We joined forces with Google to upskill 10m people in the digital sphere

Over the past two-and-a-half years, we have worked closely with the Grow with Google team to help millions of people across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) learn new skills, find jobs, grow their careers and accelerate their businesses through online learning. The value of this work has been truly recognised this year, with the demand for Google’s training tripling during lockdown.

Last week the technology company pledged to help 10 million people and businesses in EMEA find jobs, digitise and grow over the next 18 months. Matt Brittin, President of Google EMEA Business & Operations said that the online tools which have become a ‘lifeline’ and helped us to ‘stay connected with our communities, support local businesses, teach our children and learn new skills ourselves’ will be vital in helping countries recover ‘more quickly and more sustainably’.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted: ‘As countries start to re-open, we’re dedicated to helping people and businesses recover faster - starting with new commitments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to help 10M people learn new skills, find jobs and grow their businesses.’

We’ve felt fortunate to work with Google on many projects that make a tangible difference to people’s lives worldwide over the past years. This new initiative is particularly important because it will have a direct impact on so many people’s lives. A project of this size brings together a huge team and I’ve been really proud of everyone’s creativity and collaboration.

Our CEO Nick Rappolt said: ‘It’s a great privilege to work on projects that have a direct impact on people’s lives and help to make a difference. It has been incredibly meaningful to focus our attention on the recovery process at this challenging time. A huge amount of effort has gone into this important programme which has great purpose.’

How we’ve helped

Building on our extensive work on the Digital Workshop and Grow with Google platforms, we have reimagined the Grow with Google homepage, which is at the heart of the new initiative to help people and businesses recover economically. It brings together technology tools and training to help people, communities and businesses access the resources to grow stronger, faster and more resilient. It went live in seven markets this week, and will be rolled out further.

Google also recognises the growing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for businesses of all sizes in the coming years. To that end, we’ve been working on a new AI for Business tool, to help small and medium businesses find out how AI could help them. It gives each business a personalised report telling them which AI applications are relevant to their industry to help future proof their business.

Our team is proud to be collaborating with the Grow with Google team to better serve the community now and in the future.