Google has announced that the Google News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge will launch in Africa, the Middle East, Africa and Turkey in June, it also announced that applications are open for the next round of Google Africa Certifications ScholarshipsThe GNI Innovation Challenge is inviting proposals for projects from news organisations of every size to address increasing engagement with readers and/or exploring new business models in any form such as subscriptions, membership programmes, and so on. Traditional publishers, news startups and associations that aim to build innovative digital media projects are all eligible to apply.

In a press release signed by the Director for News Ecosystem Development, Google, Madhav Chinnappa, he said a panel will evaluate the submissions and fund selected projects up to $150, 000 with funding for up to 70 percent of the total project cost.

“The funding will be reviewed against several criteria, including a “sharing component” for example, a project proposal can include publishing findings or holding a public seminar to encourage applicants to share the knowledge and learnings to others. The application window for project submissions will open in June, and will extend for one month.

On his part, Head of the Google News Initiative Innovation, Ludovic Blecher, said: “We’re excited to bring the GNI Challenge to the region. We want to make sure that all news organisations, large and small, legacy publishers as well as new entrants, have the opportunity to inject new ideas into the regional news industry.”

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Meanwhile, in line with its commitment to provide mobile developer training to 100,000 Africans to develop world class apps, Google has said it is offering 30,000 scholarship opportunities and 1,000 grants for the Google Associate Android, Mobile Web, and Associate Cloud Engineer certifications and as such calls for applications for the next round of Google Africa Certifications Scholarships.