Supporting technology projects that help with crisis response and resilience

As the world grapples with the COVID-19 crisis, how we deal with and recover from crises is top of mind for many Australians.

Before COVID-19, we saw the devastating impact of bushfires and other natural disasters. Many people have asked how we can better prepare for and respond to these crises in future, and what role technology can play in helping communities and individuals.

Today we are pleased to announce a new Australian Crisis Response and Recovery Fund, making available more than $4 million of grant funding from Google.org over the next three years to support projects that use technology to build future preparedness and long term resilience to bushfires and other crises.

At Google Australia, we are already working with the National Bushfire Recovery Agency to identify areas where we can leverage technology, products and people to develop solutions for communities, and are supporting Aussie small businesses on their path through COVID-19.

Through the new Crisis Response and Recovery Fund we will work with the Australian Government, academia, non-profits and community groups to find and support projects that use emerging technology, particularly AI (Artificial Intelligence) to help with crisis response, preparedness and resilience.

Projects will be assessed by a panel of technology experts. If your organisation has a project you would like to discuss please contact: [email protected].

Supporting communities
This new fund builds on our existing support efforts with local bushfire relief organisations and community groups as well as the work we’re doing right now to support Aussie communities and businesses with relief and recovery efforts in the midst of this current health and economic crisis.

For many communities the road to recovery will be long and as we’ve seen in recent months, new challenges keep emerging, but we hope the Crisis Response and Recovery Fund will play a part in helping find new solutions to improve preparedness and resilience into the future.