Google team to visit Kashmir for help

SRINAGAR: In a great development for growing online population of kashmir valley it is learnt that Google will visit kashmir.Sinnce 1998, Kashmir has visited Google millions of times; but in November Google will visit Kashmir for the very first time. An eight-member team of Google US led by its Global Entrepreneurship Outreach Division head, Mary Himinkool would be landing in Srinagar in the first week of
November to meet local people including IT experts and internet enthusiasts.
The team has been invited by US based Non-Governmental Organization Mercy Corps to ‘give Kashmiris a chance to engage directly with the latest and greatest from Google’.
Mercy Corps, which has been working in Kashmir since 2006 to ‘help people to turn conflict into opportunities for progress’, has invited the team after they found that there was a need for technology advancement in IT sector in the state.
“They are coming to understand the IT market, what are the opportunities, the needs and gaps of it as well as to understand the current status of IT sector in Kashmir,” Kashmir head of Mercy Corps, Usman Ahmad told.
“We have been working with Google in some parts of the globe like in Palestine for supporting technology and advancement of IT sector,” he said.
Mercy Corps has issued open invitations through posters and advertisements to students, businessmen, marketers, techies, developers, publishers, content owners, entrepreneurs, and internet enthusiasts to gather at Sheri Kashmir International convocation Complex (SKICC) on the banks of Dal lake, where the Google team will interact with them on November 03.
The event has been named as G-Kashmir and a website has been created for the event titled www.gkashmir.com
The event, according to the organizers, will equip participants with tips, tricks and tools to win digitally. The event will provide training on using digital tools to spur technology innovation, business and entrepreneurship in Kashmir.
“YouTube enthusiasts will also get expert advice on how to create and market content. Kashmiri entrepreneurs will get the opportunity to present their business ideas and get tips on how to take their ideas forward,” the website reads.
Usman said that the IT entrepreneurs would be provided guidance on the basics of starting up a business, including how to do a startup or business pitch.
“The businessmen would be able to interact and engage with experts in software and web development from Google. They will get product insights, some hands-on experience, and learn some of the coolest ways to use them,” he said.
Mercy Corps claims to help people in the world’s toughest places to turn the crises of natural disaster, poverty and conflict into opportunities for progress.