Larry Ellison a major contributor to Blair Institute vaccine database plan

Software magnate Larry Ellison is simply a starring contributor to nan argumentation institute built by erstwhile UK premier curate Tony Blair.

According to nan Larry Ellison Foundation's IRS return revenge precocious past year, Oracle's CTO and laminitis donated $33.83 cardinal to nan Tony Blair Institute (TBI) successful 2021 and plans to lend different $49.37 cardinal successful nan adjacent future.

Ellison's instauration is besides listed arsenic a philanthropist connected nan body's astir caller group of accounts filed [PDF] astatine Companies House.

The TBI is simply a non-profit statement founded successful 2016. Among its declared objectives is to counsel governments connected "strategy, argumentation and delivery, unlocking nan powerfulness of exertion crossed each three."

Ellison's rate is group to lend to a associated business nan brace established successful 2020 which intends to connection African countries a database of vaccination records to thief show and combat diseases. The Institute hopes to summation nan scope of nan strategy crossed Africa. It intends to create a integer database of diligent records that will beryllium free for astatine slightest 10 years.

Another nexus betwixt nan brace is that TBI's exec veep of Strategy and Partnerships, Awo Ablo, is besides a board director astatine Oracle.

Health databases person been thing of a shared obsession betwixt Tony Blair and Larry Ellison. While UK premier minister, nan erstwhile attended a notorious Downing Street seminar connected Monday 18 February 2002 astatine which Microsoft sounded nan thought of a mega tech programme for nan NHS, which became nan £12 cardinal National Programme for IT. It was a disaster which was stopped early successful 2011 and "did not present cardinal benefits," according to spending watchdog nan National Audit Office said.

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Ellison's Oracle bought wellness assemblage package master Cerner successful June past twelvemonth for an estimated value of $28.3 billion.

Since then, nan bronzed tech leader has promised to present “a unified nationalist wellness records database connected apical of each of these thousands of abstracted infirmary databases" successful nan US.

At nan aforesaid time, a $10 cardinal task he inherited from Cerner has crushed to a halt. The Department of Veterans Affairs — nan $297-billion fund national portion — announced EHR deployments would beryllium suspended indefinitely while it focused connected improving 5 sites that presently usage nan caller EHR, arsenic portion of a larger programme reset, pursuing concerns complete diligent safety. Oracle is renegotiating nan contract.

The Times pointed retired that Blair had known Ellison since his clip successful Downing Street, erstwhile "Oracle became a important supplier of exertion to nan government." In fact, Oracle still runs much than half of nan UK cardinal government's financial and readying software, including nan Department for Work & Pensions, Ministry of Justice, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Cabinet Office, Home Office, HM Treasury, and Ministry of Defence.

The Home Office migrated to Oracle during Blair's tenure arsenic premier minister. In 2006, a damning NAO said nan department's inability to present its accounts connected clip were down to problem pinch nan system. Once a hole was implemented, it led to an accommodation of nan slope relationship and creditor balances by £67 cardinal ($85 million), according to Parliamentary records. ®