The tech giant Google, which has signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government on Tuesday, will help the state government in making all the government sites mobile friendly.

Google Vice-president Southeast Asia and India Rajan Anandan said, “Most consumers access the internet through their mobile devices and most websites are not completely mobile enabled. We're going to bring in the best engineering skills to make the websites mobile friendly.”

The company will also be helping the small and medium businesses in the state to establish their presence on the internet.

Anandan said, “If you're a small/medium business in Goa you don't have to pay to be on the internet. We have a product called Google My Business. So all we need is small businesses to come forward saying they want to get on the internet. We have a product where they can get on the internet and stay on the internet at zero cost, forever.”

The company will work in bringing every woman in the rural areas on the internet under the Google India’s ‘Internet Saathi’ initiative.

“We will help them understand what internet is and help them experience the internet through smartphones,” Anandan added.

The Goa people who are proficient in computing can receive training and certification under Google’s Android developer program for free. Anandan said, “The exciting thing is once you get certified in android you're guaranteed a job.”

Anandand said that Google India is planning to take Goan culture and heritage online on the Google Arts and Culture project. He said, “We will bring in 360 degree imagery technology to get this done so that everybody around the world, who wants to come to Goa, can come here virtually.”

By Prajakt K.