The State Department in the US is working with Google to incorporate media literacy training and reflect their current innovations.
Today, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs partnered with Google to support education and upskilling in Southeast Asia. They will pilot projects in Indonesia and Vietnam that were initially announced by the White House at the recent U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit. The public-private partnership underscores the continued emphasis on how valuable the U.S. private sector plays in international diplomacy, as well as the commitment from the United States to Southeast Asian nations.
Google is hosting an event called Startup Academy in Ho Chi Minh City from October 3rd-7th. This event will help early-stage technology startups address local challenges by providing a 4 day bootcamp style curriculum that helps with building their businesses, accessing capital, and more. American Spaces are open-access learning and gathering spaces that support the execution of U.S.-led international initiatives around the world.
Google’s philanthropic arm will be collaborating with Google and the ASEAN Foundation to launch an initiative dedicated to education media literacy and combating misinformation. The goal of this project is to distribute media literacy training, materials, and skills to more than 1000 trainers in 12 American Spaces across Indonesia. These materials will then be disseminated to 100000 people in this region, who may be influenced by misinformation or not know how to navigate the internet safely.
Information on public-private partnerships and the ECA can be obtained by contacting the Public-Private Partnership Unit and following them on social media.