Google India inks deal with Telangana government

Hyderabad: Google India and Telangana government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at supporting the digitisation efforts of the state.

Google India will provide Google Cloud credits and access to all cloud platform products to eligible startups engaged with Telangana government's T-Hub initiative and through its Developer Relations team provide technical mentorship and advisory support to various startups, a release issued by the government said here today.

The MoU was signed yesterday in the presence of Telangana Minister for IT and Industries K T Rama Rao and Google India representatives, it said.

Other initiatives as a part of the agreement include, making all government websites mobile friendly and introduce programmes to help local small and medium businesses go online and stay safe online.

Google India will introduce Android Fundamentals courses for students pursuing engineering and MCA to skill them on mobile app development.

"Additionally Google as part of Google Cultural Institute project will work with the Culture and Tourism Department of the state to create a digital repository of the architectural and cultural heritage of the state, its history and imagery and make it accessible globally," it said.

As part of the MoU, Google India and the Telangana government will also work on promoting digital literacy among rural women through programme 'Internet Saathi'.

Speaking after the meeting, Chetan Krishnaswamy, Director -- Public Policy, Google India, said, "We are delighted to support the government of Telangana in its vision of a digitally empowered state. We look forward to work with the state government to create an enabling environment and ecosystem to help women, students, small and medium businesses and entrepreneurs."

"Google is a valuable partner of Telangana and we are excited to launch many initiatives with them that will benefit women, small businesses, youth, and others across the state. Our mission is to Digitise Telangana and a partnership with Google will go a long way in ensuring our plans under the Digitise Telangana programme are achieved," Rao said.