Google and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency for digital technologies, are offering 100,000 training scholarships across more than 80 countries as part of a global effort to expand access to artificial intelligence and digital skills.
The scholarships are being provided through the AI Skills Coalition, an initiative under ITU's AI for Good programme. Training will be coordinated with national governments and supported through Giga, the ITU-UNICEF initiative focused on connecting schools and communities to digital resources.
The programme is aimed at a broad range of participants, including students, educators, job seekers, entrepreneurs, small business owners, public servants and other workers. Participating countries will be able to align the training with their national workforce and digital-skills priorities.
Google said the courses will focus on practical skills and do not require participants to have a technical background. Learners will have access to online training opportunities covering areas including artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, information technology, project management, digital marketing and user experience design.
The initiative will complement more than 200 courses already available through the AI Skills Coalition's catalogue. Google and ITU said the programme is intended to provide learners with practical training as well as recognised certificates that can demonstrate their skills to employers.
The partnership comes amid concerns about gaps in digital capabilities as AI adoption expands across workplaces and public services. ITU estimates that 1.2 billion people worldwide still require training to acquire basic digital skills, while another 311 million need training to develop above-basic capabilities.
Participating governments will play a role in identifying priority beneficiary groups, conducting outreach and supporting learner participation. They will also be responsible for monitoring progress and reporting programme outcomes.
According to the ITU Academy, participating countries can initially receive allocations of Google scholarships, with final distribution determined using factors including demographics, implementation readiness, anticipated impact and demand. Additional allocations can be considered based on enrolment, utilisation and completion rates.
Progress will be monitored through measures including scholarship activation, learner participation, course completion and certificates earned. The programme will also examine how participants apply the skills in areas such as education, employment and public services.
The initiative expands Google and ITU's existing collaboration on AI skills. Their work has also included AI and robotics training programmes for young people and educators, particularly in African countries.
As governments and companies increase their use of generative AI, the latest programme focuses on widening access to practical training while allowing individual countries to determine how those skills are deployed within their workforce development strategies.
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