Google India on Wednesday announced the launch of Digital Unlocked, a training program to empower thousands of Indian SMBs with essential digital skills and previewed My Business Websites to help businesses to have a rich, mobile-optimised digital presence that will be launched later this year to further tap into the 51-million strong small and medium businesses (SMBs).
“When we solve for a place like India, we solve for everyone around the world. That has led us to grow our team here and spend more time and ensure the products are useful for everyone,” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai at the launch event.
“SMBs are a growth driver for the Indian economy and it is important that they have the right tools and skills to digitise. We believe it is important for us to invest in training and equipping these individuals and small businesses to accelerate their journey of growth,” added Pichai.
A joint research study by Google-KPMG said that 68 per cent of the 51 million Indian SMBs are offline. The research found that rising penetration and greater uptake for digital by SMBs could help increase their contribution to India’s GDP by 10 percentage points, taking it up to 46-48 per cent by 2020. The report cited the lack of understanding of the benefits of digital technologies and technical skills as the essential reasons for being offline.
Google launched Digital Unlocked, a training programme to enable SMBs get online and start using Internet to grow their business. The training is being conducted with FICCI.
Over the next three years, 5,000 workshops will be held across 40 Indian cities. The online training comprises a set of 90 self-paced video tutorials, curated specifically for India and will be available free of charge. The trainings are certified by Google, Indian School of Business and FICCI.
The US-based firm also previewed My Business Websites to help businesses to have a rich, mobile-optimised digital presence that will be launched later this year.
Besides, it also launched Primer -- a free mobile app uniquely designed to teach digital marketing skills in an interactive way. Available for Android and Apple phones, Primer will also work offline and is currently available in English and Hindi with Tamil, Telugu and Marathi versions coming shortly.
“Google India needs to tailor its operation more to India’s psyche, local languages, local aspirations, local products... India’s digital economy is going to be USD 1 trillion plus in the coming 3-4 years,” said IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on the occasion.