A wonderful initiative by Google did not make the headline news like most of the Mountain View Internet giant’s moves. But the “Google on a Slovak note” program will not only help preserve some fantastic Slovakian culture and folklore, it will also help inform people of this magical country’s customs and history.
According to the official Slovakia travel website, Slovakie – Little Big Country, this program will help tourism as well as empower the younger generation with a view of the country’s history and customs too. The focus of the Google collaboration is to digitalize information to make it more accessible for all.
The year long project, announced by Google here, will connect the digital dots in between manuscripts and other data from Slovakia, with technologies that enable the world to enjoy the various forms. Already the Google digitalisation project and the Austrian National Library in Vienna, have made it possible for web users to access such never before seen on the Internet content as the first Slovak grammar book by Anton Bernolák.
Google’s Director Rasťo Kulich offered this on the initiative:
“After 12 years I returned to Slovakia and I was proud that I can stand at the opening of Google’s offices in this country full of history, culture and natural beauty. I would like to be together with my team, thank Slovakia and Slovaks for their warm welcome and interest and such other than through online technologies. Our goal is for us to keep working with partners and the world started spreading the rich customs and traditions of Slovakia, including folklore, which I have myself very close. We also want to continue to help the development of tourism in the region and generation of young Slovaks show that they have to be proud.”
Google Slovakia - Courtesy Rasto Kulich G+
