Google opens digital training centre in Glasgow

The technology giant’s “pop-up” facility is billed as a “digital garage” and will offer digital skills support and classes for anyone who signs up, and is particularly focused on small businesses, graduates and people looking to change careers.

The new centre at the Mitchell Library follows successes in other cities including Leeds, Birmingham and Newcastle as part of a bid to train 250,000 people by the end of 2016.

Google found 88 per cent of businesses involved in their previous digital garage events have changed the way they run or promote their business online, with 68 per cent saying they had seen positive results.

The Mitchell Library. Picture: John Devlin

Run in partnership with Glasgow City Council, the digital garage will also host training events for charities and computing lessons for local students and teachers. It will be open until the end of January.

The US technology group is also partnering with a number of other players from across the public and private sectors, including Glasgow-based MadeBrave.

Andrew Dobbie, founder of the fast-growing digital creative agency, said: “When we saw that digital garage was coming to Glasgow, we knew we had to get involved. This is a really exciting time for our hometown and it’s great to see global giants like Google investing in the digital community here.”

Economy minister Keith Brown said the Scottish Government was committed to working with partners such as Google to further develop digital talent in Scotland.

He said: “It’s fantastic that Google is making this investment in Scotland.

“The training and support delivered via Google’s digital garage is first-class; I hope as many of our businesses and citizens as possible, at any age and stage, take advantage of this great opportunity to increase their digital skills and knowledge.”

Peter Barron, Google UK vice president for communications, said: “Our technology helps companies be discovered by new customers, boosts productivity by helping teams collaborate better and helps content creators get paid for their creativity.

“It can be easy to think that technology is just for start-ups, but we know it can bring real growth to all businesses and improve.”

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