce an update in our safety offerings: the Xbox Family Settings app, available now in preview on Android and iOS, which makes it easy to manage family settings from anywhere. See here for more details.

The Xbox Family Settings app (Preview) empowers parents and caregivers to manage their children’s gaming on Xbox consoles through their mobile device. It provides a simple and convenient way to create child accounts and customize family settings on the Xbox console to ensure your kids have access to gaming that you feel is appropriate. The Xbox Family Settings app (Preview) includes helpful features such as:

  • Screen time limits – set limits for each day of the week, for example, you have the ability to allow for more time on the weekends or reduce time during the school week
  • Content filters – set filters based on the age of each child; an 8-year old can only access games rated E, and will be blocked from accessing titles that are too mature
  • Play and communication settings – block all access to play and communication with other players, limit access to “friends only” or grant permission for older children to play and chat with “everyone”
  • Activity reports – view daily and weekly activity reports for each child to understand how they are spending their time on Xbox

With the app, parents and caregivers can respond to notifications in real time, such as requests from their child to extend the console screen time limit for the day. We have also built in a new feature within the app to easily enable access and multiplayer capability for Minecraft, which is rated E10+.  Sometimes parents of younger children want to provide access to Minecraft and possibly enable online play with their friends, and a convenient toggle in the app unlocks those specific capabilities quickly.  Based on customer feedback on this feature, we may include similar functionality for other games in the future.

Additionally, once the app is available to broad consumers later this year, parents will be able to view and manage their child’s friends list and approve or decline requests to add new friends via notifications sent to the app.

We know that especially right now, families are facing new challenges in the wake of school closures, working from home and social distancing due to COVID-19. In my own family, we’ve had to navigate this “new normal,” and how our existing rules for screen time might need to be adjusted to better reflect our reality. With the Xbox Family Settings app (Preview), parents can easily relax screen time on Xbox so kids have more time to play, or create a new schedule to help balance time for remote learning. We believe that especially now, gaming plays an important role to help connect friends and family and have fun while staying home. The app makes it easy to find the right balance of gaming time that feels right for your family.

The Xbox Family Settings app (Preview) is available now for all Android users and the first 10,000 people on iOS to test in preview. To download the Preview, go to: https://aka.ms/XboxFamilyBetaAndroid and https://aka.ms/XboxFamilyBetaiOS and then follow the steps to setup on your mobile device.  

We encourage you to come along on the journey and share your feedback so we can further improve and refine the experience for all users. We’re always listening to customer feedback, and more features will come to the app over time. We hope you’ll join us!

Stay safe and healthy, everyone.

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Take students on a global learning adventure each Wednesday with Live Events from Skype in the Classroom

During this time of social distancing and remote learning, staying connected with the world and keeping our children engaged has been a priority for all of us. Teachers and parents are constantly looking for fun and educational activities that will empower students’ learning, make them smile, and spark imagination and curiosity. 

Learning from home doesn’t mean that you have to be cut off from the world. Skype in the Classroom recently launched a new activity called “Live Events.” Every Wednesday at 10:00 AM Pacific Time (5:00 PM Coordinated Universal Time), teachers, students, and parents can tune in to connect with subject matter experts and visit amazing locations across the globe. From exploring the habitats of Yellowstone National Park, to learning about sequoias or visiting a zoo, these 30-minute interactive events will add some extra fun and inspiration to your children’s learning.

“Adventure and familiarity, simultaneously. During remote learning due to the pandemic, the weekly Skype in the Classroom virtual field trips have enabled my students to travel the country and the world, right from their own homes. They’ve missed the connections we’ve made with people throughout the world while we were in our school building, and these events have given them the sense that the excitement continues. My third graders and I loved the trip to Yellowstone and enjoyed hearing from the Night Zookeeper…we can’t wait to learn about sharks and animal adaptations! We’re looking forward to what else is in store until we meet again,” says Amy Rosenstein (@SkypeAmy), third-grade teacher from New York, United States. 

One of the most powerful parts of these events is that children can ask questions via a fully moderated Q&A chat tool.  

“As a family we visited Yellowstone. We watched while having our dinner here in the UK and talked about all the animals the speaker showed us. There were many we hadn’t heard of before. It challenged our family to find out about somewhere totally new to us and we could ask questions via the chat tool. My kids were learning without it feeling like a lesson!” said Sarah Clark (@sfm36), parent from United Kingdom. 

In addition, every event has follow-up activities that parents and teachers can share with their students for a richer learning experience. Make sure you check them out! 

Are you ready for a learning adventure? 

  • View upcoming Live Events at https://aka.ms/EDULiveEvents. 
  • Live Events take place on Microsoft Teams. However, you do not need Skype or Teams to join. You can select to watch on the web. Download the “How-to join” guide to get started.  
  • Each event has one or more follow up activities! Make sure you check those out to enrich the learning experience. 
  • Live captions are available in six languages. 
  • Download a digital certificate to celebrate your participation. 

No need to worry if you miss the live event! All episodes will be available to watch on demand. 

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Empowering Asia’s health care sector in the battle against COVID-19

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic is stretching health care systems across the Asia Pacific region and around the world. The infrastructure and supply chains of health care providers are being challenged, and our health care front-liners work tirelessly to provide treatment and support in a time of unprecedented demand for patient care. And if there is one question on the minds of those of the pandemic’s front-line it is most likely: “Can we do more with less?”

It is crucial to speed up routine tasks and services, especially during this time when a growing number of patients and limited resources can quickly overwhelm staff. We have seen how collaboration with customers and partners has taken on a speed and agility that we’ve not encountered before and how new cloud-based solutions, often leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, can do much to augment the work of doctors, nurses and first responders.

Dr. Keren Priyadarshini, regional business lead, Worldwide Health, Microsoft Asia
Dr. Keren Priyadarshini.

It can start with better managing resources and protecting the health of personnel and patients from the very moment someone enters a hospital.

Taipei’s Yonghe Cardinal Tien Hospital deployed digital first-line protection measures and resource management in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. It installed a “2-in-1” detection device at its main entrance that collects and analyzes data with AI and machine learning to scan individuals as they enter the hospital’s lobby. It sends out an alert if there are potential health concerns – such as a raised temperature. Scanning from a distance and autonomously minimizes risk for everyone. It also has delivered much-needed efficiencies by significantly streamlining the number of staff who are needed to monitor arrivals. That means more time and personnel can be allocated to patient care.

Similarly, Austin Health in Melbourne has introduced COVID-Care systems to improve their capacity to cope with anticipated demand. Patients no longer have to come to the hospital but can use a self-assessment tool instead. If advised to be tested, they are also advised of the nearest testing clinic or, if directed to Austin Health, can book an appointment. Another of the system’s tools monitors the symptoms of recuperating patients. Using AI and algorithms, COVID-Care automatically alerts doctors to follow up with patients via telehealth consultations and determine if the patient needs to go to the hospital or can stay home.

AI and machine learning can greatly assist front-liners and alleviate the stress on our health care systems. Since the beginning of March, health organizations have created 1,600 COVID-19 self-assessment bots with the Microsoft Healthcare bot service that help respond to inquiries and free up health care workers. This has served over 31 million individuals across 23 countries to date. More than ever, it is crucial that patient needs are met despite limited resources, to ensure the well-being of our communities and technology can support that.

Ensuring accessibility to health care in safe conditions through remote care

There are more challenges when a patient is fighting COVID-19 along with existing medical issues. Let’s take for example a COVID-19 patient who also has a broken limb. Could an orthopedic doctor attend to the patient without entering the isolation ward themselves?

The team at Austin Health has addressed this with their deployment of Microsoft Teams and Teams Navigator to help their 8,500 staff collaborate and assist doctors in conducting virtual ward rounds. They can check in on their patients in the isolation wards, while maintaining a safe distance.

In India, Fortis Healthcare has introduced tele-consultations, which have proved helpful for those like expectant mothers and individuals with mental health conditions who need continuous treatment and high frequency care.

We see how health care providers like HealthCare Global (HCG), India’s largest provider of cancer care, addressed this challenge by adopting Teams Virtual Consult. Doctors now schedule and conduct virtual consultations with patients who can continue receiving the necessary care from the safety of their homes.

Similarly, in China, Sichuan’s Huili County People’s Hospital and Chengdu’s Third People’s Hospital deployed a remote consultation platform, connecting patients in need from a remote part of the country with the quality medical care provided from a distant facility. Doctors use Surface, Azure and AI to carry out remote online consultations. They can also discuss cases and diagnoses with fellow physicians remotely.

Reimagining access to healthcare

Bain and Company’s 2020 Asia-Pacific Front Line of Healthcare survey revealed that the adoption of digital health services due to COVID-19 is not just unprecedented, but also one that will endure. Nearly 50% of patients said that they expect to use digital health tools in the next five years, and 91% of consumers said they would if the costs were covered by an insurance provider or employer.

Dr. David Rhew, global medical chief officer at Microsoft, reinforces this perspective, saying, “This pandemic has given us a great understanding that we need digital tools in health care. Tools that enable everything from telehealth to remote patient monitoring, care team collaboration and care at home. Virtualizing and streamlining other aspects of care from ventilator management to supply chain management have now become vital elements of health care in the COVID-19 era.”

Access to medical supplies, especially as countries remain under lockdown, is another critical element for the safety and well-being of communities. In response, Zuellig Pharma, one of the largest health care services groups in Asia, ensures that vital supplies get to those who need them. They launched a 24/7 interactive engagement platform to assist their customers – hospitals, clinics and pharmacies – with placing orders for prescription drugs, medical devices or consumer health products any time, anywhere to make sure that every medical facility and every patient have access to the medicines they need.

During the pandemic, limited access and possible shortages to pharmaceutical supplies have raised concerns around counterfeit drugs entering the market. In response, Zuellig Pharma has also fast-tracked the development of eZTracker, which allows consumers to verify the authenticity of a medicine by scanning a code on the packaging.

Gearing up for the battle ahead

In the short span of time since the emergence of COVID-19, we have already seen significant changes in the way that health care is delivered. Undoubtedly, the pandemic will have a profound impact on the whole industry for years to come.

I cannot agree more with Dr. Rhew, who emphasized that, “a safer return to the workplace will require a lot of changes in how businesses will be run. Every organization must adjust, and Microsoft has the ability to support them.”

As efforts to battle the pandemic continue, we are hopeful that technology will continue to play a meaningful role in equipping health care experts with the tools they need for meaningful patient care and contributing toward research for a cure.

As part of our efforts, Microsoft has mobilized an AI for Health initiative with $20 million dedicated to help on the front lines of research, where our data scientists can best contribute: data and insights; treatment and diagnostics; allocation of resources; dissemination of accurate information; and scientific research.

We’ll also be offering Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, our first industry-specific cloud offering,  in October. This will help bring together capabilities for customers and partners to enrich patient engagement, connect caregiving teams and improve operational efficiencies. Ultimately, to address the most pressing challenges the industry is facing today.

We’ll also continue to work with our partners, including ATGENOMIX, a startup in Taiwan that is providing virus genome sequencing technology, which runs on Azure HPC, to speed up research and health care analysis, and support vaccine development. 

Ultimately, the collaboration across our broad ecosystem and beyond is crucial to effectively address the challenges of this global crisis and support our customers in building their resilience and agility so they can continue to provide so much needed care for the communities.

We are committed to working together to empower health care organizations in the fight against the adverse effects of the pandemic and in the long run, support their pivot toward better experiences, better insights and better care.

(Top photo by kumikomini/Getty Images)

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Racing against time, medical researchers, life science companies and COVID-19 survivors launch national campaign to drive blood plasma donation

“The Fight Is In Us” campaign seeks to mobilize COVID-19 survivors to accelerate the development of potentially lifesaving therapies

REDMOND, Wash., USA, and NEW YORK — May 26, 2020 — A coalition of world-leading medical and research institutions, blood centers, life science companies, technology companies, philanthropic organizations, and COVID-19 survivor groups has come together to support the rapid development of potential new therapies for patients with COVID-19. Working together under the “The Fight Is In Us” campaign, the coalition is seeking to mobilize tens of thousands of people in the United States who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their blood plasma, which contains vital antibodies that have fought off the disease and could now help others do the same.

The campaign is working against two urgent timelines: to recruit COVID-19 survivors within two months of their recovery to ensure that their blood plasma contains a robust enough concentration of antibodies to have a positive effect, and to address the substantial seasonal increase in COVID-19 cases anticipated this fall in the Northern Hemisphere by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health experts.

“As an early survivor of COVID-19, I was desperate to do whatever was in my power to be a part of the solution. I started Survivor Corps to mobilize and connect the thousands of people affected by COVID-19 to support all ongoing scientific, medical and academic research, and this coalition is furthering our goal,” said Diana Berrent, founder of Survivor Corps. “Inside COVID-19 survivors is the antibody-rich blood plasma that may help stem the tide of this pandemic. The time is now for superhero volunteers to donate their blood plasma and help stop COVID-19 in its tracks.”

Individuals who have recovered from COVID-19, or know someone who has, can visit TheFightIsInUs.org to understand if they may be eligible to donate and find a nearby blood or plasma donor center using a simple self-screening tool. Donating blood plasma is a generally safe and proven process. The coalition offers more than 1,500 locations at which COVID-19 survivors can choose to donate. Donations can be made at both blood and plasma donor centers.

The coalition partners are working on two distinct approaches for treating COVID-19 that both urgently require collection of convalescent plasma now. One approach is the direct transfusion of blood plasma though the Expanded Access Program for convalescent plasma, which is currently being administered with authorization from the Food & Drug Administration by Mayo Clinic. Its safety and efficacy are currently being evaluated through multiple clinical trials in different populations. Blood donor centers throughout the country are currently collecting convalescent plasma from COVID-19 survivors for this purpose. The other approach is the development of a medicine known as a hyperimmune globulin (H-Ig), which is being manufactured now and will be studied in clinical trials this summer. Through the manufacturing process, the plasma is pooled, concentrated and purified, resulting in a vial of medicine with consistent levels of antibodies that is easy to store, distribute and administer to patients. Coalition members developing an H-Ig include CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance (CSL Behring, Takeda, ADMA Biologics, Biopharma Plasma, Biotest, BPL, GC Pharma, Octapharma and Sanquin) and Grifols.

About The Fight Is In Us

The Fight Is In Us will help advance global research and understanding of COVID-19; progress toward effective, sustainable and widely available convalescent plasma-based therapies; and the medically sound allocation and use of convalescent plasma. The organizations and coalitions involved include leading academic medical institutions (the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Expanded Access Program led by Mayo Clinic, Michigan State University and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis); leading plasma companies (Grifols and the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance, which includes founding members CSL Behring, Takeda, ADMA Biologics, Biopharma Plasma, Biotest, BPL, GC Pharma, Octapharma and Sanquin); leading blood centers (including the AABB, America’s Blood Centers, Blood Centers of America, New York Blood Centers and Vitalant); healthcare organizations (Anthem and Ashfield Healthcare); COVID-19 survivor groups including Survivor Corps; and media including Ad Council.

The Fight Is In Us is also supported by advisory and technology members. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Lasker Foundation are providing advisory support. Microsoft Corp. is providing technology support for the development of TheFightIsInUs.org and a simple self-screening tool for potential donors. MITRE, a not-for-profit organization that operates federally funded research and development centers, is hosting both the website and tool. Uber Health has contributed 25,000 free, roundtrip Uber rides to and from plasma donor centers for those potentially eligible to donate.

The combined efforts of these organizations will contribute specialist advisory expertise, technical guidance and additional support to potentially save more lives — together. But the coalition’s success depends on the urgent support of survivor donors around the world. Those who have recovered from COVID-19 can learn more about how to donate their strength and about the coalition partners at TheFightIsInUs.org.

For Media Inquiries:

Microsoft Media Relations
WE Communications for Microsoft
(425) 638-7777
rrt@we-worldwide.com

About AABB

AABB is an international, not-for-profit association representing individuals and institutions involved in the fields of transfusion medicine and biotherapies. The Association is committed to improving health through the development and delivery of standards, accreditation and educational programs that focus on optimizing patient and donor care and safety. AABB membership includes physicians, nurses, scientists, researchers, administrators, medical technologists and other health care providers. AABB members are located in more than 80 countries and AABB accredits institutions in more than 50 countries. For more information, visit: www.aabb.org.

About Bio Products Laboratory (BPL)
Recognising the power of plasma and with over 60 years heritage in the industry, BPL supplies high-quality plasma derived medicines to meet the needs of clinicians, patients and customers globally.  Headquartered in the United Kingdom and with plasma collection centres across the United States, we are dedicated to producing medicines for the treatment of immune deficiencies, bleeding disorders and infectious diseases as well for critical care.  BPL invests in the latest R&D, technology and manufacturing methods, and continuously adapts to ensure that we continue to serve all our stakeholders effectively.  For more information visit http://www.bplgroup.com.

About the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance

In an effort to help fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, a new alliance was created in April 2020 to help develop a potential plasma-derived therapy for people at risk for serious complications from COVID-19.

The CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance brings together world-leading plasma companies to work on the development of an investigational unbranded polyclonal anti-SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin medicine with the potential to treat patients who are at risk for serious complications from COVID-19.

The “I” and “g” in CoVIg-19 stand for immune globulin, which the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance will use to concentrate the antibodies into a potential medicine.

The Alliance, formed by CSL Behring and Takeda, also includes the leading-edge expertise of Biotest, BPL, LFB, and Octapharma. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing advisory support. Microsoft is providing technology including the Alliance website and the Plasma Bot for donor recruitment. Experts from the Alliance are collaborating across key aspects such as plasma collection, clinical trial development, and product manufacturing.

About CSL Behring
CSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader driven by its promise to save lives. Focused on serving patients’ needs by using the latest technologies, we develop and deliver innovative therapies that are used to treat coagulation disorders, primary immune deficiencies, hereditary angioedema, inherited respiratory disease, and neurological disorders. The company’s products are also used in cardiac surgery, burn treatment and to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn. CSL Behring operates one of the world’s largest plasma collection networks, CSL Plasma. The parent company, CSL Limited (ASX:CSL;USOTC:CSLLY), headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, employs more than 26,000 people, and delivers its life-saving therapies to people in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.cslbehring.com and for inspiring stories about the promise of biotechnology, visit Vita www.cslbehring.com/Vita.

About Grifols

Grifols is a global healthcare company founded in Barcelona in 1909 committed to improving the health and well-being of people around the world. Its four divisions – Bioscience, Diagnostic, Hospital and Bio Supplies – develop, produce and market innovative solutions and services that are sold in more than 100 countries.

Pioneers in the plasma industry, Grifols operates a growing network of donation centers worldwide. It transforms collected plasma into essential medicines to treat chronic, rare and, at times, life-threatening conditions. As a recognized leader in transfusion medicine, Grifols also offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions designed to enhance safety from donation to transfusion. In addition, the company supplies tools, information and services that enable hospitals, pharmacies and healthcare professionals to efficiently deliver expert medical care.

Grifols, with more than 24,000 employees in 30 countries and regions, is committed to a sustainable business model that sets the standard for continuous innovation, quality, safety and ethical leadership.

The company’s class A shares are listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange, where they are part of the Ibex-35 (MCE:GRF). Grifols non-voting class B shares are listed on the Mercado Continuo (MCE:GRF.P) and on the U.S. NASDAQ through ADRs (NASDAQ:GRFS).

For more information, please visit www.grifols.com.

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news and An Inside Look at Mayo Clinic for more information about Mayo.

About Octapharma
Headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland, Octapharma is one of the largest human protein manufacturers in the world, developing and producing human proteins from human plasma and human cell lines. Octapharma employs more than 10,000 people worldwide to support the treatment of patients in 118 countries with products across three therapeutic areas: Hematology; Immunotherapy and Critical care. Octapharma has seven R&D sites and six state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Austria, France, Germany, Mexico and Sweden, with a combined capacity of approximately 8 mil litres of plasma per annum. In addition, Octapharma operates more than 140 plasma donation centres across Europe and the US. For more information, visit www.octapharma.com.

About Survivor Corps

Survivor Corps is the largest grassroots movement in America dedicated to actively ending this pandemic. We are mobilizing all those affected by COVID-19 to support all ongoing scientific, medical and academic research to find a vaccine and a cure. We hope to get people back into their communities and back to work, all while fostering the spirit of unity and solidarity that is urgently needed during this time of crisis.

With every passing day, thousands of people across the country are being infected with COVID-19. The vast majority will survive and most will likely develop antibodies to the virus. The mysteries to this virus will be solved, in part, by individual donations to scientific research.

Survivor Corps is the epicenter of HOPE. For more information, visit www.survivorcorps.com.

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to bringing Better Health and a Brighter Future to patients by translating science into highly-innovative medicines. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Diseases, Neuroscience, and Gastroenterology (GI). We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in people’s lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in health care in approximately 80 countries.

For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

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Additional Quote Sheet will also be included in press package

AABB

“AABB is proud to support blood centers throughout the country that are collecting potentially lifesaving plasma from COVID-19 survivors. The blood banking community is an integral part of our health care system, and their heroism has truly been on display during this pandemic. Convalescent plasma can be a game-changing therapy for patients in need, and we are pleased to be part of a coalition that recognizes and supports the vital work blood centers do.” — Debra BenAvram, CEO of the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)

Ad Council

“We are proud to join this critical campaign to educate and empower COVID-19 survivors to donate plasma to help save the lives of others. During this time of uncertainty, we know that this will be a powerful tool in the fight against COVID-19.” — Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council

America’s Blood Centers

“Community blood centers continue to be at the forefront of the nation’s efforts to collect convalescent plasma from individuals who have recovered from COVID-19. ABC member blood centers remain committed to ensuring the availability of convalescent plasma as a potential treatment for COVID-19 patients and are pleased to have the support of Microsoft and other partner organizations in expanding the collection of convalescent plasma throughout the U.S. Community blood centers will remain mobilized in assisting the nation’s COVID-19 response efforts.”— Kate Fry, Chief Executive Officer, America’s Blood Centers

Anthem

“At Anthem, we recognize the importance of building a convalescent plasma biobank in the fight against COVID-19, and are proud to support the efforts to help COVID-19 survivors, patients and their caregivers. Joining the coalition and The Fight Is In Us campaign expands on our partnership and leadership in collaborative efforts with community and healthcare organizations to lead through care, guide the recovery and help shape public-private solutions for the future of healthcare.” — Steve Friedhoff, Chief Clinical Officer, Anthem

Ashfield Healthcare

“Ashfield Healthcare is extremely proud to be part of this collaborative partnership in the fight against COVID-19. Patients are at the core of the healthcare services that we provide, and we’re passionate about leveraging our industry-leading contact center service to support COVID-19 survivors. We are committed to supporting the survivors who will be participating in this critical campaign to donate their plasma.” — Greg Flynn, Global President, Ashfield Healthcare

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

“Safe and effective treatments for COVID-19 are urgently needed, and convalescent plasma and hyperimmune globulin could play a key role in saving lives and protecting frontline responders from infection until vaccines are widely available. We’re excited that major academic research institutions and life science companies have joined forces to accelerate the development of potentially lifesaving products, and we’re incredibly grateful to COVID-19 survivors for their essential commitment to this fight.” — Trevor Mundel, President of Global Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

 CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance 

“Partnership and collaboration are critical to the success of all the coalition development programs that rely on convalescent plasma donation. The more plasma we can collect, and the earlier we can collect it, will directly impact the speed and scale of our efforts. The growing and active involvement of leading public and private companies from outside the plasma industry, who support the drive for plasma donation, underscores the potential of convalescent plasma to fight this public health crisis. Together, we all share the same goal — to save lives by using the power of this scarce resource in different ways.” — Julie Kim, President of Plasma-Derived Therapies Business Unit, Takeda, and Co-Leader, CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance

“During times of uncertainty, leaders must lead. The hyperimmune globulin therapy has the potential to be one of the earliest treatment options for COVID-19 and also can be scaled and distributed. We look forward to working with NIAID and health authorities to bring this therapy to patients as early as possible. One of the stated goals of the alliance is to be an effective partner for important institutions such as NIAID and also to help develop coherent regulatory strategies that can give global health authorities the confidence to streamline the approval process of hyperimmune globulin therapy for COVID-19.” — Bill Mezzanotte, Executive Vice President, Head of R&D, CSL Behring, and Co-Leader, CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance

Grifols

“The development of a hyperimmune globulin for treatment as well as pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis is not just a rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to its attributes as a readily available therapy, it can bridge the time necessary to develop a vaccine. The technology also forms the basis for rapid deployment of a therapy in response to future outbreaks of emerging viruses and other pathogens. The Fight Is In Us provides the opportunity to harness biology’s natural solution to fighting disease.” — David Bell, Chief Innovation Officer, Grifols

Mayo Clinic

“It’s important to know that convalescent plasma is a biological product that has to be obtained from a specific set of patients who have recovered from COVID-19. It cannot be made in a lab. There’s no other source. That’s why reaching as many of these volunteers as possible is so essential.” — Michael Joyner, M.D., Anesthesiologist, Mayo Clinic, and Principal Investigator, Expanded Access Program (EAP) for convalescent plasma to fight COVID-19

“Mayo Clinic’s researchers are working around the clock to accelerate discoveries related to NB SARS-CoV2, the virus, and COVID-19, the disease. Successful outcomes have never been more urgently needed, and we continue to depend on the collaborative efforts of many across the nation and the globe to rapidly discover, translate and apply scientific advances.” — Gregory Gores, M.D., Kinney Executive Dean for Research, Mayo Clinic

Microsoft

“Microsoft has provided the technology infrastructure for a health bot that guides people through their eligibility as a plasma donor and directs them to the nearest donor center. Basically, we’re asking people who have survived COVID-19 to contribute to helping others do the same.” — Peter Lee, Corporate Vice President, AI and Research, Microsoft    

The MITRE Corporation

“We are privileged to serve as a trusted partner to host the website to spread the critical message on how recovered patients can help others in need. Building an army of donors to rapidly develop effective plasma-based treatments is an exemplar of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.” — Rich Byrne, Senior Vice President, The MITRE Corporation

Uber Health

“There is a long road ahead in the fight against COVID-19, and we must continue to support those on the front lines and those working towards a potential treatment. We at Uber are committed to helping move what matters, and Uber Health is proud to donate rides to the Plasma Collection Coalition, eliminating transportation as a barrier to plasma donation for those who are eligible, and willing, to participate.” — Dan Trigub, Head of Uber Health

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Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare—a first-time industry-specific cloud offering—now available

The world after this pandemic will not be the same as the one that came before it.

From remote teamwork and telehealth, to supply management and customer service, to critical cloud infrastructure and security—we are working alongside customers every day to help manage through a world of remote everything.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every aspect of people’s lives and every aspect of the healthcare system. It’s preventing healthcare delivery practices from operating at normal business levels, it’s disrupting patient access to high-quality medical care, and it’s forcing everyone to think about how to continue pushing forward in new and different ways. Our commitment has always been to ensure the tools we provide are up to the task of supporting our customers in their time of need. Hear CEO Satya Nadella’s words for more on Microsoft’s thoughts for our healthcare workers.

In that same spirit, Microsoft is announcing its first industry-specific cloud offering, Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, now available in public preview and through a free trial for the next six months. The offer brings together existing and future capabilities that deliver automation and efficiency on high-value workflows, as well as deep data analytics for both structured and unstructured data, that enable customers to turn insight into action. A robust partner ecosystem extends the value of the platform with additional solutions to address the most pressing challenges the healthcare industry is facing today. Healthcare will be the first industry served with additional industry-specific clouds to follow.

Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare brings together trusted and integrated capabilities for customers and partners that enrich patient engagement and connects health teams to help improve collaboration, decision-making, and operational efficiencies. Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare will support accelerated health transformation into the future, with capabilities for customers spanning the most important needs for healthcare organizations:

  • Enhancing patient engagement
  • Empowering health team collaboration
  • Improving operational and clinical data insights
  • Cloud built on interoperability, security, and trust
  • Extensible healthcare partner ecosystem

Enhance patient engagement

More than ever, being connected is critical to creating an individualized patient experience. Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare helps healthcare organizations to engage in more proactive ways with their patients, allows caregivers to improve the efficiency of their workflows and streamline interactions with patients with more actionable results. Organizations can use Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare to extend the value of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing, Dynamics 365 Customer Service, and Azure IoT to deploy:

  • Consumer-friendly patient experience: healthcare organizations can create individualized care plans for patients, or groups of patients, that allows providers to publicize relevant content and proactive outreach to patients on any device when they need it. Deploy secure virtual visits, chatbot assessments, and remote health monitoring to create a connected health experience. One of those tools is our Microsoft Healthcare Bot Service. Since March, more than 1,600 instances of COVID-19 bots based on our service have gone live impacting more than 31 million people across 23 countries. The CDC and healthcare systems from Seattle to Copenhagen, and from Rome to Tel Aviv, are using this service to create COVID-19 self-assessment tools to reduce some of the strain on their emergency hotlines.
  • Connected physician and referral management: care teams can easily create referrals, search for providers, and understand physician spend, satisfaction, and enhanced analytics on referral categories.
  • Enhanced patient engagement portals: patients and providers can easily interact through this self-service portal which enables various healthcare tasks such as online appointment booking, reminders, bill pay, and much more. This also allows providers the ability to engage with patients easily through the device of their choice.
  • Intelligent patient outreach: enables healthcare organizations to design interactive patient journeys to nurture leads, publicize relevant events, and contact patients with preventative and care management programs that help promote better health outcomes.
  • Continuous patient monitoring through IoT: generate secure, scalable data ingestion from medical devices to allow care teams to monitor patients in and outside of clinical facilities. With real-time insights, care teams can provide timely escalations of care, reduce readmissions, and provide personalized, predictive care.

Empower health team collaboration

Even before the current global pandemic, the healthcare industry has been in the midst of a massive shift marked by the rise of team-based care due to increased medical specialization, exponential growth in the volume of digital patient data, and increasingly demanding data protection requirements. Too often, the tools providers use to coordinate patient care are fragmented and impede the collaborative workflows required in a complex care environment.

To address these challenges, we have been building capabilities in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams that streamline healthcare workflows and provide a secure platform for connected care coordination. Teams, which supports HIPAA compliance and is HITRUST certified, brings together chat, voice and video meetings, and offers recording and transcription, as well as secure messaging features, available across devices.

As we’ve seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians also need greater flexibility and convenience in how they are able to connect with patients. Today we are announcing general availability of the Bookings app in Teams, which enables healthcare providers to schedule, manage, and conduct provider-to-patient virtual visits within Teams.

In an effort to protect patients and providers while maintaining continuity of ambulatory care, healthcare providers including St. Luke’s University Health Network, Stony Brook Medicine, and Calderdale  & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust in the U.K. have been using teams to conduct virtual patient visits and provide continuity of care while protecting providers and patients. Patients receive a customized email and can join their appointment in one click on a desktop, or in the Microsoft Teams iOS or Android Mobile apps.

Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare brings together existing and future capabilities important to how care teams communicate, collaborate, coordinate care, and generate insights that help improve patient outcomes and workflow effectiveness.

Improve clinical and operational data insights

Healthcare organizations are taking advantage of building virtual agents, automating workflows, analyzing data, and sharing insights in real-time. COVID-19 has accelerated the urgent need for healthcare organizations to create no-code/low-code apps and workflows in hours or days, not weeks or months. Thousands of organizations are relying on new integration between Microsoft Teams and Power Apps to share timely information.

In just two weeks, Swedish Health Services, the largest non-profit health provider in the Seattle area, used Power Apps to build a solution to track critical supplies.

Microsoft’s newest releases that support FHIR technology enabled the Chicago Dept of Public Health (CDPH) and Rush Hospital with an end to end solution to bring together clinical, lab and capacity data analysis in just a few days to support the COVID crisis. Using the C-CDA converter to FHIR converter, the API for FHIR—a cloud-based FHIR Server, and the Power BI FHIR connector, CDPH was able to ingest data in different formats with a simple API call, convert it to FHIR and add visualizations and downstream analytics that enabled rapid connectivity of data and interoperability across multiple hospitals.

Cloud built on interoperability, security, and trust

Underpinning all these great capabilities is our focus and commitment to interoperability, security, and compliance. We know that to provide the best care, healthcare organizations need to be able to consume, access, and share information rapidly and securely.

The future of highly secure data agility in the cloud– and the interoperability tools that healthcare organizations need to organize their health data in the cloud around FHIR – are integrated into Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare. Last year Microsoft was the first cloud to offer a generally available Azure FHIR service—which allows healthcare organizations to ingest and persist data in the FHIR format.

Healthcare organizations that are already underway with open standards like FHIR have been able to collaborate in rapid time, and it’s given their teams the ability to care for patients with a high level of agility. We’re seeing examples all around the globe and it’s been both humbling and inspiring to see the FHIR technology we’ve built specifically for health workloads in Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare support these efforts.

Security and compliance remain a strategic priority for healthcare organizations, and the shift to remote work only increases the need for integrated, end-to-end security architecture that reduces both cost and complexity. Microsoft has the highest levels of commitment to trust, security, and meeting industry compliance standards and certifications in the industry.

Extensible healthcare partner ecosystem

Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare also enables healthcare systems to take advantage of our robust ecosystem of healthcare partners who can provide solutions that complement and extend core cloud capabilities. Using these partners’ expertise will help organizations through EHR and platform integrations, implementation services, and healthcare SaaS offerings. Microsoft is proud to work closely with the leading providers of health systems, from organizations like Accenture, Adaptive Biotechnologies, Allscripts, DXC Technology, Innovaccer, KPMG, and Nuance to co-develop new solutions with leaders in their respective sectors like Humana, Providence, Novartis, and Walgreens Boots Alliance.

What’s powerful about these tools is that they’re being used not just by providers in the delivery of healthcare but by ISVs, pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, and government systems. We’ve seen companies like KenSci—a healthcare AI & data management platform—launch their Mobile Command Center with Real Time Bed Management, Ventilator Utilization, and Capacity Planning for COVID-19. In just 48 hours they can create a hospital solution—even those using legacy data systems—and help manage their data in the Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare using the open standard of FHIR.

Commitment to industry

We know that technology has a role to play in accelerating progress for solutions to the pandemic and other pressing healthcare concerns and challenges. Looking ahead, we expect to see healthcare organizations continue to use newly implemented technology tools throughout the recovery period and into the new normal. Companies that need to accelerate their digital transformation during this time will continue to rely on trusted partners who can support their trust, security, and technology adoption into the future.

Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare will make it easier for them to remain agile and focus on what they do best – delivering better experiences, insights, and care.

Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare is available for a free trial over the next 6 months. Click to see the launch during the Microsoft Healthcare Summit, view a demo, or learn more about public preview.

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Celebrating 30 years of Microsoft Solitaire with those oh-so-familiar bouncing cards

Today, on National Solitaire Day, we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the beloved Microsoft Solitaire and saying ‘Thank You!’ to all the players over the past 30 years!

With a worldwide appeal, Microsoft Solitaire Collection, as it is known today, hosts over 35 million players each month, from more than 200+ countries and territories, in 65 different languages. And after 30 years, Microsoft Solitaire is still one of the most played games on the planet every day, with more than 100 million hands played daily around the globe.

The Solitaire we all know and love was first called Windows Solitaire on Windows 3.0 in 1990. The game helped people learn how to drag and drop items on their computer screens using a mouse, which was novel at the time.

National Solitaire Day

Today, at the start of year 31, Microsoft Solitaire is played on computers, laptops, tablets, and phones in every corner of the globe, arguably by one of the most diverse gaming audiences in the world. Its Microsoft Solitaire’s unmatched familiarity and availability that’s contributed to its unending popularity, with more than half a billion players in the past decade alone, which no doubt added to the game being inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame in 2019.

We’re celebrating the 30th Anniversary by inviting all players to join our record-breaking event today, with our goal to reach the most games of Microsoft Solitaire completed in one day. Join us as we embark on this record-breaking mission by downloading Microsoft Solitaire Collection for free on Windows, iOS, or Android, or play right through your browser! You can also visit our 30th Anniversary Event page on Facebook for more details and extra Anniversary fun. And don’t miss Major Nelson’s interview with a pair of Solitaire experts discussing the coveted winnability rate of the game.

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Whether you play to take a break and relax or to test your brain for a challenge, we offer you, our players, a sincere round of applause for your passion and dedication. For that, there’s something new that I couldn’t be more pleased to introduce for the Microsoft Solitaire community: Microsoft Solitaire t-shirts and mugs are available now for the first time ever!

National Solitaire Day

No matter where you shuffle the deck from – whether it’s the US, Japan, Brazil, China, or the UK – coincidentally, that’s in order the territories with the most Microsoft Solitaire players, or the Cocos Islands, Anguilla, Vatican City, Barbados, or New Zealand, in order the territories with the most players per capita (I love this stat!) – thank you for creating this amazing community!

It really is something special that a game called Microsoft Solitaire has brought together so many people for so many years. 

Enjoy your next hand of Microsoft Solitaire.

Microsoft Solitaire CollectionMicrosoft Solitaire Collection
Xbox LiveXbox Live

Microsoft Solitaire Collection

Xbox Game Studios

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★★★★★

Check out the new look and feel of Microsoft Solitaire Collection on Windows 10! Solitaire remains the most played computer game of all time, and for good reason. Simple rules and straightforward gameplay make it easy to pick up for everyone. Solitaire has been part of Windows for more than 25 years, and the Microsoft Solitaire Collection makes it the best experience to date with five different card games in one: Klondike This version is the timeless classic that many people just call “Solitaire.” Try to clear all the cards from the table using one or three-card draw, while using traditional scoring or the Vegas scoring system. Spider Eight columns of cards await your attempts to clear them with the fewest moves possible. Start out playing with a single suit until you’re comfortable, and then see how you fare when using two or even all four suits in a game. FreeCell Use four extra cells to move cards around as you try to clear all cards from the table. More strategic than the Klondike version, FreeCell rewards players who think several moves ahead. TriPeaks Select cards in a sequence, either up or down, to earn points and clear the board. How many boards can you clear before you run out of deals? Pyramid Pair two cards that add up to 13 in order to remove them from the board. Try to reach the top of the pyramid. See how many boards you can clear and how high you can score in this highly addictive card game! Daily Challenges Players receive new challenges each day. Complete enough Daily Challenges in a month to earn badges and compete with your friends. Star Club Even more challenges arranged in collections and packs you can unlock by earning stars. Choose Your Theme The Microsoft Solitaire Collection features several beautiful themes, from the simplicity of “Classic” to the serenity of an Aquarium that comes to life before you while you play. You can even create custom themes from your own photos! Xbox Live Integration Sign in with your Microsoft account to earn achievements, compete with your friends on the leaderboards, and track your personal gameplay statistics. If you sign in with a Microsoft account, your progress is stored in the cloud so you can play the game on any device without missing a beat!

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Fairness and interpretability in AI: putting people first

At the 2005 Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, researcher Hanna Wallach found herself in a unique position—sharing a hotel room with another woman. Actually, three other women to be exact. In the previous years she had attended, that had never been an option because she didn’t really know any other women in machine learning. The group was amazed that there were four of them, among a handful of other women, in attendance. In that moment, it became clear what needed to be done. The next year, Wallach and two other women in the group, Jennifer Wortman Vaughan and Lisa Wainer, founded the Women in Machine Learning (WiML) Workshop. The one-day technical event, which is celebrating its 15th year, provides a forum for women to present their work and seek out professional advice and mentorship opportunities. Additionally, the workshop aims to elevate the contributions of female ML researchers and encourage other women to enter the field. In its first year, the workshop brought together 100 attendees; today, it draws around a thousand.

In creating WiML, the women had tapped into something greater than connecting female ML researchers; they asked whether their machine learning community was behaving fairly in its inclusion and support of women. Wallach and Wortman Vaughan are now colleagues at Microsoft Research, and they’re channeling the same awareness and critical eye to the larger AI picture: Are the systems we’re developing and deploying behaving fairly, and are we properly supporting the people building and using them?

Senior Principal Researchers Jennifer Wortman Vaughan (left) and Hanna Wallach (right), co-founders of the Women in Machine Learning Workshop, bring a people-first approach to their work in responsible AI. The two have co-authored upward of 10 papers together on the topic, and they each co-chair an AI, Ethics, and Effects in Engineering and Research (Aether) working group at Microsoft.

Wallach and Wortman Vaughan each co-chair an AI, Ethics, and Effects in Engineering and Research (Aether) working group—Wallach’s group is focused on fairness, Wortman Vaughan’s on interpretability. In those roles, they help inform Microsoft’s approach to responsible AI, which includes helping developers adopt responsible AI practices with services like Azure Machine Learning. Wallach and Wortman Vaughan have co-authored upward of 10 papers together around the topic of responsible AI. Their two most recent publications in the space address the AI challenges of fairness and interpretability through the lens of one particular group of people involved in the life cycle of AI systems: those developing them.

“It’s common to think of machine learning as a fully automated process,” says Wortman Vaughan. “But people are involved behind the scenes at every step, making decisions about which data to use, what to optimize for, even which problems to solve in the first place, and each of these decisions has the potential to impact lives. How do we empower the people involved in creating machine learning systems to make the best choices?”

Their findings are presented in “Co-Designing Checklists to Understand Organizational Challenges and Opportunities around Fairness in AI” and “Interpreting Interpretability: Understanding Data Scientists’ Use of Interpretability Tools for Machine Learning.” The publications received ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2020) best paper recognition and honorable mention, respectively.

A framework for thinking about and prioritizing fairness

When Wallach took the lead on the Aether Fairness working group, she found herself getting the same question from industry colleagues, researchers in academia, and people in the nonprofit sector: Why don’t you just build a software tool that can be integrated into systems to identify issues of unfairness? Press a button, make systems fair. Some people asked in jest; others more seriously. Given the subjective and sociotechnical nature of fairness, there couldn’t be a single tool to address every challenge, and she’d say as much. Underlying the question, though, was a very real truth: Practitioners needed help. During a two-hour car ride while on vacation, Wallach had an aha moment listening to a Hidden Brain podcast episode about checklists. What practitioners wanted was a framework to help them think about and prioritize fairness.

“I’m getting this question primarily from people who work in the technology industry; the main way they know how to ask for structure is to ask for software,” she recalls thinking of the requests for a one-size-fits-all fairness tool. “But what they actually want is a framework.”

Wallach, Wortman Vaughan, Postdoctoral Researcher Luke Stark, and PhD candidate Michael A. Madaio, an intern at the time of the work, set out to determine if a checklist could work in this space, what should be on it, and what kind of support teams wanted in adopting one. The result is a comprehensive and customizable checklist that accounts for the real-life workflows of practitioners, with guidelines and discussion points for six stages of AI development and deployment: envision, define, prototype, build, launch, and evolve.

During the first of two sets of workshops, researchers presented participants with an initial AI fairness checklist culled from existing lists, literature, and knowledge of fairness challenges faced by practitioners. Participants were asked to give item-level feedback using sticky notes and colored dots to indicate edits and difficulty level of accomplishing list items, respectively. The researchers used the input to revise the checklist.

Co-designing is key

AI ethics checklists and principles aren’t new, but in their research, Wallach, Wortman Vaughan, and their team found current guidelines are challenging to execute. Many are too broad, oversimplify complex issues with yes/no–style items, and—most importantly—often appear not to have included practitioners in their design. Which is why co-designing the checklist with people currently on the ground developing AI systems formed the basis of the group’s work.

The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews exploring practitioners’ current approaches to addressing fairness issues and their vision of the ideal checklist. Separately, Wallach, Wortman Vaughan, and others in the Aether Fairness working group had built out a starter checklist culled from existing lists and literature, as well as their own knowledge of fairness challenges faced by practitioners. The researchers presented this initial checklist during two sets of workshops, revising the list after each based on participant input regarding the specific items included. Additionally, the researchers gathered information on anticipated obstacles and best-case scenarios for incorporating such a checklist into workflows, using the feedback, along with that from the semi-structured interviews, to finalize the list. When all was said and done, 48 practitioners from 12 tech companies had contributed to the design of the checklist.

During the process, researchers found that fairness efforts were often led by passionate individuals who felt they were on their own to balance “doing the right thing” with production goals. Participants expressed hope that having an appropriate checklist could empower individuals, support a proactive approach to AI ethics, and help foster a top-down strategy for managing fairness concerns across their companies.

A conversation starter

While offering step-by-step guidance, the checklist is not about rote compliance, says Wallach, and intentionally omits thresholds, specific criteria, and other measures that might encourage teams to blindly check boxes without deeper engagement. Instead, the items in each stage of the checklist are designed to facilitate important conversations, providing an opportunity to express and explore concerns, evaluate systems, and adjust them accordingly at natural points in the workflow. The checklist is a “thought infrastructure”—as Wallach calls it—that can be customized to meet the specific and varying needs of different teams and circumstances.

During their co-design workshops, researchers used a series of storyboards based on participant feedback to further understand the challenges and opportunities involved in incorporating AI fairness checklists into workflows.

And just as the researchers don’t foresee a single tool solving all fairness challenges, they don’t view the checklist as a solo solution. The checklist is meant to be used alongside other methods and resources, they say, including software tools like Fairlearn, the current release of which is being demoed this week at the developer event Microsoft Build. Fairlearn is an open-source Python package that includes a dashboard and algorithms to support practitioners in assessing and mitigating unfairness in two specific scenarios: disparities in the allocation of opportunities, resources, and information offered by their AI systems and disparities in system performance. Before Fairlearn can help with such disparities, though, practitioners have to identify the groups of people they expect to be impacted by their specific system.

The hope is the checklist—with such guidance as “solicit input on system vision and potential fairness-related harms from diverse perspectives”—will aid practitioners in making such determinations and encourage other important conversations.

“We can’t tell you exactly who might be harmed by your particular system and in what way,” says Wallach. “But we definitely know that if you didn’t have a conversation about this as a team and really investigate this, you’re definitely doing it wrong.”

Tackling the challenges of interpreting interpretability

As with fairness, there are no easy answers—and just as many complex questions—when it comes to interpretability.

Wortman Vaughan recalls attending a panel discussion on AI and society in 2016 during which one of the panelists described a future in which AI systems were so advanced that they would remove uncertainty from decision-making. She was confounded and angered by what she perceived as a misleading and irresponsible statement. The uncertainty inherent in the world is baked into any AI systems we build, whether it’s explicit or not, she thought. The panelist’s comment weighed on her mind and was magnified further by current events at the time. The idea of “democratizing AI” was gaining steam, and models were forecasting a Hillary Rodham Clinton presidency, an output many were treating as a done deal. She wondered to the point of obsession, how well do people really understand the predictions coming out of AI systems? A dive into the literature on the ML community’s efforts to make machine learning interpretable was far from reassuring.

“I got really hung up on the fact that people were designing these methods without stopping to define exactly what they mean by interpretability or intelligibility, basically proposing solutions without first defining the problem they were trying to solve,” says Wortman Vaughan.

That definition rests largely on who’s doing the interpreting. To illustrate, Wallach provides the example of a machine learning model that determines loan eligibility: Details regarding the model’s mathematical equations would go a long way in helping an ML researcher understand how the model arrives at its decisions or if it has any bugs. Those same details mean little to nothing, though, to applicants whose goal is to understand why they were denied a loan and what changes they need to make to position themselves for approval.

In their work, Wallach and Wortman Vaughan have argued for a more expansive view of interpretability, one that recognizes that the concept “means different things to different people depending on who they are and what they’re trying to do,” says Wallach.

As ML models continue to be deployed in the financial sector and other critical domains like healthcare and the justice system—where they can significantly affect people’s livelihood and well-being—claiming ignorance of how an AI system works is not an option. While the ML community has responded to this increasing need for techniques that help show how AI systems function, there’s a severe lack of information on the effectiveness of these tools—and there’s a reason for that.

“User studies of interpretability are notoriously challenging to get right,” explains Wortman Vaughan. “Doing these studies is a research agenda of its own.”

Not only does designing such a study entail qualitative and quantitative methods, but it also requires an interdisciplinary mix of expertise in machine learning, including the mathematics underlying ML models, and human–computer interaction (HCI), as well as knowledge of both the academic literature and routine data science practices.

The enormity of the undertaking is reflected in the makeup of the team that came together for the “Interpreting Interpretability” paper. Wallach, Wortman Vaughan, and Senior Principal Researcher Rich Caruana have extensive ML experience; PhD student Harmanpreet Kaur, an intern at the time of the work, has a research focus in HCI; and Harsha Nori and Samuel Jenkins are data scientists who have practical experience building and using interpretability tools. Together, they investigated whether current tools for increasing the interpretability of models actually result in more understandable systems for the data scientists and developers using them.

Three visualization types for model evaluation are output by the popular and publicly available InterpretML implementation of GAMs (top) and the implementation of SHAP in the SHAP Python package (bottom), respectively. Left column: global explanations. Middle column: component (GAMs) or dependence plot (SHAP). Right column: local explanations.

Tools in practice

The study focuses on two popular and publicly available tools, each representative of one of two techniques dominating the space: the InterpretML implementation of GAMs, which uses a “glassbox model” approach, by which models are designed to be simple enough to understand, and the implementation of SHAP in the SHAP Python package, which uses a post-hoc explanation approach for complex models. Each tool outputs three visualization types for model evaluation.

Through pilot interviews with practitioners, the researchers identified six routine challenges that data scientists face in their day-to-day work. The researchers then set up an interview study in which they placed data scientists in context with data, a model, and one of the two tools, assigned randomly. They examined how well 11 practitioners were able to use the interpretability tool to uncover and address the routine challenges.

The researchers found participants lacked an overall understanding of the tools, particularly in reading and drawing conclusions from the visualizations, which contained importance scores and other values that weren’t explicitly explained, causing confusion. Despite this, the researchers observed, participants were inclined to trust the tools. Some came to rely on the visualizations to justify questionable outputs—the existence of the visualizations offering enough proof of the tools’ credibility—as opposed to using them to scrutinize model performance. The tools’ public availability and widespread use also contributed to participants’ confidence in the tools, with one participant pointing to its availability as an indication that it “must be doing something right.”

Following the interview study, the researchers surveyed nearly 200 practitioners, who were asked to participate in an adjusted version of the interview study task. The purpose was to scale up the findings and gain a sense of their overall perception and use of the tools. The survey largely supported participants’ difficulty in understanding the visualizations and their superficial use of them found in the interview study, but also revealed a path for future work around tutorials and interactive features to support practitioners in using the tools.

“Our next step is to explore ways of helping data scientists form the right mental models so that they can take advantage of the full potential of these tools,” says Wortman Vaughan.

The researchers conclude that as the interpretability landscape continues to evolve, studies of the extent to which interpretability tools are achieving their intended goals and practitioners’ use and perception of them will continue to be important in improving the tools themselves and supporting practitioners in productively using them.

Putting people first

Fairness and interpretability aren’t static, objective concepts. Because their definitions hinge on people and their unique circumstances, fairness and interpretability will always be changing. For Wallach and Wortman Vaughan, being responsible creators of AI begins and ends with people, with the who: Who is building the AI systems? Who do these systems take power from and give power to? Who is using these systems and why? In their fairness checklist and interpretability tools papers, they and their co-authors look specifically at those developing AI systems, determining that practitioners need to be involved in the development of the tools and resources designed to help them in their work.

By putting people first, Wallach and Wortman Vaughan contribute to a support network that includes resources and also reinforcements for using those resources, whether that be in the form of a community of likeminded individuals like in WiML, a comprehensive checklist for sparking dialogue that will hopefully result in more trustworthy systems, or feedback from teams on the ground to help ensure tools deliver on their promise of helping to make responsible AI achievable.

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Accessibility tools support home learning for students with dyslexia and other learning differences

More than ever, educators are relying on technology to create inclusive learning environments that support all learners. As we recognize Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we’re pleased to mark the occasion with a spotlight on an innovative school that is committed to digital access and success for all.

Seattle-based Hamlin Robinson School, an independent school serving students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences, didn’t set a specific approach to delivering instruction immediately after transitioning to remote learning. “Our thought was to send home packets of schoolwork and support the students in learning, and we quickly realized that was not going to work,” Stacy Turner, Head of School, explained in a recent discussion with the Microsoft Education Team.

After about a week into distance learning, the school quickly went to more robust online instruction. The school serves grades 1-8 and students in fourth-grade and up are utilizing Office 365 Education tools, including Microsoft Teams. So, leveraging those same resources for distance learning was natural.

Built-in accessibility features

Stacy said the school was drawn to Microsoft resources for schoolwide use because of built-in accessibility features, such as dictation (speech-to-text), and the Immersive Reader, which relies on evidence-based techniques to help students improve at reading and writing.

“What first drew us to Office 365 and OneNote were some of the assistive technologies in the toolbar,” Stacy said. Learning and accessibility tools are embedded in Office 365 and can support students with visual impairments, hearing loss, cognitive disabilities, and more.

Josh Phillips, Head of Middle School, says for students at Hamlin Robinson, finding the right tools to support their learning is vital. “When we graduate our students, knowing that they have these specific language-processing needs, we want them to have fundamental skills within themselves and strategies that they know how to use. But we also want them to know what tools are available to them that they can bring in,” he said.

For example, for students who have trouble typing, a popular tool is the Dictate, or speech-to-text, function of Office 365. Josh said that a former student took advantage of this function to write a graduation speech at the end of eighth grade. “He dictated it through Teams, and then he was able to use the skills we were practicing in class to edit it,” Josh said. “You just see so many amazing ideas get unlocked and be able to be expressed when the right tools come along.”

Supporting teachers and students

Providing teachers with expertise around tech tools also is a focus at Hamlin Robinson. Charlotte Gjedsted, Technology Director, said the school introduced its teachers to Teams last year after searching for a platform that could serve as a digital hub for teaching and learning. “We started with a couple of teachers being the experts and helping out their teams, and then when we shifted into this remote learning scenario, we expanded that use,” Charlotte said.

“Teams seems to be easiest platform for our students to use in terms of the way it’s organized and its user interface,” added Josh.

He said it was clear in the first days of distance learning that using Teams would be far better than relying on packets of schoolwork and the use of email or other tools. “The fact that a student could have an assignment issued to them, could use the accessibility tools, complete the assignment, and then return the assignment all within Teams is what made it clear that this was going to be the right app for our students,” he said. 

A student’s view

Will Lavine, a seventh-grade student at the school says he appreciates the stepped-up emphasis on Teams and tech tools during remote learning and says those are helping meet his learning needs. “I don’t have to write that much on paper. I can use technology, which I’m way faster at,” he said.

“Will has been using the ease of typing to his benefit,” added Will’s tutor, Elisa Huntley. “Normally when he is faced with a hand written assignment, he would spend quite a bit of time to refine his work using only a pencil and eraser. But when he interfaces with Microsoft Teams, Will doesn’t feeling the same pressure to do it right the first time. It’s much easier for him to re-type something. His ideas are flowing in ways that I have never seen before.”

Will added that he misses in-person school, but likes the collaborative nature of Teams, particularly the ability to chat with teachers and friends.

With the technology sorted out, Josh said educators have been very focused on ensuring students are progressing as expected. He says that teachers are closely monitoring whether students are joining online classes, engaging in discussions, accessing and completing assignments, and communicating with their teachers.

Connect, explore our tools

We love hearing from our educator community and students and families. If you’re using accessibility tools to create more inclusive learning environments and help all learners thrive, we want to hear from you! One great way to stay in touch is through Twitter by tagging @MicrosoftEDU.

And if you want to check out some of the resources Hamlin Robinson uses, remember that students and educators at eligible institutions can sign up for Office 365 Education for free, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Microsoft Teams.

In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Microsoft is sharing some exciting updates from across the company. To learn more visit the links below:

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COVID-19 has only intensified the broadband gap

We are living in a new world, a world racing online as social distancing forces many of us to work, communicate and connect in new ways. In the United States alone, state and local directives have urged 316 million Americans to stay in and, when possible, work from home. As communities around the world adapt to a world with COVID-19, broadband connectivity and access are more critical to our lives and livelihoods than ever before.

Broadband already powers much of our modern lives, but COVID-19 has acted as an accelerant, a fuel of sorts that has driven many essential activities online. All learning, services, commerce, most workplaces and daily interactions online require a high-speed connection to the internet. Those without access to this online world – more than 18 million Americans with 14 million living in rural areas, according to the Federal Communications Commission – risk falling farther behind. While 18 million is a big number – more than the entire populations of Indiana, Iowa and Tennessee combined – a new study has found that the actual number of people lacking access to broadband in the US is closer to 42 million.

We will eventually come out the other end of the COVID-19 crisis, but the future that emerges will look different from the world we left when this crisis began. The future of commerce, work, medicine, education and services will have changed – and, in some instances, permanently.

A problem intensified by COVID-19

Lack of broadband for rural populations, both in the United States and in the developing world, just can’t be ignored. That’s why, in the last three months, we’ve doubled down on our Microsoft Airband Initiative to expand the number of people reached. As of March 31, we’ve helped provide 1.2 million people with access to broadband in rural, previously unserved areas of the United States. This is almost double our total from December 31, 2019, and up from 24,000 people in the whole of 2018. We’re doing the most recent work by donating hotspots and wireless connectivity equipment, and expanding our digital skills offerings by developing COVID-19-specific digital skills offerings for rural communities.

We’re undertaking this work in tandem with ISPs, state and local governments, non-profits such as the National 4-H Council, and other mission-aligned public- and private-sector entities. Eight out of 12 of our commercial ISP partners have taken the FCC’s Keep Americans Connected Pledge, committing to maintaining connectivity to customers who are economically impacted by the crisis. Even those partners that have not formally signed on to the FCC’s pledge have committed to serving their communities by maintaining connectivity for existing customers and connecting new subscribers. The Airband Team has published a customer-ready Airband US COVID-19 Response Summary outlining our programmatic and policy responses to COVID-19 in the US.

We’re not the only ones trying to make a difference. Companies across the country are stepping up to the plate, including tech companies such as Google and T-Mobile. But it isn’t just tech that’s helping – companies such as Land O’Lakes are also working to close the broadband gap. We need the government to step up and meet us halfway.

Policy principles and new federal funding to accelerate much-needed changes

The most significant way to move the dial for Americans without broadband is by changing policy at the federal, state and local level, not only for more funding but to remove roadblocks so that broadband can reach rural and underserved Americans faster. In short, there’s a critical need for Congress to do three things.

First, Congressional action is needed to address the immediate broadband connectivity needs that are having a heightened impact on individuals and communities during the COVID-19 crisis. Funding is needed in the next stimulus bill so that students and teachers have access to remote learning, people have access to their doctors and other telehealth options, and to help people work from home, file and maintain their unemployment benefits, and apply for jobs online.

Second, there’s an urgent need to provide funding to the FCC so it can implement recently enacted broadband-mapping legislation. As we’ve said before, we can’t solve a problem we don’t understand.

Third, additional action is needed to permanently close the broadband gap. With accurate data on broadband availability, we recommend Congress provides funds based on seven important principles. Namely, these funds should be:

  1. Targeted: Any broadband funding mechanism should be designed to address a known market need; for example, the need to deliver broadband access to unserved rural areas and connect students without broadband access before schools start in the fall.
  1. Technology neutral: Broadband funding should be made available on a technology neutral basis.
  1. Broadband-capable: Networks should be required to meet at least the FCC-defined speed for broadband.
  1. Least costly: To minimize costs, funding amounts should be determined through a competitive bidding process (the FCC’s use of reverse auctions is an example of such a mechanism).
  1. Non-distortionary: Any program should aim to minimize market distortions in how funds are collected and how they are distributed.
  1. Deployed quickly: Preference should be given to broadband providers that commit to rapid deployment of broadband networks and services.
  1. Avoid administrative burdens: Programs should minimize red tape and only impose requirements on recipients that are necessary to ensure the integrity of the programs.

With this approach, the country can finally provide the funding needed for ISPs to close the broadband gap. In addition, we support efforts by the FCC, USDA and other federal and state agencies to release funds under new and existing programs to address the needs of vulnerable healthcare workers and patients, educators and learners, and remote workers. This is especially important because, in times of economic downturn, states are more cash-strapped than usual and don’t have resources necessary to make these critical investments.

The COVID-19 virus has created a national crisis. But it has also created an important opportunity. It’s time to galvanize the nation and recognize the obvious. Broadband has become the electricity of the 21st century. Well before the end of the 20th century, we recognized that no American should live without electricity. As we embark on the third decade of the 21st century, every American deserves the opportunity to access broadband.

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