In 2020, we launched Google Machine Learning Bootcamp in Korea as a part of Google’s mission to make the world’s information more accessible. As a country with an already thriving developer community made up of local startups and global enterprises alike, the opportunity to make machine learning (ML) more accessible to developers was promising. And so Google Machine Learning Bootcamp was born: a three month intensive ML training program for students and developers. Through the program, participants are connected with local IT companies to find employment opportunities with their new knowledge.
Two years after the launch, we expanded the program to a total of seven high-growth countries and regions: Europe, India, LATAM, Africa, Turkey, Japan, and Korea. In the most recent program, we received over 36,000 applications from around the world and selected 1,600 finalists. The program itself was virtual, creating a flexible learning experience for participants from all over the world to join no matter where they were or what their schedules were like. During the duration of the bootcamp, participants studied ML theory and TensorFlow through Coursera’s Deep Learning Specialization, practiced their skills through Kaggle competitions, and earned TensorFlow certificate or Google Cloud ML Engineer certification.