NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Google is getting into government. According to a report from The Economic Times, the tech giant is in talks with the Indian government regarding a public health sector partnership. Should a collaboration come to fruition, Google would offer a tech-based solution to help officials collect and analyze health data more efficiently.

Included in these solutions would be mobile apps to replace the paperwork that is currently needed for data intake. Moreover, Google would provide a standardized platform for tracking, maintaining, and sharing health data. Apparently, the Mountain View, California-based company began considering public health proposals after surveying community health workers in north Karnataka and New Delhi. After discovering that workers wasted time and energy in aggregating data, Google sought to use its technological know-how to simplify the process.