Yes, there’s even more on Google’s Philanthropy

The news of Google’s change in philanthropic direction has inspired a lot of commentary in the blogosphere.   The opinions have ranged from “Google is doing to the right thing” to “Is this change in direction a cutback in disguise.  The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Give & Take section does nice job of summarizing the spectrum of viewpoints.  In my (admittedly cynical) opinion, I think Google’s new “strategic corporate philanthropy” really is a cutback, but let’s see.

In the midst of the debate, Google’s new direction has had some positive implications for India.  On Feb. 3, Google India took the company’s mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful to the streets, when it unveiled The Internet Bus project, in Chennai.   With the  aim of increasing exposure to the knowledge and resources available on the Web, the bus will travel throughout Tamil Nadu over a period of a month and a half, led by a team of Googlers.  The contention is that many people in the villages and towns where the bus will stop will be exposed to the Internet for the first time in their lives.  Read more here.  (Hat tip to the SAJAforum).