Sundar Pichai: "Finland is a great example of how the internet can help drive economic growth"

Minister Katri Kulmuni and Google CEO Sundar Pichai at the round table. Photo: TEM/Finnish Government.

The Nomad Today

20 de September de 2019 (22:40 h.)

During a round table discussion in Helsinki, the head of Google stressed the importance of skills for the new digital economy and the opportunities offered by technology for training and job creation.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai participated on Friday in Helsinki in a round table discussion called 'Grasping the Digital Opportunity-Technology, Skills and Data' hosted by the Finnish Minister of Economic Affairs Katri Kulmuni.

The keynote speech was delivered by Sundar Pichai in front of several ministers and key stakeholders with a view to shaping the digital agenda. Those participants included high-level political leaders and CEOs from business and think-tanks from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Finland. Remarks were delivered by Minister of Digitalization of Norway, Nikolai Astrup.

During the event the CEO of Google stressed the importance of technology and the role played by the internet in growth and job creation.

"At Google, we feel a deep responsibility to ensure that everyone can benefit from the opportunities that technology creates. We had a good discussion about the importance of skills for the new digital economy, and other topics. We're keen to play our part: in Europe we've already trained 5 million people in digital skills and we've just opened a skills hub in Helsinki. Finland is a great example of how the internet can help drive economic growth, and we're keen to continue the conversation," said CEO Pichai.

Make the most of emerging technologies

According to a press release by the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the aim of the round table was to discuss how to seize the opportunities of digitalisation and make the most of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), how to develop necessary digital skills and how to build a human-centric data economy.

“Finland is committed to promoting a sustainable digital economy where the digital transformation can strengthen the competitiveness of our businesses and increase the wellbeing of our citizens,” said Finnish Minister of Economic Affairs Katri Kulmuni.

At the round table, Minister Kulmuni highlighted that data is an increasingly important raw material for the digital economy and Finland wants to emphasise the secure, responsible and ethically sustainable use of data. Minister Kulmuni also stressed that the digital transformation is an important factor in Finland’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.