Google LLC announced some new cloud-based tools today that it says will help government agencies and their employees adapt more easily to the challenges presented by the reality of remote work.

The new tools, which debuted today at the two-day Google Cloud Public Sector Summit online and will be available in early 2021, include a special version of Google Workspace that’s customized for government agencies. In addition, Google announced a number of new cloud-based services targeted at helping people seek employment and obtain government benefits.

Google Workspace for Government is based on the platform that was formerly known as G Suite, a collection of tools for messaging, meetings, docs and tasks accessible from a single interface. Google Workspace includes familiar apps such as Calendar, Docs, Sheets and Slides, plus communication tools such as Gmail and Meet, and many more.

The main difference with Google Workspace for Government is it provides more pricing options, Google said, with “various price points that meet the specific needs and constraints of government customers.” So government customers will be able to choose from either the full suite or just the specific tools they need to complement existing tools they already use.

In addition, Google Workspace for Government is designed to meet the higher privacy and security standards that government agencies must adhere to. It has additional tools that support compliance requirements around data location, archiving and user privacy.

On the services side, Google has created several new offerings that can help government agencies to better aid people who have lost their jobs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Google noted in a blog post that the associated economic fallout has placed a huge burden on state workforce agencies and their efforts to help people get jobs.

The company said a lot of agencies rely on only partially automated and still mostly paper-based systems, often run by decades-old technologies. Moreover, they were set up for in-person business.

So Google has built three new employment support solutions that include new “virtual career centers” for job seekers to find employment from the safety of their homes. They use Google’s search and machine learning tools to help people find job vacancies that fit their skill set and then attend digital interviews, plus virtual agents that can be used to deal with job seeker’s inquiries. The idea with the virtual agents is that they can handle routine questions, freeing up human support staff to help those who have more specific needs.

In addition, Google said, its Contact Center AI service can help the appropriate agencies to process unemployment benefits claims. Contact Center AI now offers “employment support agents” that have already been put into use by the Illinois Department of Employment Security to take care of a deluge of phone calls and claims from people who have lost jobs due to the pandemic. In Illinois’ case, the virtual agents have been processing as many as 40,000 phone calls each day, in addition to more than 100,000 daily chatbot interactions.

Lastly, Google is making new payment solutions available to help governments distribute billions of dollars in unemployment benefits and other financial aid. Google said the rapid creation and implementation of new programs and changes to existing programs have led to a big increase in fraudulent claims and improper payments. Google’s new “improper payment and fraud solution” helps agencies to identify any fraudulent claims and improper payments, and prioritize aid for those who’re most in need of it.

In other news today, Google announced a couple of major cloud partnerships that showcase the growing capabilities of its cloud platform. They include a collaboration with the Defense Innovation Unit and the U.S. Air Force to help modernize initial flight training for Air Force pilots, and partnership with Rice University to analyze COVID-19 cases among its campus community and improve the safety of everyone attending.

Image: Google