American tech giant Google Inc. announced Tuesday that it will provide financial support of US$1 million to the Taiwan FactCheck Center, to help fund the center’s digital education and media literacy initiatives.

The US$1 million will be disbursed over the next three years, under Google’s Intelligent Taiwan initiatives, to help combat the effects of misinformation, the company said.

In particular, Google said, the money will be used to fund workshops for the elderly, people in remote areas, Indigenous groups, and newly naturalized citizens, who may be at a disadvantage in the digital era.

Under the project, the Taiwan FactCheck Center will collaborate with other domestic groups, such as the National Association for the Promotion of Community Universities, Fakenewscleaner, Taiwan Media Watch and the Association of Quality Journalism, to educate people and help build a more diverse community, Google said.

Google’s financial input is expected to help fund some 70 workshops and foster 700 trainers, which will benefit 23,000 people, according to the American tech company..

The Taiwan FactCheck Center, jointly founded by the Association for Quality Journalism and Taiwan Media Watch, is a non-profit organization that aims to fact check information in the public domain, improve the country’s information ecosystem, and boost the quality of news, according to the center’s website.

Meanwhile, Tiny Lin (???), managing director of sales and operation at Google Taiwan, said that under Google’s Intelligent Taiwan initiatives, which are now in the fourth year, the company will continue to expand its investments and resources to help transform Taiwan into a world-class talent hub in the era of digital technology development.

Taiwan, currently Google’s largest hardware research and development base outside the United States, has built a strong and comprehensive IT industry cluster that employs many hardware and software experts, Lin said.

In addition, Taiwan is one of the few countries in which Google has data centers and has developed cloud-technology based applications, Lin said.

The American tech giant has six offices across Taiwan — in Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Changhua, and Tainan — and plans to construct a new building in Taipei Far Eastern Park by 2023 to accommodate more talent, he said.

Google Taiwan currently employs professionals from more than 20 countries worldwide.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel