In the 6th annual edition of Google for India on Monday, Google announced several big plans for India. In addition, the company also gave information about Google initiatives. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet announced an investment of $ 10 billion dollars (INR 75000 crores) in India in the coming 5 to 7 years. At the same time, other members of the Google team told how the information of the corona crisis reached the common people and provided them with accurate information related to the epidemic.
45 crore users use the internet on smartphone
Google India Country Head and Vice President Sanjay Gupta said that Google has about 500 million active internet users in India out of which about 45 crore users use the internet on their smartphones. Connectivity and access are the two main bases for strengthening products and services. It is these products and services that make things like learning, education, jobs, and payments easier, which our society faces daily. These 500 million users can not only search for things on Google in 9 languages but can also use Google Assistance in 9 languages.
More focus on places where internet is access is less
Gupta said that Google’s focus is more on places where internet penetration is less. We are especially working for such places. Through the Internet Partner Program, we helped more than 30 million rural women to learn Internet usage. We used Artificial Intelligence quite a lot.
For example, the biggest challenge that we face in every monsoon is the problem of floods. At Google, we enabled the Flood Forecasting System, which helps people and disaster management systems, and in the event of a threat, informs the smartphone 12 to 48 hours in advance.
200 crores searched for COVID-19
Due to the Corona crisis, nearly 200 million searches were conducted on Google in many languages. We understood the seriousness of the case and provided accurate information related to the corona to people working with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, including WHO, in many languages, including symptom identification, prevention methods, and personal hygiene.
More than 11 thousand food and night shelters of more than 700 cities have been reported on Google map with many state governments including My Gov. Together with Vodafone, we also provided this information for feature phone users. Also, under the Internet Saathi program, the correct information related to Corona was distributed to more than 50 thousand villages.
Reached children through Google Meet, Google Classroom, Read-Along, and YouTube
Corona also had an impact on children’s education. Google was able to get it back on track through Google Meet, Google Classroom, Read-Along, and YouTube Learning, so that they could continue their studies by connecting to secure and reliable sources. Currently, hundreds of children are using these products. Google Pay allowed society to digitally donate to the PM Care Fund. Countrymen donated 120 crore rupees in PM Care Fund to fight Corona through Google Pay.
Information of 600 COVID Testing Center provided on map
Google, in collaboration with My Government and the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), provided information on 600 COVID Testing Centers in 300 cities on the Google Map platform. While many businesses were stalled in the Corona era, Google gave them a chance to start afresh. Many small retailers did good business through the Google Map Business site by making their business connected and effective in times of crisis.
