Google Cloud Next ’20: OnAir Now A Free 9-Week Online Series

'Google Cloud Next ’20: OnAir will be a much-needed opportunity to connect, collaborate and get inspired as a community to solve the most important challenges facing business today,' Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian says in a statement.

Google Cloud is turning its annual partner and customer conference into a nine-week digital event series focusing on cloud technology and innovation.

Google Cloud Next ’20: OnAir will run from July 14 through Sept. 8, the Mountain View, Calif.-based cloud computing provider announced today.

“Google Cloud Next ’20: OnAir will be a much-needed opportunity to connect, collaborate and get inspired as a community to solve the most important challenges facing business today,” Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said in a statement posted to the event’s web page.

Each week of Google Cloud Next ’20: OnAir will feature a new topic, starting with industry highlights from Google Cloud executives the first week, followed by productivity and collaboration, infrastructure, security, data analytics, data management and databases, application modernization, cloud artificial intelligence and then business application platform in the ninth week.

The free event will feature speakers from Google Cloud executives and customer companies including Kurian, breakout sessions, expert tutorials, interactive developer and learning programs such as Study Jams, the Cloud Hero game and gamified hands-on labs, Q&A sessions and live technical sessions with the Google Cloud Developer Relations team. It also will include customers’ stories about their digital transformations and how they’re using Google Cloud to address challenges, and a digital showcase of new products and solutions, with demos and real-life applications.

Google Cloud on March 2 announced it was cancelling its in-person Google Next ’20 -- its annual premier cloud event that was slated for April 6-8 in San Francisco -- due to health and safety concerns tied to the coronavirus (COVID-19). It said it would “reimagine” the Next conference as an online forum, but announced on March 17 that it also was postponing the digital event to an unspecified date.

“We’ve been working hard to evolve Next ’20 into an immersive and impactful digital experience for everyone,” Alison Wagonfeld, Google Cloud’s chief marketing officer, said in a blog post today. “Next OnAir will offer fresh content each week through September 8, with over 200 sessions ranging from compelling keynotes from industry luminaries to advanced learning opportunities with top Google developers.”

Those who previously registered for Next ’20 automatically will be registered for Google Cloud Next ’20: OnAir. Registration includes get free one-month access to Google Cloud’s curated learning paths on Qwiklabs and Pluralsight to help prepare for certifications.

Participants will be able to watch the weekly keynotes and breakout sessions at their own pace and reserve one-on-one time with Google experts and developer advocates for help in solving business challenges.