Hyderabad: Google opens first safety engineering centre in Asia-Pacific region

Hyderabad: Google on Wednesday launched its first Google Safety Engineering Centre (GSEC) in Asia-Pacific in Hyderabad. The Hyderabad centre will be a part of the global GSEC network in Dublin, Munich and Malaga.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy inaugurated the centre along with IT minister D Sridhar Babu. The project was announced as Google’s ‘global mission to create a safer online experience.’

Focus areas

The other three global GSEC centres specialise in privacy and security engineering, tackling the spread of illegal and harmful content and strengthening cybersecurity.

GSEC teams in India will mainly focus on developing tools, frameworks and recommendations with a focus on user protection, government and enterprise security, including financial fraud.

Terming the launch ‘the beginning of the GSEC journey in India,’ Google said the initiative will give them an ‘opportunity for collaboration with academia, and research, train, mentor and build the future strength of engineering muscle in the country.’ The Hyderabad campus was announced on October 3, 2024, at the Google for India 2024.

Increasing cybersecurity

“I am happy to launch Google’s first Safety Engineering Centre (GSEC) in the Asia-Pacific region. We are concerned about privacy and security today. Our economy, our government, and our lives have become digital. Along with creating employment, the country will also increase its cybersecurity capabilities,” the CM said.

“I am sure that if companies around the world search for the best investment-friendly State, the answer will be Telangana. We call this Telangana Rising. We want to develop Telangana into a $1 trillion economy by 2035. We want to make 1 crore women millionaires,” he added.

‘Torchbearer of ethical innovation’

“Telangana is now emerging as a torchbearer of ethical innovation in India. We have evolved into a magnet for global capital and a model for inclusive digital governance, setting benchmarks for other States,” said Sridhar Babu.

“Hyderabad is not just a city, it is a vision of the future. In the year 2024-25 alone, Hyderabad recorded IT/ITeS exports worth Rs 2.68 lakh crore, with over 40,000 new jobs created in the IT sector. Out of the world’s top 10 tech giants, seven have major operations based in Hyderabad,” the minister said.

"I firmly believe that the establishment of the Google Safety Engineering Centre (GSEC) will elevate Hyderabad’s IT ecosystem to even greater heights. This centre will significantly enhance the global prominence of the Hyderabad brand on the world tech stage," he said.

Speaking about the GSEC Hyderabad’s mission on cybersecurity, the minister said, “As technology rapidly evolves, it brings new challenges. Internet usage, while empowering, also exposes individuals to cyber risks. In this era of AI, cybersecurity has become a paramount challenge. It is both timely and commendable that Google has chosen to set up Asia’s first GSEC in India, and specifically in Hyderabad. This move is not only welcome, but absolutely necessary in today’s digital climate.”

Reaching rural areas

I hope this GSEC Centre will serve as a global security hub, fostering awareness and education among Indian users—especially the people of Telangana—on the safe and responsible use of the internet. I particularly urge Google to extend its focus to rural communities, where digital literacy needs to be strengthened, the minister said.

Strategic partner

GSEC Hyderabad will be the first step towards expansion across the country, Google said.

The company said that the Hyderabad campus will:

- Drive dialogue across critical topics via annual flagship summits.

- Be a strategic partner with the government and academia to address growing needs on capacity building, threat intel sharing via expert sessions and workshops.

- Undertake product, program and partnership efforts to complement the velocity narrative and showcase contribution to India.

Crucial collaborations

The main areas of focus for the Hyderabad campus will be to create strong collaborative strides with academia to solve for new and emerging threats in the online safety space.

This will include:

- Aiming to strengthen the region’s ability to detect, prevent and respond to cyber threats, improving digital safety.

- Opportunity to mentor talent and skill

- Sharing best practices with the ecosystem and opportunities to drive regional collaborations

Nurturing engineering talent

The company said that Hyderabad, as the engineering hub, complements GSEC and it will add to Hyderabad’s global IT profile. It also said that startups and small businesses can benefit from access to advanced cybersecurity tools, expertise and partnerships.