Google has awarded 24 million euros to journalism projects in Europe, 1.6 million of which were attributed to projects in Portugal during the second round of the Digital News Initiative Innovation fund.

The Público newspaper received 500 thousand euros in the category Great Project - Publisher, but the largest amount was attributed to Plataforma de Meios Privados, which received 900 thousand euros.

The remaining investment was offered to academic and individual projects: the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering - Technology and Science (49,860.00 euros), Jornalismo Porto Net, Media Innovation Labs (MIL), University of Porto (49,480.00 euros); and 43 thousand euros for each individual project by Ricardo Lafuente and Alberto Pereira.

Six projects out of 124 out of 25 European countries received funding from this fund created by Google, with an overall budget of 150 million. The first funding round opened in October of last year. So far, 51 million euros have been offered.

“In this second round of funding, and in addition to the main criteria - impact, innovation and project feasibility – that were established as parameters , we also sought projects focusing on collaboration. Featured projects focus on collaborative work between publishers, academics, designers and entrepreneurs, in a single country or in Europe”, stated Ludovic Blecher, Google's Head of the Digital News Initiative Innovation Fund.

In this second round, Google has received more than 800 applications from 25 countries. Of the 124 winning projects, 43 projects are characterised for their focus on collaboration and partnership. And among the 30 large projects selected, 15 are collaboration projects.

Dinheiro Vivo, November 17, 2016