# Donate your smartphone’s spare capacity to crunch data for medical research

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/11/11/donate-your-smartphones-spare-capacity-to-crunch-data-for-medical-research/
- Published: 2015-11-11T11:19:34+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**You can now donate your smartphone’s spare processing capacity to help support
cancer research. New app DreamLab has been developed by Vodafone Australia and the
Garvan Institute of Medical Research.**

While your smartphone is charging overnight, it has plenty of spare processing capacity.
The app automatically downloads genetic sequencing profiles from the Garvan Institute,
and this is processed via the smartphone. When complete it is uploaded for the Institute
to use. All while you sleep.

If the app is downloaded in sufficient quantities and used, then the Institute will
have access to extensive processing power, all at no cost. For example, 100,000 
installations would enable researchers to process data 3,000 times faster than at
present.

## Advertisement

[DreamLab is available for Android phones](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.com.vodafone.dreamlabapp).

## Choose which cancer to research

![Choose your DreamLab project](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/
2015/11/dreamlab-projects.jpg)

Choose your DreamLab project

The [DreamLab app](https://www.garvan.org.au/get-involved/dreamlab) lets uses choose
which cancer research they would like their phone to help with – breast, ovarian,
prostate or pancreatic.

They can also set a maximum for how much mobile data the app will use each month.

⌊You are powering DreamLab⌉⌊You are powering DreamLab⌉

The research potential of course is not limited just to medical research.
 

 

## Donate your PC’s processing power

Charities and research organisations have been taking advantage of the potential
of distributed computing via donated PCs since the 1990s. Projects and tools include:

 * [SETI@Home](http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/index.php) at Berkeley University,
   USA
 * [Folding@Home](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sonymobile.androidapp.gridcomputing&hl=en)
   at Stanford University, USA
 * [Charity Engine](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2012/05/10/charity-engine-donating-spare-computing-power-good/)
 * [Stand Up to Cancer](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2014/10/09/stand-cancer-mobile-game-attracts-volunteer-citizen-scientists/)–
   the data processing is made even more enjoyable by making it a mobile game

Donating spare mobile phone capacity in the same way has been slower to take off
because of battery issues and data costs.

 * [HTC Power to Give](http://www.htc.com/uk/go/power-to-give/) was one of the first
   to offer this service.

UK Fundraising first covered distributed or grid computing in August 2000 in ‘[Donate CPU time as well as money?](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2000/08/14/donate-cpu-time-well-money/)