Digital Unlock: Sundar Pichai pitches for use of internet by SMEs

Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday pitched his voice in support of adoption of internet technology by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with the vision of making them big and powerful.

"Sadly today, it is mostly the large companies which are making use of them, but truly, anyone can harness the power of technology. The internet is as much for the established local merchant as it is for a high-flying startup. And with internet, even a small business can become large one in the blink of an eye," said Pichai while speaking at the SMEs event here.

Discussing the transition that has taken place since years, Pichai drew comparison between him as a kid and children of today's times. He said he would have to get a book in order to access information but in today's time a kid can easily access the same information which a professor or anyone else in world would, courtesy internet.

"We work on open platforms like android because we can reach as many people as possible. It's always been like this with Google since the beginning and this is what drew me to Google a decade ago. We have worked on products for everyone. When I was growing up in Chennai, information was a luxury. I would work hard to get access to any book I could, to gain new information. Today, a kid growing up in Chennai with an internet connection can access the same information as a Stanford Professor or anyone else in the world," he said.

Announcing Google's new initiative in the same field, Pichai threw light on their programme which would conduct training workshops to encourage small business leaders to turn their vision of achieving big into reality.

"I am happy to announce that we are making quality digital skills training to every single small business in India that wants it. We are developing it in partnership with one of India's leading industry groups, FICCI and its certified by ISP," he said

"We are calling the program 'Digital Unlock.' You'll have online and mobile courses but also real world trainings in classrooms. Also, for the next three years, we will hold 5,000 training workshops across 40 Indian cities. We hope to reach thousands of businesses. In fact, the first of these, with more than 100 small business leaders is actually happening right now, right across the hall. Any small business with an internet connection can sign up and get started on these trainings today," he added.

Pichai also discussed Google's another initiative which would allow any Indian business to create a website of its own for free.

"To make this journey easier, we are also launching a new tool later this year in India first, and we will expand it globally later, that will allow any Indian business to create a simple website for free. It's called the mybusiness website and our goal is to allow any small business in India to have a website of their own that works on mobiles and desktops. All you need to set up is a smartphone, a few free minutes and any small business can build their own site and control it completely and they will be able to easily organise their actions they care about," he said.