Google steps up product focus to drive digital inclusion in India

Google on Thursday announced a slew of new product features and partnerships as part of its efforts to drive digital inclusion in the country. The announcements underline Google’s growing focus on product innovations that will help new Internet users in India get easier access to information in Indian languages, create more natural ways for local language speakers to interact with the internet, make the Android experience more helpful, and provide support to India’s small businesses and youth.

Speaking at the seventh edition of Google for India, Sanjay Gupta, Country Head & Vice President, Google India, said, “Last year, we launched the USD 10 billion Google for India Digitisation Fund. Today’s announcements aim at bridging more gaps and further broadening the inclusive base of India’s digital economy so that the advantages of this crucial transformation are accessible to everyone.”

Google announced the first-ever Google Assistant-enabled, end-to-end vaccine booking flow in India which will guide users through the process of booking a vaccination appointment on the Co-Win website with voice guidance in English and eight Indian languages at each step. This feature will be available in Chrome on Android and will begin rolling out in early 2022.