New €1.5M Google.org AI Scholarship Fund
2nd October 2023
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar recently joined Head of Google Ireland, Adaire Fox-Martin and Google’s Global Chief Marketing Officer, Lorraine Twohill to officially open the first phase of the Bolands Mills development and announce a new €1.5M Google.org scholarship fund for students from under-represented communities in the area of AI.
With grant support from Google.org’s fund, the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics at Dublin City University will enable scholarships for students at universities around Ireland.
The opening marks the 20th anniversary of Google’s arrival in Ireland. The company opened its first office in Ireland with just five employees in 2003. In the past twenty years Google Ireland has grown to become Google’s EMEA HQ with a workforce of over 9,000 people. The new Bolands Mills development will become a hub of engineering with over 1,000 engineers moving into the offices upon their completion.
Lorraine Twohill, CMO of Google, said “Over the past two decades Ireland has become one of the world digital leaders at the heart of Europe and as Ireland has grown, Google has grown in Ireland. We are immensely proud of the strength of our team here and the work they are doing in driving Google’s future. We want to ensure that everyone across Ireland is able to benefit from the next generation of AI technology which is why we are announcing a new €1.5M Google.org scholarship fund. This fund will support AI education for students from under-represented communities.
The scholarships will be available across Ireland through a grant to the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics at Dublin City University.”
The new fund will enable universities to provide scholarships to students from under-represented communities, including people with disabilities, women in STEM, first generation students with no history of third level education in the family and members of the Traveller community, who wish to apply for undergraduate courses where Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Safety are core elements of the course. Through the scholarship fund, Google.org is providing a grant to the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, which will provide scholarship funding to Access offices in all Higher Education Institutions in Ireland.
Speaking at the event, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD said, “The opening of this historic building is good for Dublin’s civic heritage and represents a major milestone for Google Ireland driven from their innovative new centre of engineering.
This new centre of excellence, alongside the scholarship fund announced today, will help cement Ireland’s role as a digital leader at the heart of European and global digital developments.”
The historic Flour Mills building at Bolands Mills has been expertly restored and adapted into a dedicated collaboration space for Google, with the ground floor opening to the public in 2024. The building features a range of new designs and technologies so that people can mix and match their workspace to their needs and more closely collaborate with colleagues anywhere in the world.
Adaire Fox-Martin, Head of Google Ireland, “The Flour Mills building is steeped in history and our real estate teams have worked hard to ensure we respect its past, while equipping it for the future. When Bolands Mills opens fully next year, a mix of shops, eateries, public squares, and community and cultural spaces will bring new energy to this historic site. We want Bolands Mills to be an inclusive space that brings communities together: Google employees, our neighbours and visitors alike.”
Image: An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar with Head of Google Ireland, Adaire Fox-Martin and Google’s Global Chief Marketing Officer, Lorraine Twohill.
