Garage to get you motoring digitally
The M.E.N. has teamed up with Google to help our communities become more digitally-aware and to keep up-to-speed with online innovation and advances. Our aim is to give everyone – young and old – the confidence and expertise to fully utilise the technolog
MANCHESTER is undoubtedly a major player on the UK tech scene, yet 69 per cent of the city’s tech businesses cite a lack of digital skills as their major barrier to further growth.
This could be set to change, however, with the return of Google’s Digital Garage to the city, a community hub offering a range of extensive training courses – free to businesses of all sizes as well as individuals.
As part of a drive to equip UK workers with contemporary skills they need to find a job, grow in their career or business, the Digital Garage initiative was launched in 2015 and has already trained more than 200,000 people.
Locally, its first tenure was a sixmonth stint at Manchester Central Library in 2016, but the new city centre venue is designed to attract a wider audience with a greater range of courses on topics such as ‘how to build your CV’ and ‘an introduction to coding.’
Alina Dimofte, public policy and government relations manager for Google, explains: “When we first came to Manchester, at the library, we were mainly helping SMEs and charities, but in this new phase we have tripled the amount of training and courses that we offer in order to reach out to a broader range of people. This includes those who want to boost their careers, job-seekers, students and mothers coming back to the workforce after being away.”
The garage, which opened at the end of 2017, is at 39-43 King Street.