Google Europe Blog

Something’s starting in the Copenhagen media industry

2013-05-13T18:19:00.000+02:00

Put 100 talented and enthusiastic people in a room for a weekend, and you’ve got the perfect ingredients for innovation, according to Startup Weekend. This was the principle behind a recent gathering in Copenhagen, which sought to inject fresh thinking to the media industry in Denmark, with closer integration between content, technology and business models.

The Copenhagen Media Startup Weekend was staged by a dedicated group of Danish entrepreneurs and journalists, with backing from a wide range of Danish universities from Århus, Aalborg and the Danish School of Media and Journalism. Google also provided sponsorship and outreach support, including a Google+ page with a live-stream from the event, allowing anyone to follow the great ideas taking shape.

On the opening Friday evening more than 40 ideas were pitched and narrowed down to 13 cross functional teams of both journalists, media entrepreneurs, coders and business people.

Photos thanks to Ernst Poulsen via Pinterest

Teams worked day and night until Sunday when a jury of established entrepreneurs selected the winning ideas. Among the winners were Edify which provides a student to student education, local platform GOKOKO re-connecting communities in hyperlocal contexts and Newsfix, a flat-rate subscription service for the news industry, like spotify for music or Netflix for movies. Read more about all 13 ideas here.

At Google we’re excited to see the outcomes of these amazing ideas. Well done to everyone who took part.

Posted by Christine Sørensen, Communications and Public Affairs Manager

Kenyan health project captures One Media digital award

2013-05-09T07:40:00.000+02:00

How can digital media communicate critical sexual health messages? That’s the challenge undertaken by this year’s winner of the Google-supported One World Media Awards Digital Media Award winner, Jongo Love.

Jongo Love tells the stories of residents of Jongo, a fictional Nairobi slum, the complex relationships that they form and the family planning choices they make. Created by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs’ Tupange Project, and produced by Well Told Story, a Tupange partner and previous International Digital Emmy Award winner, Jongo Love has fast won fans among urban Kenyan radio listeners.

In addition to a radio show, the project includes a Facebook campaign, YouTube videos, comic books and a Twitter feed. The characters host online live chats to give listeners and viewers the chance to ask their own questions about sexual health and safety. As the show’s makers put it, “Ni hot, ni sexy, ni idialala...ni radio show ita-blow mind Yako!! Every week on Ghetto Radio, Pwani.FM, Radio Lake Victoria, Radio Umoja na many more!”

The award citation praises the show because it “entertains but also passes on crucial information to inspire people to think about the decisions they make around relationships, sex and their future.”

Google is an ongoing supporter of the One World Media Awards, which recognize and showcase the best media content from the developing world.

Posted by Jon Steinberg, External Relations Manager, EMEA

Fostering online child safety in Germany

2013-05-08T09:19:00.000+02:00

Children love the web. Parents want to make sure their children surf safely. Enter a new online platform launched yesterday - juki.

Juki combines a video community, interactive lessons, an encyclopedia, and an animation studio, all designed with child safety in mind. It invites children from eight to 12-years-old to explore and participate. They can watch videos contributed by other kids and create and upload their own videos. The animation studio allows children to create their own animated short films. Children learn how to safely navigate the web, how to be creative while still taking care of copyright, and enjoy interactive lessons with quiz and games.

Juki is the latest initiative supported by Google in Germany to promote child safety and positive content for kids on the web. We helped the child-friendly search-engine fragFINN since its 2007 launch.

The juki project is part of the German government’s initiative Ein Netz für Kinder (A Net for Children) and is supported by the Federal Ministry for Families and Youth and the Federal Ministry Culture and Media. Other partners include the German child welfare association DKHW, and voluntary self-regulation organisation`s FSF and FSM.

The new platform builds in strong safety controls. Parents get involved in the registration process and are required to activate the accounts for their kids. We hope this will encourage both parents and kids to discuss and share online activities, while exploring, creating and learning on the web.

Posted by Sabine Frank, Policy Counsel, Germany

Calling for entries to the EU Hackathon

2013-05-07T10:57:00.003+02:00

The European Union Hackathon is back. For the third straight year, Google is supporting two days of serious fun in September for programmers to code an application that shines a light on an important policy issue. This year’s theme is privacy - and contestants are being asked to work on products that visualize government government access to citizens’ private communications online.

Entries are now being accepted via this online application unti June 15, 2013 at noon CET. Complete information about the event is available on this website. Help us spread the word to attract talented applicants, or apply yourself!

The hackathon will take place on September 24th-25th, with programming sessions held in the Google Brussels office. MEP Petru Luhan is hosting the event’s awards ceremony on WednesdaySeptember 25th from 16.15 to 18.00 at the European Parliament. European Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding is scheduled to join the ceremonies.

In addition to Google’s support, a broad network of civil society groups are working on the event. They include Access Now, the Center for Democracy & Technology, Digitale Gesellschaft, the European Digital Rights initiative, the Electronic Frontier Foundation , Google, the Net Users’ Rights Protection Association, the Open Knowledge Foundation, quintessenz, Transparency International, and visualizing.org.

EUHackathon participants will build data visualizations using data sets from network analysis, corporate transparency reports and Freedom of Information Act requests. Greater transparency and awareness are critical to ensuring government surveillance is only used when necessary and proportionate.

Selected applicants will have their travel and accommodation costs covered and the winner or winning team will be awarded EUR5,000, courtesy of our sponsors. Not to forget, there will also be free food and WiFi.

We look forward to seeing you in September.

Posted by Marco Pancini, Senior Policy Manager, Brussels

Marking a cultural shift in computing with EDSAC

2013-05-06T10:00:00.000+02:00

Computing’s early days are full of stories about great technical leaps forward. But sometimes what matters most isn’t a shift in technology so much as a change in the way it is used. The “Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator” (EDSAC)—64 years old today—is a stellar example.

Entry from log book marking the first day that EDSAC was in operation: “May 6th 1949. Machine in operation for first time. Printed a table of squares (0-99), time for programme 2 mins, 35 sec. Four tanks of battery 1 in operation”. Reproduced with kind permission of Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge

EDSAC is noteworthy for marking the transition from “test to tool” in civilian computing. Maurice Wilkes, EDSAC’s designer, sought to build a multi-purpose, reliable workhorse that would bring unrivalled calculating power to University of Cambridge researchers. His aim wasn’t to be at the cutting edge of engineering; rather to be at the forefront of delivering a computer-powered general calculation service. Above all else, Wilkes wanted EDSAC to be a practical computer, useful and accessible to a wide range of researchers.

Short film celebrating the work of EDSAC’s team, led by Maurice Wilkes, produced by Google

In May 1949 EDSAC became the world’s first general purpose stored program computer to enter regular service, transforming scientific research at the University of Cambridge by making it possible to speedily tackle analyses of previously impractical scale, across disciplines as varied as astronomy, economics, biology and more.

But EDSAC’s legacy stretches far further. Subroutines—a central tenet of programming today—were invented by David Wheeler to make it easier to program EDSAC by re-using lines of existing code. The world’s first computer science diploma had EDSAC as its foundation. The world’s first business computer was built with EDSAC as a prototype.

Sadly, little remains physically of EDSAC today. That’s why a team of U.K. volunteers have embarked on an ambitious project to construct a working replica of the original EDSAC, in partnership with The National Museum of Computing. We’re delighted to support the EDSAC Rebuild Project, and we look forward to welcoming it back to regular service—as a reminder of the U.K.’s illustrious computing past.

Posted by Lynette Webb, Senior Manager, External Relations

Data journalism awards shortlist announced

2013-05-04T10:29:00.000+02:00

Not long ago, reporters digging through data set to tell stories, probe trends, and even uncover scandals was a novelty. They are now moving into the mainstream - and changing the field of journalism. One sign of this increased popularity comes from the success of the Google-supported Data Journalism Awards.

This year’s contest received 300 applications from all over the world, about 10 percent more than the previous year. The 73 finalists come from 19 different countries, ranging from Argentina to Venezuela. Major media groups as well as small, regional newspapers and research groups are included. Click here to get a full list of the shortlisted projects.

An independent jury presided over by former Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief and Pro-Publica founder Paul Steiger will award total of EUR15,000 to eight winning projects. For the first time, the public will chose a special “Public Choice Award.” Visit datajournalismawards.org and vote for your avourite data application or visualisation. Take a look below at last year's award ceremonies.

2012 Data Journalism Awards from Global Editors Network on Vimeo.

The winners will be announced during the Global Editors Network News Summit in Paris on June 20 at 6:15pm. All finalists are invited to attend the Data Journalism Awards ceremony.

Posted by Peter Barron, Director, External Relations

Here comes the collaborative economy

2013-05-01T16:35:00.001+02:00

When travelling, have you rented somebody’s flat as an alternative to booking a room in a hotel? Or prefered the car-sharing option to taking the train? These new ways of sharing resources are increasingly becoming common practise and are part of an emerging movement often coined as the “collaborative” or “sharing” economy.

We are proud to support the “OuiShare Fest”, the first major European event dedicated to the collaborative economy taking place in Paris from May 2 to May 4. During these three days, more than 600 entrepreneurs, designers, economists, investors, politicians and citizens will come together to reflect about how to build a collaborative future.

European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes supports the project and even has opened up her blog to a guest post from OuiShare’s organizers.

The digital economy has proved a vector of economic growth throughout Europe. It has allowed for the emergence of horizontal and networked organizations that offer new opportunities in traditional sectors from health to transportation, education and finance. Online platforms that offer services such as crowdfunding, taxi-sharing or flat-renting are testimony to the rise of new business models which are based on a culture of openness and transparency.

OuiShare will do much to “connect” the actors of this new movement across Europe and we wish them a successful OuiShare Fest.

Posted by Florian Maganza, Policy Analyst, Paris

Peeking into the Science Museum’s “Information Age” gallery

2013-04-30T16:16:00.000+02:00

Last night, we were treated to a glimpse of the construction underway for the London Science Museum’s new gallery about the history of communications -- starting with a new name, “Information Age”.

Due to open in September 2014, “Information Age” will show how the history of information is a history of networked communication. It will showcase transformations in the way people have used technology to connect to each other. Google is among the principal funders for the gallery, which will be a permanent fixture in the museum and take up a whopping 2,500 square metres.

The gallery will be divided into six sections, corresponding to six different communications technologies: telegraph, broadcast TV and radio, telephone exchanges, satellite, web and mobile. Each section will focus on 3 to 4 significant moments, which will be brought to life by bringing historic objects together with the human stories of how they came about and were used. Inventors and their breakthroughs will be celebrated, but crucially also the influence of everyday users whose experiences shaped the way technologies were embraced and evolved.

Artist impressions c.2013, shown with kind permission of Science Museum, University Design Studio
Top: Cable Network, exploring the impact of the electric telegraph in the 19th century
Middle: The tuning coil from Rugby Radio, positioned at the centre of the gallery
Bottom: A GPS satellite model, viewed from the gallery’s sweeping elevated walkway

Google strongly endorses the role of museums in helping adults and children alike to appreciate the wonders of science and inspire the next generation of innovators. We’re excited by the plans revealed for “Information Age”, and can’t want to see them made real.

Posted by Peter Barron, Director, External Relations

European consumers embrace online content

2013-04-30T10:52:00.000+02:00

The Internet has been disruptive for the media industries - film, television, gaming, music, books and news. But it’s now becoming clear that whilst initially painful, this disruption is proving positive, as three recent studies released by Booz & Co, Floor 64 Research, and Boston Consulting Group show. The digital era is starting to benefit both Europe’s content producers and consumers.

Boston Consulting Group’s “Follow the Surplus” report (disclosure: commissioned by Google), published this week reveals growing confidence in online content. Three quarters of consumers surveyed in nine European countries judged that online content had improved in quality, and nearly two thirds expect continued improvement.

The report also noted that two-thirds of respondents value the diversity of information and opinions available to them online, and substantial majorities (as high as 75% in some countries) are more excited about the benefits of the Internet than they are worried about any perceived risks.

This optimism is generating a large ‘consumer surplus’ - the theoretical value consumers attribute to a product or service above and beyond what they paid for it - valued at an average of EUR 1,100 per person per year for online media.

It’s clear too that European consumers are increasingly willing to pay for content. Booz’s report (disclosure: also commissioned by Google) calculates digital revenues at €30 billion higher in 2011 than in 2001. Floor 64’s research shows that in 2007, there were just 11 legal digital music services in Germany, in 2011 there were 68. The British Recorded Music Industry’s recent annual report says UK digital music revenues last year overtook sales or records and CDs for the first time. And according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s Digital Music Report 2013, digital revenues now account for 34% of total global revenues for the recording industry.

These reports all paint a picture of a large digital opportunity for the creative sectors - and of an industry in the process of reorienting itself to the online world. We’re keen to partner with the creative sectors and answer growing consumer demand for quality online media.

Posted by Simon Morrison, Public Policy Manager, Google

Sparking an Internet revolution in Finland’s traditional heartland

2013-04-29T17:32:00.002+02:00

Several of Google’s data centres are located in traditional industrial centres, regions that typically have a good combination of industrial infrastructure, developable land and available workforce. In Belgium, our facility in St. Ghislain sprouted amid closed or shuttered coal mines. In Finland, we purchased the Summa Paper Mill in Hamina in March 2009, from Finnish paper company Stora Enso.

We’re keen to help these regions make the transition from old to new industries, and that’s why today in Finland we’re announcing a new partnership with Aalto University and the regional development agency Cursor.

The new partnership deepens an already strong Google presence in Eastern Finland. We’ve already converted the 60 year old paper mill into a data centre , investing an initial EUR200 million. More than 2,000 individuals working for 50 companies (mostly Finnish and from the local area) contributed to the project. In August 2012, we announced an additional EUR150 million investment to expand the facility which includes the restoration and conversion of an Alvar Aalto-designed machine hall. At peak, we expect the conversion to provide work for approximately 500 engineers and construction workers.

With Google's financial support, Aalto University now will help bolster promising local acceleration programs in southeastern Finland, as well as supporting programs to improve the use of the Internet by local SMEs. The university is one of Finland’s most prestigious educational institutions, and has focused strongly on the creation and expansion of business through technological innovation. It has founded several iconic new concepts like the Aalto Design Factory, the Startup Sauna and the Aalto Ventures. The Economist recently praised Aalto for its role in spreading "the word that Finland’s future lay with new companies, not old giants.”

Over the next 12 months, southeastern Finland's regional development agency Cursor will work together with Aalto University to bring entrepreneurship programs such as Startup Sauna to southeastern Finland, encouraging entrepreneurship and supporting the creation of new companies. Cursor will also strengthen the Venture Gym acceleration program around the growing Playa Game Industry Hub, as well as the region's Kaakko 135 travel and tourism initiative. Aalto will provide high level speakers at events, mentors and coaches for acceleration programmes, and moderate networking events to strengthen industry ties.

This represents our second large data centre community relations program launched in Europe. In February, we announced a partnership with the Mundaneum archives near our Belgian data center. We have been holding a series of presentations and exhibitions about Google Data Centres and hosted a jobs day, explaining what skills are needed to work at a data center. We will use these learnings to offer similar events in Finland. In both Belgium and Finland, our goal is the same: to show the way from our industrial past to our digital future.

Posted by William Echikson, External Relations

Celebrating the new Dutch King

2013-04-29T10:36:00.000+02:00

On April 30, Crown-Prince Willem-Alexander will become the new Dutch King - and as part of the celebrations, we’re joining forces with the the national committee organising the coronation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to allow the estimated 750,000 Dutch who are out of the country enjoy the festivities.

Want to send your best wishes to the new King? Go to wenswereldwijd.nl and send a photo or short message. Dutch celebrities including DJ Armin van Buuren, cyclist Thomas Dekker, sprinter Churandy Martina and conductor Jaap van Zweden have already have participated.

We expect strong interest around the globe with countries in royal families. Non Dutch speakers can post a wish through the English version of the website, available at wishesworldwide.com. Dutch public broadcaster NOS has made it possible for us to show a live stream of the festivities through the Royal YouTube Channel.

In collaboration with Dutch embassies, we’re also organising a series of Google+ Hangouts. which can be viewed online via YouTube and other websites, including MijnDroomVoorOnsLand.nl. The Hangouts will also be on display on 13 large television screens in city centers installed by KPN across the Netherlands.

And if you want to enjoy the festivities together with friends and family around the world, you can of course invite them to watch the coronation via Hangout.

Posted by Tim van de Rijdt, Google Netherlands

Transparency Report: government removal requests rise

2013-04-25T18:05:00.000+02:00

Three years ago when we launched the Transparency Report, we said we hoped it would shine some light on the scale and scope of government requests for censorship and data around the globe. Today, for the seventh time, we’re releasing new numbers showing requests from governments to remove content from our services. From July to December 2012, we received 2,285 government requests to remove 24,179 pieces of content—an increase from the 1,811 requests to remove 18,070 pieces of content that we received during the first half of 2012.

As we’ve gathered and released more data over time, it’s become increasingly clear that the scope of government attempts to censor content on Google services has grown. In more places than ever, we’ve been asked by governments to remove political content that people post on our services. In this particular time period, we received court orders in several countries to remove blog posts criticizing government officials or their associates.

You can read more about these requests by looking at the annotations section of the Transparency Report. Of particular note were three occurrences that took place in the second half of 2012:

There was a sharp increase in requests from Brazil, where we received 697 requests to remove content from our platforms (of which 640 were court orders—meaning we received an average of 3.5 court orders per day during this time period), up from 191 during the first half of the year. The big reason for the spike was the municipal elections, which took place last fall. Nearly half of the total requests—316 to be exact—called for the removal of 756 pieces of content related to alleged violations of the Brazilian Electoral Code, which forbids defamation and commentary that offends candidates. We’re appealing many of these cases, on the basis that the content is protected by freedom of expression under the Brazilian Constitution.
Another place where we saw an increase was from Russia, where a new law took effect last fall. In the first half of 2012, we received six requests, the most we had ever received in any given six-month period from Russia. But in the second half of the year, we received 114 requests to remove content—107 of them citing this new law.
During this period, we received inquiries from 20 countries regarding YouTube videos containing clips of the movie “Innocence of Muslims.” While the videos were within our Community Guidelines, we restricted videos from view in several countries in accordance with local law after receiving formal legal complaints. We also temporarily restricted videos from view in Egypt and Libya due to the particularly difficult circumstances there.

We’ve also made a couple of improvements to the Transparency Report since our last update:

We’re now breaking down government requests about YouTube videos to clarify whether we removed videos in response to government requests for violating Community Guidelines, or whether we restricted videos from view due to local laws. You can see the details by scrolling to the bottom of each country-specific page.
We’ve also refreshed the look of the Traffic section, making it easier to see where and when disruptions have occurred to Google services. You can see a map where our services are currently disrupted; you can see a map of all known disruptions since 2009; and you can more easily navigate between time periods and regions.

The information we share on the Transparency Report is just a sliver of what happens on the Internet. But as we disclose more data and continue to expand it over time, we hope it helps draw attention to the laws around the world that govern the free flow of information online.

Posted by Susan Infantino, Legal Director

Safe ducks! Donald and Daisy speak up for cybersafety

2013-04-24T15:05:00.000+02:00

Please be careful when you are trying to impress Daisy Duck. Not everybody is who they seem to be. If you give away your password, then you can end up with someone stealing your rich uncle's fortune!

Does this sound strange? Well, it makes perfect sense if you read a recent special edition of the Donald Duck magazine in Norway focused on online safety. We recently teamed up with industry associations and public and private partners to produce the magazine. More than 300,000 copies were distributed to Norwegian kindergartens.

Kids growing up in this digital age use the Internet for pretty much everything; entertainment, communication, education and when they get that far; new technologies will play an important role in their work. Never has a generation needed digital guidance as the one growing up now. And we were thinking: who would be a better digital guide for kids than Donald Duck?

In the book, Donald gets himself into trouble. He is guarding his uncle’s fortune with the help of a gigantic robot but trying as always to charm Daisy Duck - this time on the Internet. An unsuspecting Donald is lured into downloading a virus and giving away his password to Magica de Spell on “Duckbook”. No surprise: she takes control of the robot and the fortune.

However, all ends well, Donald even gets a prize for his digital skills and hopefully Donald and the tips and tricks in the magazine helps kids to safely enjoy the benefits of the Internet.

Posted by Martin Ruby, Public Policy, Copenhagen

Celebrating the 50th country on Street View

2013-04-23T10:13:00.000+02:00

Whether you're planning a summer vacation to visit the Colosseum or exploring potential neighborhoods for your next move, Street View gives you instant access to the places you want to see -- even before you leave the house. We launched Street View in 2007 in five U.S. cities to give you what we called a “feet on the ground” experience and have since been growing the program to make it more comprehensive, accurate and useful for everyone.

Today, we’ve reached 50 countries with the launch of Street View in Hungary and Lesotho and are significantly expanding our coverage in Poland and Romania, among other locations around the world. This is also the largest single update of Street View imagery we’ve ever pushed, including new and updated imagery for nearly 350,000 miles of roads across 14 countries.

Now you can take a virtual stroll through the historic center of Budapest, right along the Danube (the river that carves the city in two). See the Hungarian Parliament building or the famous Chain bridge.

View Larger Map

Budapest, Lánchíd (Chain bridge)

Other Hungarian treasures to be discovered include the Széchenyi thermal bath, the largest medicinal bath in Europe, as well as the wonders of Buda castle.

Lesotho, an enclave surrounded by South Africa, is the only independent state that sits entirely 1,000m or more above sea level. Explore some of the mountainous imagery captured by our Street View cars, including the winding roads and lakes.

View Larger Map

Leribe District, Lesotho

Other sights include the Lesotho Evangelical Church, which is one of Africa's oldest Protestant churches, founded in 1833 by missionaries from Paris, and the traditional architecture in Nkesi, Maseru.

We’re also refreshing and expanding existing Street View coverage in France, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore and Thailand. And, we’ve added new special collections of a host of picturesque spots—using our Street View Trike technology -- that include Portugal’s Pena National Palace, or the Sha Tin Che Kung Temple in Hong Kong or the Kilkenny Castle in Ireland.

View Larger Map

Kilkenny Castle, Ireland

From the first handful of U.S. cities, to the now thousands of cities and villages worldwide, we’ve spent the past six years updating Google Maps for you. From Antarctica to Australia, from South Korea to South Africa, from the snow-capped peaks of Everest to the Great Barrier Reef, you can navigate more than 5 million miles of the world, without ever leaving home. So spin the globe and take a walk through any one of the 50 countries now on Street View.

Posted by Ulf Spitzer, Program Manager, Google Street View

Following the lead of nature's engineers

2013-04-22T16:55:00.000+02:00

Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog

It’s no surprise that Google appreciates engineers. And this Earth Day, we’re looking at some of our favorite engineers from nature to see how they can teach us to treat the environment better. We’ve created a website where we can see the beauty and ingenuity of the natural world through photos from National Geographic. We also want to provide easy ways to be greener in our own lives, so this site shows us how we can all be like those organisms by taking simple actions to care for the environment.

For instance, until recently I’d never heard of a remora. Turns out that these fish latch on to other ocean creatures such as whales and turtles to catch rides. In a way, these fish are using their own form of mass transit. To be like the remora and travel with a lighter footprint, we can plan trips using rapid transit. Or we can be inspired by bears—the true experts on “sleep mode”—to save energy in our own lives by adjusting our home thermostat and using energy efficient appliances.

Our doodle today also acknowledges the interconnections of the natural world. You can interact with elements of the environment to affect the seasons, weather and wildlife.

As another way to move from awareness to action, we’re hosting a Google+ Hangout On Air series focused on pressing environmental issues. We’ll kick it off today at 12pm ET with a Hangout on Air connecting NASA (live from Greenland), National Geographic explorers from around the world, and Underwater Earth (live from the Great Barrier reef). Throughout the week, we’ll hold daily Hangouts on Air covering topics such as clean water and animal conservation.

This Earth Day and every day, let’s take a moment to marvel at the wonder of nature and do our part to protect the natural ecosystem we all depend on. A salute to nature’s engineers!

Posted by Erin Reilly, Google Green team

Happy birthday Campus London. You’ve grown up so fast.

2013-04-22T09:00:00.000+02:00

Just over 12 months ago, Campus London opened its doors to the young, upcoming London tech startup community. I’d like to think we always knew it would succeed, but I don’t think any of us expected the level of engagement and enthusiasm we’ve seen in year one.

In just 365 days of operation, Campus now has more than 10,000 members, permanently houses more than 100 young companies and has hosted more than 850 events, attracting more than 60,000 guests through the door. From individual entrepreneurs looking to explore their back-of-a-napkin idea to global venture fund managers, there’s something for everyone in the London tech scene at Campus, and the vibe is electric.

We asked Campus members to provide their feedback and outlook on year one, and their response has been overwhelmingly positive. Campus-based companies are growing and creating jobs. One in four are already looking to find bigger office spaces to house their growing teams. We’ve also seen that the success of the London technology startup community as a whole has mirrored that of Campus.

Campus members are younger than the average Tech City entrepreneur, and with initiatives like Women@Campus, increasingly more female entrepreneurs are signing up. Campus is also truly international, with 22 nationalities working, interacting and attending the many mentoring sessions and classes we and our Google volunteers run every day.

Looking ahead to the next year and beyond, we’re offering even more: more globally-acclaimed speakers, a new Campus EDU education programme offering mentorship from Googlers, inspirational talks from thought leaders like Guy Kawasaki, Eric Schmidt and Jimmy Wales, and a curriculum of classes to develop the skills young startups need to build successful businesses.

Google started as a two-person startup in a garage in California. We’re looking to provide the best possible garage to our 10,000 members every day. And so far, all indicators show that Campus is one of the most exciting places in the world for technological innovation.

Posted by Eze Vidra, Head of Campus

Harnessing the Internet to boost Africa's economy

2013-04-17T11:36:00.004+02:00

Over the last few years Internet penetration has continued to grow in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the access gap remains significant in most countries, policy makers and the public now know that it’s not just a question of getting more Africans online, but also about the economic benefits that the Internet can bring. For example, last year a study in South Africa showed that the Internet economy contributes up to $7.1 billion/R59-billion (or 2 percent) to South Africa’s gross domestic product.

A new report by Dalberg Global Development Advisors, supported by Google Africa, is one of the first studies to examine the Internet’s impact on, and potential contribution to, social and economic development in several Sub-Saharan Africa countries. It reveals how Internet-enabled services are affecting the public and private sectors in agriculture, health, finance, education, governance, energy & transport, and SME growth. The report also analyses the pre-conditions for impact, looking at both business and ICT infrastructure as well as factors that influence how and why users get online. The findings are based on a survey of 1,300 organizations in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal.

One of the key findings of the report is that Small and Medium Enterprises are surprisingly optimistic about the Internet’s potential. More than 80 percent of SME owners expected that the Internet will help them grow their business.

In addition, the report identifies big opportunities for cost savings as businesses shift to enterprise systems powered by the Internet. For example, in Kenya the National Health Insurance Fund reduced its administrative costs from 60% to 32% by automating its claims processing, accessing real-time data and tracking payment processes. In agriculture, access to online information is creating price transparency, improving supply chain management and providing climate and growth data which ultimately reduces costs and increases farmer incomes. Manobi’s time to market service estimates that it has increased gum producer incomes by 40-50% by creating price transparency across local and international markets. Another interesting development is the growing linkage between mobile money and commerce, with services like Pesapal, MTN mMoney and Pagatech creating the infrastructure to generate Internet-based commerce. Meanwhile in healthcare, organizations are leveraging the Internet to reduce training costs for nurses.

The primary challenge for policymakers is to align policy across three dimensions - ICT policy, sector policy and general policies for doing business - in order to create the right environment to capture the Internet’s potential. Some governments in the countries featured have succeeded in creating the right market conditions. However, policymakers need to ensure ongoing investment in both core infrastructure and the conditions that drive Internet usage, including access, awareness, and attractivenes. These are needed to foster thriving ecosystems that drive both economic and social gains. Without such investments, policy makers risk missing out on the full benefits of the Internet.

We hope that this report will help governments and policymakers across the region better understand how they can take advantage of the Internet to drive their economies, to remain competitive and to benefit their citizens. You can learn more at http://www.impactoftheinternet.com.

Posted by Ory Okolloh, Policy and Government Relations Manager, Google Africa

Van Gogh's Starry Night tops Art Project rankings

2013-04-15T10:00:00.000+02:00

Today is World Art Day and it's around two years since we launched Google Art Project. In honour of this and all our partners, large and small, traditional and modern, let’s take a quick look at how people are interacting with art online.

The Internet brings paintings to life and it seems that The Starry Night by van Gogh is the one that visitors to Art Project admire the most. In the past six months, this was the most viewed painting in gigapixel—an extremely high resolution painting which allows viewers to zoom in to brushstroke level. While nothing beats seeing a painting in real life, the ability to examine a work of art in this level of detail seems to be encouraging viewers to linger. One minute is the average time spent looking at any given painting on the Art Project website, compared to under 20 seconds (according to several studies) in a museum.

The Starry Night is also the most frequently included painting in user galleries, where individuals create and share their own virtual art collections. We have 40,000 works of art on the platform but some remain perennial favourites. The other most popular inclusions in user galleries (in order) are:

Botticelli: The Birth of Venus
Rembrandt: Self Portrait Drawing at a Window
van Gogh: The Bedroom
Manet: In the Conservatory
Bruegel (the Elder): The Harvesters
van Gogh: Sunflowers
Holbein (the Younger): The Ambassadors
van Gogh: Field with Flowers near Arles
Böcklin: The Isle of the Dead

Starry Night on Art Project

Viewings of user galleries were in fact higher than any individual artist or painting. To date, 360,000 galleries have been created, 14,000 of which are public on the web. To mark World Art Day, we asked some of our partners to curate user galleries of their own. Take a look through the selections of eight museum directors here.

Given the list above, it’s clear the classics remain popular with viewers, but there is increasing interest in modern art as well, with Dali and Klimt featuring among the most searched for artists. The Internet has also allowed users to explore multiple genres in a single destination. More than 30 different mediums co-exist on Art Project with oil on canvas next to over 5,000 objects including silk textiles, sculptures and furniture. There can't be many places where you can find Brazilian street art alongside Botticelli.

Many partners who have contributed an art collection have also opted to put their museums on Street View. On average, visitors spend around two minutes exploring the interior of the buildings and viewing the paintings on display. The most-visited Street View destination on Art Project is The White House. As the majority of us will never get the opportunity to go inside, the Internet allows a rare glimpse into a global institution that also houses an extensive art collection.

With over 200 partners from 43 countries, we continue our quest to open up access to art to millions of professionals, students, beginners and amateur enthusiasts. At 1pm ET today, we’ll be holding the latest in our Art Talks series on our G+ page, which aims to put art lovers in touch with art experts online. Sign up here to hangout with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to chat about multimedia in the arts from the comfort of your armchair on World Art Day.

Posted by Amit Sood, Google Cultural Institute

Music to your ears! Five more countries get Google Play Music

2013-04-10T12:38:00.001+02:00

Today music lovers in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal can join their European neighbours in the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, and buy their favourite songs and albums on Google Play, our digital entertainment destination for Android devices and the web.

Music first launched on Google Play in Europe in November 2012, and the fast rollout to more countries today is due to the multi-territorial licensing process, as recommended by the European Commission last year. We have 14 multi-territorial licenses for composition rights covering Europe and representing the vast majority of the world’s music, and have recently welcomed the members of AKM/AUME in Austria, SABAM in Belgium, SPA in Portugal, and IMRO in Ireland into our growing list of author’s society partners.

Google Play makes it easy for you to buy your favourite songs and albums, and instantly add them to your music library. You can add up to 20,000 songs from your existing music collection to Google Play instantly, and listen to your music from any computer or Android phone or tablet, even when you’re offline.

To coincide with Google Play Music’s launch in these five new countries, we’re also launching artist hub – a platform for independent artists to sell their music directly to fans. In the artist hub, self-published artists can create a profile, upload their music files, suggest a retail price, and sell their music on Google Play.

According to a Nielsen/Billboard’s recent Music Industry Report, overall music purchases are at a record high, driven by digital sales. Sales of digital albums were up 14 per cent in 2012, while sales of digital tracks grew by five per cent last year, meaning overall music sales were up more than three per cent compared to 2011.

As people’s love affair with great music continues, so too will our commitment to bringing Google Play to more countries around the world.

Posted by Sami Valkonen, head of international music partnerships, Google Play

Fighting human trafficking

2013-04-09T22:27:00.000+02:00

Cross-posted with the Official Google Blog

Human trafficking, the narcotics trade and weapons smuggling all have one major thing in common: Their ill-gotten proceeds feed conflict, instability and repression worldwide. Out of all of these, human trafficking is perhaps the most devastating, enslaving nearly 21 million people and generating at least $32 billion of illicit profits every year. At last summer's Google Ideas summit on mapping, disrupting and exposing illicit networks, it became clear that connecting anti-trafficking helplines in a global data sharing collaboration could help identify illicit patterns and provide victims anywhere in the world with more effective support. Today, Polaris Project, Liberty Asia, and La Strada International are receiving a $3 million Global Impact Award from Google to do just that. Building on our 2011 grants, this brings our total commitment to anti-trafficking efforts to $14.5 million.

Global Impact Awards support nonprofits that use technology to launch disruptive solutions in their sector. We launched the Global Impact Awards program last December to fund new ideas with a potential for huge scale. And at the Google Ideas INFO summit over the summer, we brought together technologists, leaders, and those with unique personal experiences — including former weapons brokers and survivors of domestic and international human trafficking — to look at illicit networks and their defining obstacles. By connecting technologists and experts with those who understand and have lived through trafficking situations, our discussion centered around a fundamental question: What if local, national, and regional anti-trafficking helplines across the globe were all connected in a data-driven network that helped disrupt the web of human trafficking?

Since the summit, we’ve worked with Polaris Project, Liberty Asia and La Strada International to make this concept a reality. These organizations exist to provide vital help to victims in need across the United States, the Mekong Delta region and Europe. Now, working across borders, this new Global Human Trafficking Hotline Network will collect data from local hotline efforts, share promising practices and create anti-trafficking strategies that build on common patterns and focus on eradication, prevention and victim protection. To enhance the participating organizations' ability to better share, analyze and act upon their data in real time, Palantir Technologies will expand on its existing relationship with Polaris Project by donating its data integration and analytics platform for this project. In addition, Salesforce.com supports Polaris Project's hotline center and is helping scale their call tracking infrastructure internationally.

Together, these partners will not only be able to help more trafficking survivors, but will also move the global conversation forward by dramatically increasing the amount of useful data being shared. Appropriate data can tell the anti-trafficking community which campaigns are most effective at reducing slavery, what sectors are undergoing global spikes in slavery, or if the reduction of slavery in one country coincides with an increase right across the border.

In the U.S., Polaris Project has collected data from over 72,000 hotline calls, helping local and national anti-trafficking communities better understand the dynamics of the crime. No such actionable hotline database has existed globally — but it doesn’t need to be that way. Clear international strategies, increased cooperation, and appropriate data sharing amongst anti-trafficking organizations will help victims, prevention efforts, and sound policymaking. Slavery can be stopped. Let's get to it.

Posted by Jared Cohen, Director of Google Ideas and Jacquelline Fuller, Director of Google Giving

Keeping our data centres green and our employees safe

2013-04-09T16:30:00.000+02:00

The Internet is a virtual place for most people, but data centres -- the large industrial warehouses filled with servers that power the web -- are anything but. We want our data centres to be both environmentally sustainable and safe places to work, so we make sure that that they meet the highest standards of environmental management and workforce safety. Our three owned-and-operated data centres in Europe - located in Belgium, Finland and Ireland - have now joined our U.S. facilities in receiving ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification.

In order to receive these certifications, you need to say what you’re going to do, then do what you say — and then keep improving. The ISO and OHSAS standards dictate what key elements are required, but it’s up to us to figure out how to follow through. So we’ve developed a comprehensive system of procedures and improvements that our data center teams follow every day.

Each of our data centres is different, so many of the improvements we’ve implemented are specific to local needs.

In Belgium, we use an evaporative cooling system that’s well-suited to the temperate climate. After cooling the servers, water runs through large cooling towers, where much of it is released as water vapor. This process is very energy efficient, but keeping the cooling towers clean and clear of outdoor dust is a time-consuming process. So the team tried a simple fix: they attached screens to the outsides of the towers, which allow air to flow freely but cut down significantly on the amount of build-up. This worked so well that our other data centers have begun to install screens as well.

Screens keep outdoor dust from entering these cooling towers.

In Ireland, we’ve found a way to use excess heat coming out of the server rooms to heat our office space. Hot air that would normally be sent outside through our cooling infrastructure is instead drawn over an air-to-air heat exchanger, where it is used to heat up incoming fresh air for the office area. This eliminates our need for gas heaters in the facility, and, like in Belgium, it’s working so well that we’re considering implementing it at other facilities.

In Finland, where we cool the data center with seawater, we want to bring the temperature down before sending the water back into the Gulf. So we built a “tempering hut,” where we manually mix the outgoing warm water with fresh cold water. We’re constantly tweaking the temperature and amount of the cold water to reach the optimal temperature, and we track that data as part of our ongoing efforts to monitor and improve our operations.

The tempering hut, the small building on the far left, is where we cool water down before returning it to the Gulf of Finland.

We want to lead the industry in environmental management and workplace safety, and we’re proud to be the first major Internet services company to achieve these certifications across their entire U.S. and European fleet.

Posted by Joe Kava, VP, Data Centres

Sparking Internet innovation in Slovakia

2013-04-09T09:14:00.001+02:00

The Internet represents a powerful engine for export growth, allowing companies who found it difficult to reach foreign markets to do so with a few clicks on a computer. In Slovakia, a small open economy, a recent Boston Consulting report entitled Slovakia’s Online Opportunity suggests that exports will account for around 30% of the Internet’s contribution to Slovak GDP by 2016.

The Slovak Alliance for Internet Economy recently was launched with our help to accelerate this export-led Internet growth. Other members include successful antivirus software exporter ESET and venture capital consultant Neulogy. We used Google Hangouts on Air to organize the Alliance’s launching press conference for the press and general audience. At a separate lunch, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Slovak Republic and Digital Champion Peter Pellegrini addressed his pro-Internet message to government officers and public policy professionals via video.

The SAPIE Alliance aims to foster discussion and cooperation among business, NGOs, academics, government and public sector. It already has launched new online platform for startups called The Spot.

Stay tuned for more exciting initiatives.

Posted by Ondrej Socuvka, Public Policy and Government Affairs Manager, Slovakia

Celebrating data-driven innovation in Brussels

2013-04-08T09:44:00.001+02:00

Update, April 22: Videos of the innovation forum are now available. Take a look on the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Foundation's website or below:

We now create as much information every two days as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003. And this rich flow is destined to accelerate. McKinsey projects 40% growth annually in global data generated. To showcase the potential of data for Europe’s economy and society, we recently teamed up with the European Institute of Inovation and Technology Foundation, the Bavarian Representation to the European Union and Euronews.

The forum, Data-Driven Innovation: The New Imperative for Growth, debated how data can improve the delivery of public services, provide accurate healthcare diagnosis, and generate higher business productivity. Androulla Vassiliou, European commissioner for education, culture and multilingualism, and Neelie Kroes, European commissioner in charge of the digital agenda, both called for unleashing a Big Data revolution in Europe. "This is the new frontier of the information age," Vassiliou said. "In the current path to stimulate European growth and jobs, there has never been a more critical time to harness the potential of data."

Androulla Vassilou

Alfred Spector

Debate Room

Senior representatives of the education, research, policy and business communities presented compelling evidence of how data could address big societal challenges. Computer-powered DNA sequencing open the possibility of accelerating medical diagnoses. Online college courses could revolutionize education. Google's own Vice President for Research Alfred Spector showed how we use data for products such as Google Translate.

Data also is powering entrepreneurs. New online business models make sense out of data include social media power startups such as news organiser Storify. Its founder Xavier Damman explained how established organisations and top politicians such as BBC, the White House or UK Prime Minister David Cameron use his company’s services to share knowledge from different online data sources, including Twitter, Google+, and traditional media websites.

The concluding panel looked at the ethical aspects of collecting, sharing and using data. Among other examples, they discussed how organizations such as DataKind are bringing together data scientists and NGOs to address social problems ranging from dirty water to urban sprawl. While speakers stressed that data-driven innovation is not based exclusively on data about people, they acknowledge, that all data regardless the source and type requires making tough ethical choices.

The Innovation Forum aims to inject data-driven innovation on the Brussels policy agenda. As well as focusing on privacy and data protection, we also need to encourage the unprecedented economic potential of data.

Posted by Sylwia Giepmans-Stepien, Public Policy and Government Relations Analyst, Brussels

Global Impact Awards targets innovative UK entrepreneurs

2013-04-07T10:04:00.000+02:00

Cross-posted with the Official Google Blog

From cracking the human genome to advancing medical research through computer games, British social entrepreneurs have a proud history of using technology to make the world a better place.

Last year, we launched the Global Impact Awards to support nonprofits using technology to tackle some of the world’s toughest problems. We gave $23 million to seven organizations working on projects ranging from aerial technology that protects wildlife to data algorithms that ensure more girls and minorities get placed in advanced math and science classes.

As the next step in the Impact Awards, we’re kicking off our first Global Impact Challenge in the U.K., inviting British nonprofits to tell us how they would use technology to transform lives. Four nonprofits will each receive a £500,000 Global Impact Award, as well as Chromebooks and technical assistance from Googlers to help make their project a reality.

Applications open today, and registered British nonprofits are invited to apply online at g.co/impactchallenge. We’ll review applications and announce 10 finalists on May 22. At that point, people across the U.K. can learn more about the projects of the top 10 finalists, donate to the ones they like and cast a vote for fan favorite. On June 3, the top 10 finalists will pitch their concepts to a judging panel that includes us (Matt Brittin and Jacquelline Fuller), Sir Richard Branson, Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Jilly Forster. The three awardees and the fan favorite will be revealed at the event, which will take place at Google London.

Technology can help solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges and we’re eager to back innovators who are finding new ways to make an impact. Today we’re starting the hunt in the U.K., but we also know that nonprofits all over the world are using techy approaches to develop new solutions in their sector. Who knows, the Global Impact Challenge might head your way next.

Posted by Jacquelline Fuller, director of Google Giving, and Matt Brittin, VP, sales and operations, Northern and Central Europe

Bringing online a venerable Roman Catholic archive

2013-04-05T16:29:00.002+02:00

Jesuits have published La Civiltà Cattolica without interruptions since 1850, making it among the oldest and most prestigious of Catholic periodicals. The title’s name translates as "The Catholic Civilization" and it offers a dialogue between faith and culture.

Today, at a press conference held at the Vatican, Civiltà Cattolica’s editor in chief Antonio Spadaro announced that a large portion of the publication’s voluminous archives were being made available online, thanks to Google’s book project. The older, public domain issues long have been available to users of Google Book Search. But now, La Civiltà Cattolica has authorized us to make the complete set of issues, up through 2007 available in full view, worldwide, for free.

Civilta Cattolica held a press conference today at the Vatican

The issues have been scanned from libraries around the world, ranging from the University of Michigan to Oxford to the Bibliotheque Municipale de Lyon. Examples are this issue from 1976 and this one from 2007.

The online archives illustrate La Civiltà Cattolica’s and church history. Easy access will allow researchers and readers to probe the publication’s much debated positions and influence on issues ranging from anti-semitism to the Second Vatican Council reforms.

This is only La Civiltà Cattolica’s latest initiative to engage its readers through the Internet. It is reaching out through all forms of social media, from Facebook to YouTube to Twitter. During today's press conference, Spadaro explained that sharing of the publication's digital content represents an important step forward in reaching global audiences of all ages.

We’re delighted to help offer access to such an important digital resource.

Posted by Giorgia Abeltino, Public Policy & Gov't Relations Counsel, Italy