In 2011, the technology company opened a small office in Santiago de Chile motivated by the potential of a country of early adopters. Today, they have not only multiplied their services for companies and individuals, they have also invested in crucial infrastructure for the digital transformation of all of Latin America.
"We are convinced that Chile has enormous potential," were the words that accompanied Google's arrival in the country 10 years ago with the opening of a small office.
Chileans are considered early adopters of technologies and the arrival of the company marked the beginning of an exponential growth in terms of digital access and connectivity, which has been reflected in investments in Chile that exceed US$300 million in technological infrastructure alone.
Check below the 10 milestones that marked the company's growth in Chile:
1.- When did Google arrive in Chile?
Google arrived in Chile in 2011. Since then, the company's commitment has been to enhance the digital growth of the country and the region, as well as to improve connectivity and the creation of a more secure public cloud.
YouTube arrives in Chile
In March 2012 YouTube arrived in Chile, and since then it has been able to give voice to diverse creators, putting the world within their reach, following the conviction that everyone should have the opportunity to express themselves.
3.- Google Street View travels around Chile
With the arrival of Google Street View, also in 2012, the firm began the path that currently allows hundreds of people to virtually travel the national territory from north to south. Likewise, the adoption of Google Maps by Chileans has allowed them not only to find directions and indications to move around the city, but also places for vaccination against Covid-19 and other useful information regarding businesses, restaurants, banks and supermarkets.
4.- Google Pay revolutionizes digital payments
The arrival of Google Pay in 2018 laid the groundwork to introduce credit card users to digital payments, through a fast, easy and secure option to make transactions on websites, apps, physical stores, among others. Currently, most of the most recognized financial institutions in the country already have this functionality available.
5.- Digital Transformation of SMEs
Among the most important focuses of Google in the last one in the country is the work with small and medium enterprises. Today, they represent the majority of companies within the local business ecosystem and are the ones with which Google has acquired a special commitment to promote their operation and development.
There are several platforms, tools and applications aimed at supporting the work and digital transformation of local SMEs, such as Primer and Garage Digital, education platforms specially designed for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.
The arrival of Google for SMEs in 2019 came to reconfirm the company's commitment to the national entrepreneurs, making available to them a platform where their businesses can find all the Google tools that allow them to obtain benefits from the digital power with the aim of growing and helping them to manage their businesses.
Google Cloud: Chile as a platform for Latin America.
There is no doubt that one of the most important milestones of Google's operation in Chile has been the announcement, construction and start-up of the company's first data center in the southern hemisphere, which with an investment that currently exceeds US$150 million materializes Google's biggest bet for the country.
The project is fully powered by solar energy from the El Romero photovoltaic plant, located in the Atacama Desert, aligning with the company's efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Subsequently, in September 2018, we announced its expansion, which involves an investment of US$140 million and will triple the infrastructure capacity that Google has today in Chile.
Community Development
The data center brought with it the Community Development Program, which has created a real impact in Quilicura through initiatives executed by non-profit organizations that focus on developing areas such as STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, sustainability and connectivity, delivering close to US$650,000 to different NGOs. In 2018, the Municipality of Quilicura gave it a special recognition thanks to the commitment and work developed with the neighbors of the commune.
One of the latest projects to see the light of day is the Urban Forest in Cerro Cóndor, inaugurated in October 2019 together with local authorities. This initiative is part of the mitigation measures for the atmospheric emissions produced by the construction of the second stage of the data center, which will be compensated by 150%. This forest is a massive reforestation that included more than 1,500 native trees, educational signage, perimeter closures and a semi-automatic irrigation system.
8.- Submarine Cable
With the aim of strengthening Google's public cloud and making it faster, safer and more efficient, in January 2018 the company announced the installation of a submarine cable connecting Los Angeles, California and Valparaiso. Just over a year later, the Curie cable - named after renowned scientist Marie Curie - arrived at Las Torpederas Beach in Valparaiso. This cable, which functions as a veritable data highway made of fiber optics, is the first of its kind to be owned and installed by a company specializing in telecommunications, and the first to reach Chile and Latin America. And since the end of 2019 the cable is fully operational.
9.- Google Cloud-Region Cloud
In June 2020, a new Google Cloud announcement echoed among Chileans: the installation of a new cloud region in Santiago, which became the second one installed in Latin America after São Paulo in Brazil.
10.- Commitment to the future of Chile
"We have lived an entire experience these last ten years, bringing technology and our products and solutions closer to the homes and lives of Chileans," explains Edgardo Frías, general manager of Google Chile. "We hope that the decades to come will be even more fruitful and that we can continue to contribute to the digital and sustainable development of Chile and each of its inhabitants," he adds.
What do foreign companies say about the technology investment ecosystem in Chile? Check out the following article.
Source: InvestChile
Find more news about foreign investment in Chile here .
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