14 DAY TRIAL // London is trying to position itself as a tech hub and there's a great initiative, dubbed the Silicon Roundabout, a pun on Silicon Valley, to get more tech companies and startups together.
So far, Prime Minister David Cameron has been trying to drum up support for it and, while there is some action, he hasn't been able to get any big names behind the project.
Until today that is, Google has now leased a seven-story building in London's East End, where the government plans to center the new tech hub.
Google doesn't plant to use the building for itself too much, rather it wants to help startups and small companies in the tech world. Google says it will hold different type of events, hackatons, workshops, speakers and so on in the building.
It's an interesting approach and a first for the company, anywhere in the world. Google's London headquarters are in West London, across town.
There are no plans to move either, but Google realized that it needs to be where the talent is and, increasingly, it seems that the so-called Tech City is increasingly attracting entrepreneurs, engineers and the like.
Google has leased the entire building for 10 years and plans to refurbish it before opening it up next year. The plan is to host events itself but to also make it available to companies and other groups interested in the scene.
If anything, it's a huge marketing ploy for Google, but one that should prove useful to the tech community in London, which is in need of all the help it can get. If it works, Google may do the same thing in other places.
Plenty of other companies have pledged support for the Silicon Roundabout project, Cisco, Facebook and so on, but Google is the first to do any major investment in the area.