“Google” a plan to end the training of two million people in the Middle East and North Africa

Talking to the company's general manager in the Arab region

Google accelerator for startups in the Middle East and North Africa

Technology has provided many digital tools to save many people during the “Covid-19” crisis, which has contributed to supporting people, businesses and communities in Saudi Arabia and the region to return stronger.

At the end of last year, Google launched the “Go Strong with Google” program to help individuals acquire new skills, find jobs, and enhance the presence of businesses on the Internet, especially those operating in the fields of retail and tourism, due to their greatest damage from the crisis, through a set of tools and courses. training.

Lino Cataruzzi, General Manager of Google in the Middle East and North Africa, about the training program in the Arab region. He confirmed that Google was able to support more than 700,000 people and businesses in learning basic digital skills and taking advantage of digital opportunities. , with a target of one million people or more by the end of 2021. Since 2018 so far, Google has benefited 1.7 million people and businesses in the Middle East and North Africa region in learning digital skills and developing businesses, and it seeks to reach two million beneficiaries by the end of this year. The company will continue to provide support through various programs and tools that will be announced at the beginning of next year.

Enhance digital skills

It was noticed that at the beginning of the crisis, about 6 million jobs were at risk in the Arab world, according to the Arab Monetary Fund. During that period, many individuals sought to develop their skills to obtain jobs related to technology or as a result of the rapid digital transformation. For example, there was a significant increase in the rate of viewing educational videos on YouTube, as a report prepared by Ipsos MORI with the support of YouTube stated that 94% of the population of the Kingdom used electronic references to view educational content. The study also showed that about 95% had viewed instructional video presentations in the past year.

Since the launch of the "Maharat from Google" program to teach individuals various digital skills, many beneficiaries have been trained in the Kingdom, representing 30% of the total number, in cooperation with a number of local organizations. The program recently included a new set of training courses covering practical skills, helping participants create a resume using Google Docs, and managing projects using digital tools.

In cooperation with the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF goal) in Saudi Arabia, 800 professional training certificates were provided with the support of Google, which seeks to prepare individuals for careers through four main trainings on the Coursera platform in four areas, including information technology support, project management, user experience design and analytics data.

As a result of the “Skills from Google” workshops and according to a survey conducted by “Ipsos”, 50% of the trainees indicated that they benefited from the program either by finding a new job or by developing in their current professional field or business, by hiring new employees or increasing profit as a result of skills gained from the program.

Since developers in Saudi Arabia represent the beating heart of the local digital economy, they have had a share in the “Go Strong with Google” program, as more than 100,000 software developers (with a focus on women) have so far trained in advanced and applied digital skills, such as machine learning. . It is expected to reach about 140,000 developers who have benefited from the available workshops and training programs by the end of the year.

Digitizing and guiding local businesses

in the Kingdom

SMEs boost economic performance in the region, generally contributing up to 50% in employment and 70% in GDP, according to the International Monetary Fund. Through the “Go Hard with Google” program, a new partnership was announced with Saudi Post to list 100,000 local businesses in Saudi Arabia on Google My Business and provide the owners of these businesses with digital skills within 18 months, while providing guidance and guidance to more than 100 male and female entrepreneurs in the Kingdom.

In order to keep pace with the digital transformation in the region, Google launched several new products, including the “Market Finder” tool, which is a product that helps local businesses identify new markets and acquire global customers, and it is available in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt. Another tool is Grow My Store, which seeks to help local businesses improve the shopping experience on their websites, attract more customers and encourage them to make more purchases. All retailers in the region, whether they are Google advertisers or not, have been given access to the Google Shopping tab to list their products at no cost, helping them connect with more customers.

leading businesses

As for technology entrepreneurs, it introduced the “Google Startup Accelerator” in the Middle East and North Africa, which is a 3-month digital acceleration program targeting technology startups that are still in the seed funding and seed investment stages (Series A). ) in the region. So far, two editions have been completed, with the participation of "Ejaro", "OTO", "Cabbar" and "Lindo" from the Kingdom. Registration for the third edition is open and the shortlisted will be announced at the end of November.

Google invites technology startups to apply for the third edition of the “Google Startup Accelerator: Middle East and North Africa,” which will run for three months, starting in January next year. Interested companies must apply through the program’s official website before October 14, 2021. This accelerator is a digital business acceleration program targeting technology startups in the initial funding and initial investment stages in the region.

Eligibility requirements include that the startup must be in the technology field, headquartered in the Middle East and North Africa, and have seed funding. It also takes into account the problem the startup is trying to solve and how it is working to deliver a valuable user experience, as well as its willingness to use the latest technologies in order to solve current challenges and grow in the long term.

The program will include providing support and training services to startup founders on various technical and professional challenges, in addition to the opportunity to participate in workshops on machine learning techniques, product design, user experience design, customer acquisition and leadership skills. Participants will also receive individual training sessions from Google experts and other technology companies to help them promote their ideas to investors after the program ends. You can apply and register to join the program through.