NEW DELHI: India's G20 presidency will be an amazing opportunity to forge an agreement on creating an open, connected, safe, and useful internet of things for all people, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said.
Pichai, who bagged the Padma Bhushan, India's highest civilian honour, from India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, in San Francisco, said that it is incredibly relevant to be honoured in this way "by the country that shaped me".
India is a part of me and I Carry it with me wherever I go. I was grateful to grow up in a family that cherished learning and knowledge, with parents who sacrificed a lot to make sure I had opportunities to explore my interests," Pichai noted in a blog post late on Friday.
He said that the "Digital India" initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undoubtedly accelerated progress, and added, "I'm glad that Google continues to invest in India, working in partnership with governments, businesses, and communities across two transformative decades."
Google recently announced that it would invest USD 10 billion in India's digital future, working to make internet access more accessible and affordable, developing products for the country's particular needs, assisting businesses of all sizes with their digital transformation, and using artificial intelligence to address significant societal issues.
Through our WomenWill Entrepreneurship Program, we have taught over 1 million women and over 55,000 instructors in conjunction with the government and local organisations. We are also heavily investing in digital skilling, Pichai said. Pichai also sponsored over 1,00,000 Google Career Certificate sponsorships in collaboration with the Nasscom Foundation and Tata Strive.
Using a recent development in machine learning, we added 24 new languages to Google Translate earlier this year. Eight of them are indigenous to India, said Pichai.
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