It has been an exciting and eventful year, even by the Internet’s own exacting standards. Arab activists inaugurated 2011 by revealing the web’s power to help bring freedom to their countries. All too many governments have responded by pressing for controls to throttle the Internet’s liberating power.
Yet we have seen policy makers here in Brussels taking a strong stance in support of an open Internet. After the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur Frank La Rue published a manifesto for Internet freedom, the European Parliament and Commission extended him a warm welcome. E.U. officials were intrigued to meet the creators of our Transparency Report that details government requests for content removals and information on users. The European Parliament even hosted part of our “hackathon” in support of Open Data.
In other areas, too, appreciation of the Internet advanced in Brussels. A significant shift was visible measuring and understanding the Internet’s economic impact. At the beginning of the year we commissioned a series of studies that demonstrated that the Internet has become the most important single driver of growth in the E.U.. Instead of destroying jobs, the net is creating millions of them. Crucially, small businesses benefit disproportionately from the web’s power to reach the entire world with a few keyboard strokes. A contest we sponsored even crowned Europe's leading eTowns.
Instead of threatening culture, technology provides new and innovative ways to preserve history and heritage. Our Art Project brings online masterpieces from great museums across Europe. Our book project is digitizing and bringing online public domain books from more than a dozen European libraries. At the end of the year, StreetView came to Belgium, allowing anyone in the globe to stroll along the streets hosting European institutions. As the Internet becomes a significant force for policymakers to converse with citizens, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, shown above, appeared live on Euronews and YouTube World View.
The European Union is heading towards the 20th anniversary of the creation of the single market, and the Internet will play an important in realizing its full potential. Just like the European Union, the Internet represents a major shift towards openness and collaboration. While Europe faces undeniable challenges on the economic and social fronts, the Internet’s progress is an optimistic story that we believe Europe can demonstrate pride in the coming year.
Rabu, 28 Desember 2011
Minggu, 25 Desember 2011
Remembering a remarkable Soviet computing pioneer
Cross-posted with the Official Google Blog
In many parts of the world, today is Christmas—but in Russia and Eastern Europe, which use the Orthodox calendar, December 25 is just an ordinary day. Little known to most, however, it’s also a day that marks the anniversary of a key development in European computer history.
Sixty years ago today, in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the Soviet Academy of Sciences finally granted formal recognition to Sergey Lebedev’s pioneering MESM project. MESM, a Russian abbreviation for “Small Electronic Calculating Machine,” is regarded as the earliest, fully operational electronic computer in the Soviet Union—and indeed continental Europe.
Recently we were privileged to get a first-hand account of Lebedev’s achievements from Boris Malinovsky, who worked on MESM and is now a leading expert on Soviet-era computing.
Turn on captions for the English translation.
Described by some as the “Soviet Alan Turing,” Sergey Lebedev had been thinking about computing as far back as the 1930’s, until interrupted by war. In 1946 he was made director of Kyiv’s Institute of Electrical Engineering. Soon after, stories of “electronic brains” in the West began to circulate and his interest in computing revived.
Initially, Lebedev’s superiors were skeptical, and some in his team felt working on a “calculator”—how they thought of a computer—was a step backward compared to electrical and space systems research. Lebedev pressed on regardless, eventually finding funding from the Rocketry department and space to work in a derelict former monastery in Feofania, on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Work on MESM got going properly at the end of 1948 and, considering the challenges, the rate of progress was remarkable. Ukraine was still struggling to recover from the devastation of its occupation during WWII, and many of Kyiv’s buildings lay in ruins. The monastery in Feofania was among the buildings destroyed during the war, so the MESM team had to build their working quarters from scratch—the laboratory, metalworking shop, even the power station that would provide electricity. Although small—just 20 people—the team was extraordinarily committed. They worked in shifts 24 hours a day, and many lived in rooms above the laboratory. (You can listen to a lively account of this time in programme 3 of the BBC’s ”Electronic brains” series.)
MESM ran its first program on November 6, 1950, and went into full-time operation in 1951. In 1952, MESM was used for top-secret calculations relating to rocketry and nuclear bombs, and continued to aid the Institute’s research right up to 1957. By then, Lebedev had moved to Moscow to lead the construction of the next generation of Soviet supercomputers, cementing his place as a giant of European computing. As for MESM, it met a more prosaic fate—broken into parts and studied by engineering students in the labs at Kyiv’s Polytechnic Institute.
*All photos thanks to ukrainiancomputing.org.
In many parts of the world, today is Christmas—but in Russia and Eastern Europe, which use the Orthodox calendar, December 25 is just an ordinary day. Little known to most, however, it’s also a day that marks the anniversary of a key development in European computer history.
Sixty years ago today, in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the Soviet Academy of Sciences finally granted formal recognition to Sergey Lebedev’s pioneering MESM project. MESM, a Russian abbreviation for “Small Electronic Calculating Machine,” is regarded as the earliest, fully operational electronic computer in the Soviet Union—and indeed continental Europe.
Recently we were privileged to get a first-hand account of Lebedev’s achievements from Boris Malinovsky, who worked on MESM and is now a leading expert on Soviet-era computing.
Turn on captions for the English translation.
Described by some as the “Soviet Alan Turing,” Sergey Lebedev had been thinking about computing as far back as the 1930’s, until interrupted by war. In 1946 he was made director of Kyiv’s Institute of Electrical Engineering. Soon after, stories of “electronic brains” in the West began to circulate and his interest in computing revived.
Sergey Lebedev*
Initially, Lebedev’s superiors were skeptical, and some in his team felt working on a “calculator”—how they thought of a computer—was a step backward compared to electrical and space systems research. Lebedev pressed on regardless, eventually finding funding from the Rocketry department and space to work in a derelict former monastery in Feofania, on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Work on MESM got going properly at the end of 1948 and, considering the challenges, the rate of progress was remarkable. Ukraine was still struggling to recover from the devastation of its occupation during WWII, and many of Kyiv’s buildings lay in ruins. The monastery in Feofania was among the buildings destroyed during the war, so the MESM team had to build their working quarters from scratch—the laboratory, metalworking shop, even the power station that would provide electricity. Although small—just 20 people—the team was extraordinarily committed. They worked in shifts 24 hours a day, and many lived in rooms above the laboratory. (You can listen to a lively account of this time in programme 3 of the BBC’s ”Electronic brains” series.)
MESM and team members in 1951. From left to right: Lev Dashevsky, Zoya Zorina-Rapota, Lidiya Abalyshnikova, Tamara Petsukh, Evgeniy Dedeshko
MESM ran its first program on November 6, 1950, and went into full-time operation in 1951. In 1952, MESM was used for top-secret calculations relating to rocketry and nuclear bombs, and continued to aid the Institute’s research right up to 1957. By then, Lebedev had moved to Moscow to lead the construction of the next generation of Soviet supercomputers, cementing his place as a giant of European computing. As for MESM, it met a more prosaic fate—broken into parts and studied by engineering students in the labs at Kyiv’s Polytechnic Institute.
*All photos thanks to ukrainiancomputing.org.
Kamis, 15 Desember 2011
New exhibitions at London’s Science Museum
At Google, we’re passionate about finding ways to inspire the next generation of technologists and engineers, and we think museums are a great way to do it. Earlier this year, and again this week we announced how we are supporting science museums internationally through charitable gifts.
Today, one of those museums, the Science Museum in London, gave details of two forthcoming exhibitions supported by their Google grants.
A new temporary exhibition celebrating the centenary of the birth of English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist Alan Turing will open in June 2012. Turing formalized the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine. The Science Museum’s biographical exhibition will examine Turing’s inspirational (and tragic) story, using objects (including some which have never been on public display), archive material, interactive exhibits, photographs and quotations.
The second is a new permanent exhibition which opens in summer 2014. Situated at the heart of the Museum, Making Modern Communications will explore the history of information and communication technologies. It will tell powerful stories about how these technologies have shaped our world over the last 200 years, showcasing never-before-seen objects and the most advanced multimedia and interpretive techniques.
We’re delighted to be able to support these new exhibitions which will help explain both the birth of modern computing and how that revolution touches all our lives today.
And we’re thrilled that Alan Turing, widely regarded as the father of modern computing and a hero to many of the engineers who work at Google, is finally getting the recognition that his work deserves. This week we also announced support for educational activities at Bletchley Park, where Turing’s code-breaking genius helped shorten the second World War and saved thousands of lives.
We look forward to seeing how these exhibitions will inspire tomorrow’s technologists.
Today, one of those museums, the Science Museum in London, gave details of two forthcoming exhibitions supported by their Google grants.
A new temporary exhibition celebrating the centenary of the birth of English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist Alan Turing will open in June 2012. Turing formalized the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine. The Science Museum’s biographical exhibition will examine Turing’s inspirational (and tragic) story, using objects (including some which have never been on public display), archive material, interactive exhibits, photographs and quotations.
The second is a new permanent exhibition which opens in summer 2014. Situated at the heart of the Museum, Making Modern Communications will explore the history of information and communication technologies. It will tell powerful stories about how these technologies have shaped our world over the last 200 years, showcasing never-before-seen objects and the most advanced multimedia and interpretive techniques.
We’re delighted to be able to support these new exhibitions which will help explain both the birth of modern computing and how that revolution touches all our lives today.
And we’re thrilled that Alan Turing, widely regarded as the father of modern computing and a hero to many of the engineers who work at Google, is finally getting the recognition that his work deserves. This week we also announced support for educational activities at Bletchley Park, where Turing’s code-breaking genius helped shorten the second World War and saved thousands of lives.
We look forward to seeing how these exhibitions will inspire tomorrow’s technologists.
Rabu, 14 Desember 2011
Protecting intermediaries - and copyright
Earlier today the Court of Rome issued an important decision around ISP liability limitation, copyright and video hosting. It reaffirmed that web platforms are not liable for content uploaded by their users and found - referring to the ECJ ruling in the SABAM case, and the European Union’s E-Commerce Directive - that web platforms do not have to monitor user uploads for copyright-infringing material, nor prevent future infringements by users.
The background to this ruling is a case brought last summer against Google by RTI, a subsidiary of the Mediaset Group. RTI sued Google for copyright infringement because a web portal, hosted on Blogger, was allegedly streaming football matches broadcast on RTI's TV channels.
Today, the Court of Rome rejected RTI’s claim because - following notification to Google - the allegedly infringing content was removed from Blogger. The Court found that any other interpretation would be contrary to the European Union’s E-Commerce Directive.
Today’s ruling is important because it further clarifies the rules on liability online. But it’s also clear that copyright infringement is a serious matter - and its something we take very seriously. We invest heavily in technology to fight piracy; earlier this year we launched four new initiatives to tackle copyright infringement online, including a range of tools to make it easier and faster for rightsholders to report infringing material - and get it removed from our platforms quickly.
It’s important that right holders and intermediaries work together. Without rightsholder cooperation it is impossible for a platform like Blogger to know whether an item has been uploaded with or without a rightsholder’s permission. Today’s decision re-affirms this principle.
The background to this ruling is a case brought last summer against Google by RTI, a subsidiary of the Mediaset Group. RTI sued Google for copyright infringement because a web portal, hosted on Blogger, was allegedly streaming football matches broadcast on RTI's TV channels.
Today, the Court of Rome rejected RTI’s claim because - following notification to Google - the allegedly infringing content was removed from Blogger. The Court found that any other interpretation would be contrary to the European Union’s E-Commerce Directive.
Today’s ruling is important because it further clarifies the rules on liability online. But it’s also clear that copyright infringement is a serious matter - and its something we take very seriously. We invest heavily in technology to fight piracy; earlier this year we launched four new initiatives to tackle copyright infringement online, including a range of tools to make it easier and faster for rightsholders to report infringing material - and get it removed from our platforms quickly.
It’s important that right holders and intermediaries work together. Without rightsholder cooperation it is impossible for a platform like Blogger to know whether an item has been uploaded with or without a rightsholder’s permission. Today’s decision re-affirms this principle.
Giving back in 2011
Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog
As the holiday season approaches we thought it was a good moment to update you on some grants we're making to support education, technology and the fight against modern day slavery.
STEM and girls’ education
Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) open up great opportunities for young people so we've decided to fund 16 great programs in this area. These include Boston-based Citizen Schools and Generating Genius in the U.K., both of which work to help to expand the horizons of underprivileged youngsters. In total, our grants will provide enhanced STEM education for more than 3 million students.
In addition, we're supporting girls’ education in the developing world. By giving a girl an education, you not only improve her opportunities, but those of her whole family. The African Leadership Academy provides merit scholarships to promising young women across the continent, and the Afghan Institute of Learning offers literacy classes to women and girls in rural Afghanistan. Groups like these will use our funds to educate more than 10,000 girls in developing countries.
Empowerment through technology
We've all been wowed by the entrepreneurial spirit behind the 15 awards in this category, all of whom are using the web, open source programming and other technology platforms to connect communities and improve access to information. Vittana, for instance, helps lenders offer loans to students in the developing world who have have a 99 percent repayment rate—potentially doubling or tripling a recipient's earning power. Code for America enables the web industry to share its skills with the public sector by developing projects that improve transparency and encourage civic engagement on a mass scale. And Switchboard is working with local mobile providers to help African health care workers create networks and communicate for free.
Fighting slavery and human trafficking
Modern day slavery is a multi-billion dollar industry that ruins the lives of around 27 million people. So we're funding a number of groups that are working to tackle the problem. For instance, in India, International Justice Mission (IJM), along with The BBC World Service Trust, Action Aid and Aide et Action, are forming a new coalition. It will work on the ground with governments to stop slave labor by identifying the ring masters, documenting abuse, freeing individuals and providing them with therapy as well as job training. Our support will also help expand the reach of tools like the powerful Slavery Footprint calculator and Polaris Project’s National Trafficking Hotline.
As the holiday season approaches we thought it was a good moment to update you on some grants we're making to support education, technology and the fight against modern day slavery.
STEM and girls’ education
Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) open up great opportunities for young people so we've decided to fund 16 great programs in this area. These include Boston-based Citizen Schools and Generating Genius in the U.K., both of which work to help to expand the horizons of underprivileged youngsters. In total, our grants will provide enhanced STEM education for more than 3 million students.
In addition, we're supporting girls’ education in the developing world. By giving a girl an education, you not only improve her opportunities, but those of her whole family. The African Leadership Academy provides merit scholarships to promising young women across the continent, and the Afghan Institute of Learning offers literacy classes to women and girls in rural Afghanistan. Groups like these will use our funds to educate more than 10,000 girls in developing countries.
Empowerment through technology
We've all been wowed by the entrepreneurial spirit behind the 15 awards in this category, all of whom are using the web, open source programming and other technology platforms to connect communities and improve access to information. Vittana, for instance, helps lenders offer loans to students in the developing world who have have a 99 percent repayment rate—potentially doubling or tripling a recipient's earning power. Code for America enables the web industry to share its skills with the public sector by developing projects that improve transparency and encourage civic engagement on a mass scale. And Switchboard is working with local mobile providers to help African health care workers create networks and communicate for free.
Fighting slavery and human trafficking
Modern day slavery is a multi-billion dollar industry that ruins the lives of around 27 million people. So we're funding a number of groups that are working to tackle the problem. For instance, in India, International Justice Mission (IJM), along with The BBC World Service Trust, Action Aid and Aide et Action, are forming a new coalition. It will work on the ground with governments to stop slave labor by identifying the ring masters, documenting abuse, freeing individuals and providing them with therapy as well as job training. Our support will also help expand the reach of tools like the powerful Slavery Footprint calculator and Polaris Project’s National Trafficking Hotline.
Kamis, 08 Desember 2011
A Big Tent for free expression in The Hague
Google has long worked hard to raise the issue of Internet freedom in Europe. So when the Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal took the initiative to host a meeting bringing together foreign ministers from more than 16 countries to the Netherlands, we wondered what could we do to support it.
Our answer was to hook up with the Dutch NGO Free Press Unlimited and host one of our Big Tent events, which aim to bring together corporations, civil society and politicians. We were delighted when both U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and minister Rosenthal agreed to take part. Our Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt welcomed them to the Fokker Terminal in The Hague. “We are joined in a spirit to fight people who want to shut down free speech," he said. "It makes easy sense for a government to say: 'We don't like that...we're going to censor it'.” The conference, he said, was organised "to make the point that this is not right."
Secretary of State Clinton called on companies to protect Internet freedoms and stop selling technology which allows repressive governments to censor the net or spy on Internet users. She urged corporations to join Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others in the Global Network Initiative to resist government efforts to impose filtering or censoring requirements. And she called on governments to fight attempts to impose national controls on the net. Any such attempt would contain people in a “series of digital bubbles rather than connecting them,” she said. "It is most urgent, of course, for those around the world whose words are now censored, who are imprisoned because of what they or others have written online, who are blocked from accessing entire categories of Internet content, or who are being tracked by governments seeking to keep them from connecting with one another.”
Minister Uri Rosenthal called for legislation against exports of Internet surveillance material and promised 6 million euros to help Internet activists in repressive regimes. High-powered contributions came from the European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes, the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, and European parliamentarian Marietje Schaake.
A panel brought together business leaders and prominent human rights activists, including the Thai webmaster Chiranuch Premchaiporn, better known as Jiew, who faces trial over comments posted on her site that were deemed insulting to the monarchy.
The Hague is our third Big Tent (see highlights here), a place where we bring together various viewpoints to discuss essential topics to the future of the Internet. The format seems to be a hit, and we plan to hold more around the world in the coming months.
Our answer was to hook up with the Dutch NGO Free Press Unlimited and host one of our Big Tent events, which aim to bring together corporations, civil society and politicians. We were delighted when both U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and minister Rosenthal agreed to take part. Our Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt welcomed them to the Fokker Terminal in The Hague. “We are joined in a spirit to fight people who want to shut down free speech," he said. "It makes easy sense for a government to say: 'We don't like that...we're going to censor it'.” The conference, he said, was organised "to make the point that this is not right."
Secretary of State Clinton called on companies to protect Internet freedoms and stop selling technology which allows repressive governments to censor the net or spy on Internet users. She urged corporations to join Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others in the Global Network Initiative to resist government efforts to impose filtering or censoring requirements. And she called on governments to fight attempts to impose national controls on the net. Any such attempt would contain people in a “series of digital bubbles rather than connecting them,” she said. "It is most urgent, of course, for those around the world whose words are now censored, who are imprisoned because of what they or others have written online, who are blocked from accessing entire categories of Internet content, or who are being tracked by governments seeking to keep them from connecting with one another.”
Minister Uri Rosenthal called for legislation against exports of Internet surveillance material and promised 6 million euros to help Internet activists in repressive regimes. High-powered contributions came from the European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes, the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, and European parliamentarian Marietje Schaake.
A panel brought together business leaders and prominent human rights activists, including the Thai webmaster Chiranuch Premchaiporn, better known as Jiew, who faces trial over comments posted on her site that were deemed insulting to the monarchy.
The Hague is our third Big Tent (see highlights here), a place where we bring together various viewpoints to discuss essential topics to the future of the Internet. The format seems to be a hit, and we plan to hold more around the world in the coming months.
Rabu, 07 Desember 2011
Saluting Europe’s eTowns
It’s often assumed that big cities benefit the most from the Internet, but we believe the net offers giant opportunities to everyone from urbanites to small town residents, farmers and nature lovers in the far-flung countryside. We recently tested this thesis in our first-ever European Google eTown awards, which recognize those areas that had most embraced the web’s potential over the last year.
The results were fascinating—and surprising. Smaller, quirky and plucky towns came out ahead. Scunthorpe, a steel town in the north of England, topped the U.K.’s list. Caen, a town in rural Normandy not far from the D-Day beaches and famed as the home of camembert cheese, came first in France. Salerno, nestled between the Amalfi and the Cilento Coast led the way in Italy and Elbląg, a remote northern town located in the region of 1,000 lakes won in Poland. In all four participating countries, eTown lists included towns of all sizes.
How did we determine our eTown awards? We broke down the U.K., France, Italy and Poland into all of their thousands of towns and then ranked local areas according to the growth in small businesses using AdWords over the last year. The top towns in each country won Google eTown awards.
The results back up recent research identifying the Internet as a main force driving growth throughout Europe. For example, a recent McKinsey report Internet Matters states that 2.6 Internet jobs are created globally for every job destroyed. Separately, the Boston Consulting Group estimates that by 2015 the web will account for 7.3 percent of Denmark’s GDP, 10 percent of the U.K.’s GDP and 5.5 percent of France’s GDP. The net drives growth of both big and small businesses—indeed another BCG report called “Turning Local” (PDF) makes clear that small businesses with a website grow faster than businesses without a web presence.
We’ve seen this ourselves, in the businesses of all shapes and sizes that we encountered as part of our eTown awards. An entrepreneur in Hartlepool in the U.K. sells golf balls online. A Polish programmer runs a data recovery business from Piaseczno. An plumber directs a heating systems company from Vicenza, Italy and a French retailer has reached new scooter customers online in Reims. Online advertising has helped them grow and reach more customers than ever before. When it comes to the Internet, our eTown awards show that anybody, almost anywhere, can boost a business by going online.
The results were fascinating—and surprising. Smaller, quirky and plucky towns came out ahead. Scunthorpe, a steel town in the north of England, topped the U.K.’s list. Caen, a town in rural Normandy not far from the D-Day beaches and famed as the home of camembert cheese, came first in France. Salerno, nestled between the Amalfi and the Cilento Coast led the way in Italy and Elbląg, a remote northern town located in the region of 1,000 lakes won in Poland. In all four participating countries, eTown lists included towns of all sizes.
How did we determine our eTown awards? We broke down the U.K., France, Italy and Poland into all of their thousands of towns and then ranked local areas according to the growth in small businesses using AdWords over the last year. The top towns in each country won Google eTown awards.
The results back up recent research identifying the Internet as a main force driving growth throughout Europe. For example, a recent McKinsey report Internet Matters states that 2.6 Internet jobs are created globally for every job destroyed. Separately, the Boston Consulting Group estimates that by 2015 the web will account for 7.3 percent of Denmark’s GDP, 10 percent of the U.K.’s GDP and 5.5 percent of France’s GDP. The net drives growth of both big and small businesses—indeed another BCG report called “Turning Local” (PDF) makes clear that small businesses with a website grow faster than businesses without a web presence.
We’ve seen this ourselves, in the businesses of all shapes and sizes that we encountered as part of our eTown awards. An entrepreneur in Hartlepool in the U.K. sells golf balls online. A Polish programmer runs a data recovery business from Piaseczno. An plumber directs a heating systems company from Vicenza, Italy and a French retailer has reached new scooter customers online in Reims. Online advertising has helped them grow and reach more customers than ever before. When it comes to the Internet, our eTown awards show that anybody, almost anywhere, can boost a business by going online.
Measuring Internet network speeds with the OECD
Whether it’s the nutritional value of food, the fuel economy of a new car - or the real performance of your broadband connection - good, standardised data and transparency is the key to understanding this important information. Our executive chairman Eric Schmidt outlined our views on the importance of measurement in a speech this week in Brussels.
Yesterday, as part of Measurement Lab (M-Lab), we presented important data on Internet network speed to a committee at the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation in Paris. M-Lab is a collaborative effort led by researchers in partnership with companies and other institutions, as part of a drive to help ISPs, regulators and consumers improve Internet services across the continent. Some regulators such as the UK’s Ofcom are also running their own comparable measurement projects.
At the OECD, we outlined several recent developments. SamKnows, an M-Lab partner, is running a project for the European Commission designed to map network performance in all EU Member States. In Greece, the country’s telecom regulator, the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission, has launched a new consumer-focused broadband measurement portal, using M-Lab’s Network Diagnostic Tool (NDT) and data. Greek consumers now have real-time, useful information about their broadband performance. The portal uses M-Lab’s NDT to detail average speed, latency, packet loss, and other performance metrics for different areas of Greece. Interactive features allow consumers to compare the results from their tests with averages.
In the future, the Greek regulator hopes to expand the portal to allow consumers to compare speeds across Internet service providers, and to run M-Lab’s Glasnost test to determine the occurrence of application-specific traffic blocking. We encourage other governments and consumer advocates to take a look at M-Lab, and to consider the possibility of using this open-source code. Everyone - ISPs, regulators and consumers - will benefit from solid data about Internet network speeds.
Yesterday, as part of Measurement Lab (M-Lab), we presented important data on Internet network speed to a committee at the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation in Paris. M-Lab is a collaborative effort led by researchers in partnership with companies and other institutions, as part of a drive to help ISPs, regulators and consumers improve Internet services across the continent. Some regulators such as the UK’s Ofcom are also running their own comparable measurement projects.
At the OECD, we outlined several recent developments. SamKnows, an M-Lab partner, is running a project for the European Commission designed to map network performance in all EU Member States. In Greece, the country’s telecom regulator, the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission, has launched a new consumer-focused broadband measurement portal, using M-Lab’s Network Diagnostic Tool (NDT) and data. Greek consumers now have real-time, useful information about their broadband performance. The portal uses M-Lab’s NDT to detail average speed, latency, packet loss, and other performance metrics for different areas of Greece. Interactive features allow consumers to compare the results from their tests with averages.
In the future, the Greek regulator hopes to expand the portal to allow consumers to compare speeds across Internet service providers, and to run M-Lab’s Glasnost test to determine the occurrence of application-specific traffic blocking. We encourage other governments and consumer advocates to take a look at M-Lab, and to consider the possibility of using this open-source code. Everyone - ISPs, regulators and consumers - will benefit from solid data about Internet network speeds.
Selasa, 06 Desember 2011
Inaugurating our new French headquarters
Last year, our Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt promised to open a research and development and culture centre in France. Today, Eric returned to Paris to inaugurate our new 10,000-square meter office in a refurbished 19th century Second Empire building near the St. Lazare Train Station.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy honored us with his presence. “Why as President, do I make this symbolic move and come to Google?" he asked rhetorically to a packed courtyard auditorium. “I love the United States, and its motto that everything is possible whatever your origins.” President Sarkozy also officially launched the Elysee Palace’s YouTube channel and his visit was shown on YouTube Live, the section of the site where we list all live streamed events.
The President participated in a Google+ Hangout, taking questions from French-speaking Google employees around the world. (“What time is it there?” he asked someone dialing in from California.) On a serious note, he expressed his gratification for how Google has moved to dig deep roots in France. “When I first met Eric, we had a frank conversation,” he recalled, saying his message was clear. “I asked him how long Google was preparing to make money in France without investing here. I told him that Google must have its feet in France.”
Our new Paris office is emblematic of our commitment to one of Europe’s fastest-growing Internet economies. According to a recent McKinsey study that we helped sponsor, the web contributed to 3,2% of the French GDP in 2009 and created more than 700,000 jobs during the past 15 years. Between now and 2015, McKinsey estimates that the digital contribution will grow to 5.5% of GDP, and 450,000 additional jobs will be created. In order to help accelerate the French digital engine, we’ve launched a Startup Café, an online platform offering information and tools.
Our investment plan for France is ambitious, and extends far beyond buildings. We’re expanding our engineering presence to take advantage of France’s strong engineering talent pool and are making significant academic investments, including a partnership with the French national research center CNRS.
France is a global cultural leader and we’re working hard to partner with French writers, filmmakers and musicians. Over the past year, we've reached an agreement with the biggest French publisher Hachette to scan and sell digital versions of out-of-print books and are providing payment systems for French news publishers from Hachette. YouTube has signed royalty-collection agreements with music copyright societies and our new Cultural Institute will be located in the Paris headquarters. It will aim at driving innovation in cultural preservation, creation and access, not just in France, but across the world.
Just before the President left, he asked to say a few final words. He praised our “dynamism” and wished well our expanded operations, before making a parting promise. “I hope this inauguration is one of a long series,” he said. “If you invite me to another building opening, I will come.”
French President Nicolas Sarkozy honored us with his presence. “Why as President, do I make this symbolic move and come to Google?" he asked rhetorically to a packed courtyard auditorium. “I love the United States, and its motto that everything is possible whatever your origins.” President Sarkozy also officially launched the Elysee Palace’s YouTube channel and his visit was shown on YouTube Live, the section of the site where we list all live streamed events.
The President participated in a Google+ Hangout, taking questions from French-speaking Google employees around the world. (“What time is it there?” he asked someone dialing in from California.) On a serious note, he expressed his gratification for how Google has moved to dig deep roots in France. “When I first met Eric, we had a frank conversation,” he recalled, saying his message was clear. “I asked him how long Google was preparing to make money in France without investing here. I told him that Google must have its feet in France.”
Our new Paris office is emblematic of our commitment to one of Europe’s fastest-growing Internet economies. According to a recent McKinsey study that we helped sponsor, the web contributed to 3,2% of the French GDP in 2009 and created more than 700,000 jobs during the past 15 years. Between now and 2015, McKinsey estimates that the digital contribution will grow to 5.5% of GDP, and 450,000 additional jobs will be created. In order to help accelerate the French digital engine, we’ve launched a Startup Café, an online platform offering information and tools.
Our investment plan for France is ambitious, and extends far beyond buildings. We’re expanding our engineering presence to take advantage of France’s strong engineering talent pool and are making significant academic investments, including a partnership with the French national research center CNRS.
France is a global cultural leader and we’re working hard to partner with French writers, filmmakers and musicians. Over the past year, we've reached an agreement with the biggest French publisher Hachette to scan and sell digital versions of out-of-print books and are providing payment systems for French news publishers from Hachette. YouTube has signed royalty-collection agreements with music copyright societies and our new Cultural Institute will be located in the Paris headquarters. It will aim at driving innovation in cultural preservation, creation and access, not just in France, but across the world.
Just before the President left, he asked to say a few final words. He praised our “dynamism” and wished well our expanded operations, before making a parting promise. “I hope this inauguration is one of a long series,” he said. “If you invite me to another building opening, I will come.”
Senin, 05 Desember 2011
Supporting innovation in Europe’s capital
In these challenging economic times, it's important to focus not just on today's immediate problems, but on innovating for the future and for growth. European Commission President José-Manuel Barroso and Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn are to be commended for tackling this long-term challenges by hosting an Innovation Summit today in Brussels.
We were delighted that our Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt, was invited to give one of the keynote speeches. Eric outlined a pro-innovation agenda, focusing on how governments can identify “smart problems” and steer entrepreneurial energy in a productive direction.
Data is key, Eric said. Today’s computing power, including on mobile phones, makes it possible to address problems in new ways by taking advantage of the vast datasets available and in so doing identify big opportunities. And decisions driven by data need to measured carefully: "GDP measures, for example, may not be enough, as the productivity benefits of IT adoption in the workplace and the uncounted consumer benefits from online services are not included in such estimates.(for details, see the McKinsey Study for IAB Europe).."
Eric set out an agenda designed to take advantage of data-driven innovation:
We were delighted that our Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt, was invited to give one of the keynote speeches. Eric outlined a pro-innovation agenda, focusing on how governments can identify “smart problems” and steer entrepreneurial energy in a productive direction.
Eric set out an agenda designed to take advantage of data-driven innovation:
- Education: “We need to invest in training a new generation of smart problem-solvers, and encourage innovative methods for teaching and learning.”
- Copyright and other Internet issues: Eric called on Europe to implement a regulatory framework which fosters cloud computing and other innovations.
- Patents: Europe should avoid following the U.S. lead on patents. “I don’t want to get too far into the intricacies of the various debates underway on patent legislation, but here is my top advice - don’t copy the US. You’re still light years ahead of us!,” Eric said.
- Culture of entrepreneurship: Governments should provide support and investment for world-class clusters of innovation, like the UK government’s Tech City initiative in East London. We’re a sponsor and active participant in Tech City - and in France, we’re backers of the Startup Cafe resources center for entrepreneurs, as well as the Le Camping incubator.
Jumat, 02 Desember 2011
Honoring innovative digital journalism in Paris
Journalism is is in the midst of moving onto the Internet and Google is committed to helping ease this transition. We drive millions of readers to media sites every day and we split billions of dollars each year in advertising with publishers. We also aim to reward journalism that takes advantage of new digital tools.
A sign of the commitment is our partnership with the School of Journalism at Sciences Po in Paris. We created an award to showcase student projects, as well as professionals. A panel of prestigious journalists was recruited as judges: Jean-Marie Colombani, the founder of Slate.fr, Jean-Marc Manach, author of the blog Bug Brother, Thibaud Vuitton, deputy editor of the platform of continuous information France Television, Pascale Robert-Diard, author of the blog world Chronicles Judicieres and Alice Antheaume, deputy director of the journalism school at Sciences Po and author of the blog Work In Progress.
The awards were delivered at an event today at Sciences Po. Villeneuve 5/5, led by a group of students from the Grenoble School of Journalism, won the student award for a project that uses the video, sound, text and images to bring readers into the heart of violent riots which shook the district of Villeneuve in 2010. In the professional category, the jury praised the innovation of two journalists Slate.fr, who seized the tools used on social networks to investigate the murky finances of France’s richest woman Liliane Bettencourt.
This initiative is part of a comprehensive partnership with Science Po's School of Journalism, announced in May 2011. We look forward to pursuing it - and continuing to support online journalism.
A sign of the commitment is our partnership with the School of Journalism at Sciences Po in Paris. We created an award to showcase student projects, as well as professionals. A panel of prestigious journalists was recruited as judges: Jean-Marie Colombani, the founder of Slate.fr, Jean-Marc Manach, author of the blog Bug Brother, Thibaud Vuitton, deputy editor of the platform of continuous information France Television, Pascale Robert-Diard, author of the blog world Chronicles Judicieres and Alice Antheaume, deputy director of the journalism school at Sciences Po and author of the blog Work In Progress.
The awards were delivered at an event today at Sciences Po. Villeneuve 5/5, led by a group of students from the Grenoble School of Journalism, won the student award for a project that uses the video, sound, text and images to bring readers into the heart of violent riots which shook the district of Villeneuve in 2010. In the professional category, the jury praised the innovation of two journalists Slate.fr, who seized the tools used on social networks to investigate the murky finances of France’s richest woman Liliane Bettencourt.
Prix Google de l'innovation en journalisme from Sciences Po on Vimeo.
This initiative is part of a comprehensive partnership with Science Po's School of Journalism, announced in May 2011. We look forward to pursuing it - and continuing to support online journalism.
Making Internet a safer place in Russia
As in the real world, keeping kids safe online is a challenge. Children move fast with an insatiable curiosity which drives the questions and answers, sparks innovation, and can ultimately lead to a brighter future. At Google, we believe in empowering families with technologies and resources to help kids grow -- as well as tools to protect them online. Google SafeSearch, YouTube Safety Mode and other safety features are built into our products help our users make their own choices about what minors do and see online.
These controls need to be adapted to local concerns in order to be effective. We have launched more than 50 Family Safety Centres across the world in national languages, with more countries joining all the time. Last week, the Russian Ministry of Telecommunications awarded a national Internet award. the Runet Prize, to our Russian Family Safety Center. This award signals government recognition of our efforts to build transparency, choice, and security into our products.
Online child safety is emerging as a major issue in Russia. A recent Law on Protection of Children from Harmful Information will enter into force in September. It stipulates several Internet-challenging issues, namely mandatory content filtering at the level of access providers. We are concerned that such an approach may not eradicate illegal content from the web and could instead impact Internet freedoms.
In less than three decades of existence, the Internet has grown into an exciting world of e-books, digitised culture and connected communities. Kids are naturals to this environment. While we have much to teach children about staying smart online, they, in course, have much to teach us. Harsh regulation will not solve the problem. Instead, we all should work together to develop tools that promote online responsibility and user choice. We’re glad that the Russian Ministry of Telecommunications recognizes our work in this direction.
These controls need to be adapted to local concerns in order to be effective. We have launched more than 50 Family Safety Centres across the world in national languages, with more countries joining all the time. Last week, the Russian Ministry of Telecommunications awarded a national Internet award. the Runet Prize, to our Russian Family Safety Center. This award signals government recognition of our efforts to build transparency, choice, and security into our products.
Online child safety is emerging as a major issue in Russia. A recent Law on Protection of Children from Harmful Information will enter into force in September. It stipulates several Internet-challenging issues, namely mandatory content filtering at the level of access providers. We are concerned that such an approach may not eradicate illegal content from the web and could instead impact Internet freedoms.
In less than three decades of existence, the Internet has grown into an exciting world of e-books, digitised culture and connected communities. Kids are naturals to this environment. While we have much to teach children about staying smart online, they, in course, have much to teach us. Harsh regulation will not solve the problem. Instead, we all should work together to develop tools that promote online responsibility and user choice. We’re glad that the Russian Ministry of Telecommunications recognizes our work in this direction.
Kamis, 01 Desember 2011
Luvvies and Boffins embrace in London
When Eric Schmidt delivered his MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival this summer he spoke of the importance of bringing the worlds of art and science back together if Britain’s creative industries are to succeed in the digital era. Luvvies and boffins, he said, need to work together.
That call seems to have struck a chord with industry, the arts and government, so this week we gathered a group of more than a hundred prominent figures from both worlds at our London offices for our first Luvvies and Boffins event.
The Rambert Dance company’s artistic director Mark Baldwin and resident scientist Professor Nicola Clayton explained how they worked together to create Comedy of Change, a ballet based on Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Ian Livingstone, founder of the video game pioneers Eidos and author of Next Gen, a new report on the future of our creative industries, made a passionate plea to the Government to include computer science in the schools curriculum.
The Science and Universities Minister David Willetts dropped in and showed he’s listening. This week the government responded positively to Ian Livingstone’s report, Prime Minister David Cameron agreeing that “we're not doing enough to teach the next generation of programmers.”
It was an evening of intense conversation, inspiring demonstrations and scientifically prepared cocktails. We plan to continue to meet as a group to promote the aims of what’s now being called STEAM education - Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths.
That call seems to have struck a chord with industry, the arts and government, so this week we gathered a group of more than a hundred prominent figures from both worlds at our London offices for our first Luvvies and Boffins event.
The Rambert Dance company’s artistic director Mark Baldwin and resident scientist Professor Nicola Clayton explained how they worked together to create Comedy of Change, a ballet based on Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Ian Livingstone, founder of the video game pioneers Eidos and author of Next Gen, a new report on the future of our creative industries, made a passionate plea to the Government to include computer science in the schools curriculum.
The Science and Universities Minister David Willetts dropped in and showed he’s listening. This week the government responded positively to Ian Livingstone’s report, Prime Minister David Cameron agreeing that “we're not doing enough to teach the next generation of programmers.”
It was an evening of intense conversation, inspiring demonstrations and scientifically prepared cocktails. We plan to continue to meet as a group to promote the aims of what’s now being called STEAM education - Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths.
Working together to make the web a better place for kids
We’re strong believers in the benefits of the Internet for young people, whether in the classroom, at home, or out and about. But we also know that like all technologies, the value of the Net is what you make of it. If you’re a parent (and many of us here at Google are), then you want to ensure that your kids can navigate the web smartly and safely.
That’s why today we’re pleased to become a founding member of European Commissioner Neelie Kroes’ Better Internet for Kids coalition. The new coalition brings together a wide range of technology companies with diverse experience in protecting children online. We’ve committed to working together and sharing our expertise to achieve a better Internet for kids.
Over the years, we’ve dedicated significant engineering and educational resources to providing families with choice, transparency, and security. Our SafeSearch Lock enables parents to block offensive content; our flagging system and Safety Center on YouTube provide an easy way to report abuse and find support from professionals. We also regularly run pragmatic digital literacy campaigns - the most recent being our “Good to Know” initiative (in English and German), in partnership with citizens’ advice organisations.
We’ve learned a lot in the process - but know that on the ever changing web, it's important to work with others to keep on top of the challenges. We’re looking forward to getting started with this new initiative, and we encourage other companies across the spectrum of the technology business to get involved too.
That’s why today we’re pleased to become a founding member of European Commissioner Neelie Kroes’ Better Internet for Kids coalition. The new coalition brings together a wide range of technology companies with diverse experience in protecting children online. We’ve committed to working together and sharing our expertise to achieve a better Internet for kids.
Over the years, we’ve dedicated significant engineering and educational resources to providing families with choice, transparency, and security. Our SafeSearch Lock enables parents to block offensive content; our flagging system and Safety Center on YouTube provide an easy way to report abuse and find support from professionals. We also regularly run pragmatic digital literacy campaigns - the most recent being our “Good to Know” initiative (in English and German), in partnership with citizens’ advice organisations.
We’ve learned a lot in the process - but know that on the ever changing web, it's important to work with others to keep on top of the challenges. We’re looking forward to getting started with this new initiative, and we encourage other companies across the spectrum of the technology business to get involved too.
Senin, 28 November 2011
Magic moments in Egypt’s parliamentary elections, thanks to the web
Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog
Today more than 50 million Egyptians started heading to the polls to cast their votes for an independent Parliament, many for the first time in their lives. The revolution in Egypt, which captured the attention of the world beginning in Tahrir Square on January 25, 2011, made this possible by opening the floodgates of political participation.
With the free flow of information online, people can connect and engage in a open dialogue about the future of Egypt. The web is enabling many new voters to become better informed on their choice of candidates, and letting politicians reach electors in new and exciting ways.
Getting information about the new rules and the new players is no small feat for Egyptians: there are nearly 11,000 candidates vying for 498 seats across 27 governorates nationwide during a multi-stage election that started today and lasts until March 2012. We’re doing our best to organize information to make it easier for voters to find everything they need in one place. For example, millions of Egyptians have learned where they can vote through our landing page, www.google.com.eg/elections.
We’ve also worked to give a voice to thousands of candidates to reach voters through interactive video. The YouTube Townhall includes nearly 400 videos posted by candidates and political parties explaining where they stand on issues from education and the economy to health care and political reform, sparking vibrant conversations in cafés from Alexandria to Aswan.
We’re helping voters and politicians connect not just in Egypt, but throughout the entire Middle East and the world. For Tunisia’s recent parliamentary elections, we partnered with startup news portal Tunisia Live to offer a training workshop in Tunis on Google tools and social media for politicians. In France, we set up a special YouTube site for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The Internet is playing an increasingly significant role in Egypt. It’s bolstering civic engagement and becoming a powerful mechanism for information sharing—crucial to helping the nation make the tough transition to democracy.
Today more than 50 million Egyptians started heading to the polls to cast their votes for an independent Parliament, many for the first time in their lives. The revolution in Egypt, which captured the attention of the world beginning in Tahrir Square on January 25, 2011, made this possible by opening the floodgates of political participation.
With the free flow of information online, people can connect and engage in a open dialogue about the future of Egypt. The web is enabling many new voters to become better informed on their choice of candidates, and letting politicians reach electors in new and exciting ways.
Getting information about the new rules and the new players is no small feat for Egyptians: there are nearly 11,000 candidates vying for 498 seats across 27 governorates nationwide during a multi-stage election that started today and lasts until March 2012. We’re doing our best to organize information to make it easier for voters to find everything they need in one place. For example, millions of Egyptians have learned where they can vote through our landing page, www.google.com.eg/elections.
We’ve also worked to give a voice to thousands of candidates to reach voters through interactive video. The YouTube Townhall includes nearly 400 videos posted by candidates and political parties explaining where they stand on issues from education and the economy to health care and political reform, sparking vibrant conversations in cafés from Alexandria to Aswan.
We’re helping voters and politicians connect not just in Egypt, but throughout the entire Middle East and the world. For Tunisia’s recent parliamentary elections, we partnered with startup news portal Tunisia Live to offer a training workshop in Tunis on Google tools and social media for politicians. In France, we set up a special YouTube site for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The Internet is playing an increasingly significant role in Egypt. It’s bolstering civic engagement and becoming a powerful mechanism for information sharing—crucial to helping the nation make the tough transition to democracy.
Celebrating innovation in digital journalism
IPI News Innovation Contest
We’re pleased to congratulate the first three winners selected by the Vienna-based International Press Institute in its News Innovation Contest. The prizes are part of a $5 million global contest launched by Google last year.
Today’s winners, who will receive grants totalling $600,000, are:
- World Wide Web Foundation for its Voice-based Citizen Journalism project in France, the Netherlands and Mali. The project will enable voice-based citizen journalists to gather and deliver news in rural areas through community radio and mobile phones.
- Internews Europe for its crowd-sourced journalism project in five African countries. The project aims to promote expertise in crowd-sourced journalism techniques to contribute to press freedom.
- Journalism Leaders Programme at the University of Central Lancashire, for its digital media training programme for the U.K. and Turkey. The project will focus on training in data journalism skills and the fundamentals of digital business aimed at disseminating learning to the wider news industry.
GEN Data Journalism Awards
In Hong Kong, at the News World Summit hosted by the Global Editors Network, we're announcing a partnership on a new data journalism contest.
The winners will be chosen by an international jury and prizes awarded at the next GEN conference in Paris next year. Details on how to take part are at globaleditorsnetwork.org.
We look forward to seeing the impact these initiatives will have on digital journalism and hope they will encourage continued experimentation at every level of the media.
New frontiers in Lyon
French socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande created a rose. Former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin sketched a proud rooster. French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand designed a palm-tree framed fantasy. And famed writer Umberto Eco drew a clown. The graffiti sketch-up wall provided a touch of whimsy at this year's high profile Forum de Liberation in Lyon - an event which Google was proud to help sponsor.
This year’s Forum theme was “New Frontiers” and we emphasized three of our key messages: the Internet is an engine for economic growth, for democratizing culture and for promoting freedom of expression. Google France President Jean-Marc Tassetto discussed how the Internet has created 700,000 jobs in France over the past 15 years. Strange as it might sound, given all the buzz about the digital economy, many portrayed the Internet (at worst) as a negative force, killing jobs, or (at best) as marginal to a country’s economic success. But according to a recent McKinsey report we sponsored, the net contributed to 3.2% (EUR60 billion) to French GDP in 2009 (more than energy, transports or agriculture).
In another debate on the future of books, our publisher partnership chief Philippe Colombet described how the Internet, far from destroying books and copyright, actually is making democratizing access to them. We recently signed an agreement with the publisher Hachette Livre under which tens of thousands of French-language books will be provided with a digital afterlife. This means thousands of authors who have not profited from their books in years could finally see them become available once again. We also have forged partnerships with public European libraries, such as the Bavarian State Library or the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and the Lyon library, making public-domain books so that their entire text is available for free to readers around the world.
Our third contribution was on freedom of expression. The Internet has allowed every one of us the amazing ability to broadcast our opinions to the world. But governments around the world - including many in Europe - are cracking down. According to the Open Net Forum, some 40 governments censor the net in one form fashion, up from only two a decade ago. Google’s services are disrupted in about 25 of the 150 countries we serve.
It was a stimulating weekend. Most of the debates were packed with enthusiastic audiences. The high-profile speakers, as well as their listeners, enjoyed the discussions – and the opportunity to visit the colorful Google stand, learn about our efforts to promote the net economy, net culture, net freedom – and have some fun.
Kamis, 24 November 2011
DatenDialog - Big Tent goes to Berlin
In May, we held our first Big Tent conference near London, where we debated some of the hot issues relating to the Internet and society with policy-makers, academics and NGOs. The term "big tent” not only described the marquee venue but also our aim to include diverse points of view.
After the UK success, we decided to export the concept. Yesterday we welcomed more than 200 guests in Berlin, Germany to the second Big Tent event, entitled DatenDialog.
This dialogue about data tackled the issue of online privacy from a variety of angles. It was appropriate to hold it in Germany, which is a pacesetter both in its concern about privacy and its ideas for safeguarding personal data. During the one-day event, we debated questions such as: what does responsible collaboration between the tech industry and the data protection authorities look like? Do we need new regulation to manage the Internet and the large amount of data produced in the online world? Who is responsible for educating users and how does the tech industry make sure it builds privacy controls into its products?
Speakers included the German State Secretary for the Interior Cornelia Rogall-Grothe and the Federal Data Protection Commissioner Peter Schaar, alongside international authors and bloggers Cory Doctorow and Jeff Jarvis who appeared via live video chat from the US.
The debate was always lively, sometimes polarised - Cory likened amalgamated data to nuclear waste while Jeff appealed to governments not to regulate for the worst case - but all seemed to agree that it was a worthwhile and timely exercise to explore these important issues.
You can watch the highlights soon on our Big Tent YouTube channel, and stay tuned for more Big Tents on a range of topics around the world in the coming months.
Rabu, 23 November 2011
Advocating Internet freedom at the European Parliament
The Sakharov Prize is the European parliaments most prestigious award celebrating human rights. It is named after Andrei Sakharov, a human rights activist in the former Soviet Union, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975. Past laureates of the EU award include such heroes as Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi and such heroic institutions such as Reporters Without Borders. This year’s winners are Arab Spring activists.
Google was honored to participate in yesterday’s Parliament’s “Sakharov Prize Network” event. Many of the former laureates gathered to dedicate the Sakharov Lounge in the European Parliament and to take part in panel discussions regarding human rights and technology.
Participants noted how the Internet had overturned the previous top-down model of global communications, allowed the previously voiceless to reach the entire world. “The Internet is our black cat that climbs up walls and into rooms without asking,” said Azerbaijani blogger Ali Novruzov. See more about his story in this documentary.
We know that our role in promoting free flow of information often puts us in the spotlight. Naturally, we received some tough questions about our policies. How do we deal with government requests to hand over information on users? Why don't we make sure everybody has access to the Internet? These provoked a constructive discussion - and an opportunity to explain our Transparency Report, which details what requests for information we receive from governments. Everyone should have access to the Net - and we’ve taken actions like developing Speak-to-Tweet to keep communication flowing.
It is heartwarming to be associated with a courageous figure such as Andrei Sakharov. We will work every day, as best as possible, to uphold his memory.
Street View comes to to the heart of the European Union
Belgium today becomes the 17th European country launched on Street View. From now on, anyone with a computer will be able to visit the country’s 300 castles, 40 UNESCO World Heritage sites, 200 museums, and more than 2000 chocolate shops. In the the capital, Brussels, users can now take a virtual stroll around the famous Grand Place.
View Larger Map
Every day millions of Europeans use Street View to find their destination, make travel plans or get a helping hand with geography homework. Businesses also benefit from the Street View technology by embedding Google Maps directly into their site, helping them to promote a chain of hotels or increase awareness of a local store or restaurant. From the historic ruins of Pompei to the majestic Swiss Alps, Street View helps preserve and promotes some Europe's most significant heritage sites for future generations.
As we roll out Street View, we have gone to great lengths to safeguard privacy. Street View only contains imagery that is already visible from public roads and features technology that blurs both faces and licence plates. In addition, any user can flag images for removal that he or she considers inappropriate by clicking on "Report a problem." When developing these safeguards, we have consulted extensively with many privacy and community groups. In Belgium, for example, we worked closely with the Belgian Privacy Commission, which published a press release of its findings. More information about Street View privacy policies is available at this web site.
In the heart of Europe, policymakers now will be able to get a first hand look of Street View. Belgium was one of the founding members of the European Union and Brussels is home to many European Union and international headquarters. Users can now explore the area around the European Parliament and the European Commission.
View Larger Map
Beyond Brussels is a world of landscapes, castles and stone-built villages. From the scenic town centre of Bruges to the castles of Bouillon, Belgium’s magnificent sites are now available for all on Street View. The historic battlefield of Waterloo is also now live.
View Larger Map
We’re thrilled to be launching the imagery of this fascinating country. As we continue to expand Street View, we look forward to making more of Europe available for users to explore.
View Larger Map
Every day millions of Europeans use Street View to find their destination, make travel plans or get a helping hand with geography homework. Businesses also benefit from the Street View technology by embedding Google Maps directly into their site, helping them to promote a chain of hotels or increase awareness of a local store or restaurant. From the historic ruins of Pompei to the majestic Swiss Alps, Street View helps preserve and promotes some Europe's most significant heritage sites for future generations.
As we roll out Street View, we have gone to great lengths to safeguard privacy. Street View only contains imagery that is already visible from public roads and features technology that blurs both faces and licence plates. In addition, any user can flag images for removal that he or she considers inappropriate by clicking on "Report a problem." When developing these safeguards, we have consulted extensively with many privacy and community groups. In Belgium, for example, we worked closely with the Belgian Privacy Commission, which published a press release of its findings. More information about Street View privacy policies is available at this web site.
In the heart of Europe, policymakers now will be able to get a first hand look of Street View. Belgium was one of the founding members of the European Union and Brussels is home to many European Union and international headquarters. Users can now explore the area around the European Parliament and the European Commission.
View Larger Map
Beyond Brussels is a world of landscapes, castles and stone-built villages. From the scenic town centre of Bruges to the castles of Bouillon, Belgium’s magnificent sites are now available for all on Street View. The historic battlefield of Waterloo is also now live.
View Larger Map
We’re thrilled to be launching the imagery of this fascinating country. As we continue to expand Street View, we look forward to making more of Europe available for users to explore.
Selasa, 22 November 2011
Joining Liberation in Lyon
The French newspaper Liberation was born out of the May 1968 movement for freedom. It’s always been a thought-provoking iconoclastic publication, never afraid to question and challenge assumptions. This tradition is why Google is proud to be partnering with Liberation at its annual Forum being held in Lyon from November 24 through 27.
A Google stand will be erected inside the forum’s beautiful, baroque venue, the Lyon Town Hall. Spectators will be welcome to post graffiti on icons of freedom. They will be able to explore our Transparency Tool, enjoy our Google Art Project, delve into the evidence about the Internet’s role as a driver of economic growth, or just relax.
Euronews is setting up its studio in our stand, and we expect many of the forum participants to appear and be interviewed.
We’ll also be participating in many of the forum’s exciting debates. This year’s theme of the Forum is “New Borders” and we will be focusing on free expression and the economic and cultural benefits generated by the Internet.
Access to the Forum is free, though reservations are recommended. Come see us in Lyon.
Posted by William Echikson, External Relations, Head of Free Expression Europe
Minggu, 20 November 2011
Celebrating culture in Avignon
During the 14th and 15th century, the French city of Avignon became the capital of catholicism, home of popes (and antipopes). Today, it has become a center for culture. Each summer, it hosts a well-regarded theater festival, and each fall it plays hosts to a prestigious conference for artists, publishers, politicians, students, academics and others who gather at the Forum d’Avignon for debate and discssion.
For Google, this is an important rendez-vous. Rather than threatening local culture, we believe that the Internet represents a giant opportunity to promote it. Over the past few years, we have worked hard, particularly in France, to unlock opportunity on the Web for artists. We have signed four deals with French collecting societies, enabling French musicians, screenwriters and other creators to be remunerated for their content appearing on YouTube. Our partnerships with French publishers, including the country's largest Hachette, are allowing out-of-print works to be brought back to life, bringing commercial opportunities to authors whose works might otherwise languish. And we’ve worked with the Chateau de Versailles to make its grandeur available to the entire world in 3-D.
All these activities, not just in France but throughout the world, will be coordinated by our newly launched Culture Center in Paris. The International Herald Tribune and New York Times featured the center in today’s edition.
Several Googlers were in Avignon to discuss our approach to cultural issues. David Drummond, our Chief Legal Officer, sat on a panel called “Intellectual property, beyond the commitments of principle.” He underlined the power of technology to increase access to our shared cultural heritage; and to produce opportunity for creators.
Later in the day, Googlers Steve Crossan and Amit Sood outlined the work of the Paris Culture Center and demonstrated ongoing projects for the preservation of culture: The Art Project, which brings some of the world’s finest museums to your living room with super-high resolution scans and Street View technology.
Concerns remain, for example regarding piracy, and how best to fund creativity in the modern age. However Google is confident that the Internet can help usher in a golden age for arts and culture. Our strong presence in Avignon demonstrates our determination to continue working hand in hand with the culture industries to create new products and new opportunities.
For Google, this is an important rendez-vous. Rather than threatening local culture, we believe that the Internet represents a giant opportunity to promote it. Over the past few years, we have worked hard, particularly in France, to unlock opportunity on the Web for artists. We have signed four deals with French collecting societies, enabling French musicians, screenwriters and other creators to be remunerated for their content appearing on YouTube. Our partnerships with French publishers, including the country's largest Hachette, are allowing out-of-print works to be brought back to life, bringing commercial opportunities to authors whose works might otherwise languish. And we’ve worked with the Chateau de Versailles to make its grandeur available to the entire world in 3-D.
All these activities, not just in France but throughout the world, will be coordinated by our newly launched Culture Center in Paris. The International Herald Tribune and New York Times featured the center in today’s edition.
Several Googlers were in Avignon to discuss our approach to cultural issues. David Drummond, our Chief Legal Officer, sat on a panel called “Intellectual property, beyond the commitments of principle.” He underlined the power of technology to increase access to our shared cultural heritage; and to produce opportunity for creators.
Later in the day, Googlers Steve Crossan and Amit Sood outlined the work of the Paris Culture Center and demonstrated ongoing projects for the preservation of culture: The Art Project, which brings some of the world’s finest museums to your living room with super-high resolution scans and Street View technology.
Concerns remain, for example regarding piracy, and how best to fund creativity in the modern age. However Google is confident that the Internet can help usher in a golden age for arts and culture. Our strong presence in Avignon demonstrates our determination to continue working hand in hand with the culture industries to create new products and new opportunities.
Kamis, 17 November 2011
A new YouTube melody for European musicians
If you are of my generation and love Jacques Brel, it's a great day. For my kids, who adore Selah Sue and fantasy character Mega Mindy, it's also a great day. From now on, videos of these Belgian artists will become easier to find on YouTube. For the first time, these Belgian artists and their estates will receive payments for allowing music lovers to listen to their music on YouTube.
This breakthrough stems from the licensing agreement signed today between collecting society SABAM and YouTube. SABAM was founded in 1922; it represents 36,000 composers, lyricists, publishers, and music video makers.
Throughout Europe over the past two years, YouTube has secured similar agreements with associations representing artists and authors in countries shown in blue: the UK, France (SACEM, SACD, SCAM, ADAGP), Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Ireland, the Czech Republic, and Poland.
These agreements end old arguments about copyright, replacing them with win-win arrangements. For Europe’s musicians, YouTube has become an indispensable tool in reaching audiences. Artists are compensated when advertisements are displayed against YouTube partner’s videos.
The deals demonstrate our commitment to to promoting local European cultural creation. YouTube is innovating to help artists protect and manage their rights. Our state-of-the-art Content ID technologies let rights owners identify user-uploaded videos that contain their work and choose, in advance, what they want to happen when those videos are found. They can block them from YouTube altogether, or keep them up. The vast majority of right owners agree to keep their material online - and share in the revenue generated by advertising displayed against it.
Until now, when Belgians visited YouTube, they were taken to our global site. The launch of YouTube in Belgium means Belgians will see a home page featuring a wealth of content from their home country. Partners are welcome to join us and we’re happy to learn that large Belgian media companies such as broadcaster RTBF are interested in having parts of their archives appear. For my part, I plan to catch up on Jacques Brel videos.
This breakthrough stems from the licensing agreement signed today between collecting society SABAM and YouTube. SABAM was founded in 1922; it represents 36,000 composers, lyricists, publishers, and music video makers.
Throughout Europe over the past two years, YouTube has secured similar agreements with associations representing artists and authors in countries shown in blue: the UK, France (SACEM, SACD, SCAM, ADAGP), Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Ireland, the Czech Republic, and Poland.
These agreements end old arguments about copyright, replacing them with win-win arrangements. For Europe’s musicians, YouTube has become an indispensable tool in reaching audiences. Artists are compensated when advertisements are displayed against YouTube partner’s videos.
The deals demonstrate our commitment to to promoting local European cultural creation. YouTube is innovating to help artists protect and manage their rights. Our state-of-the-art Content ID technologies let rights owners identify user-uploaded videos that contain their work and choose, in advance, what they want to happen when those videos are found. They can block them from YouTube altogether, or keep them up. The vast majority of right owners agree to keep their material online - and share in the revenue generated by advertising displayed against it.
Until now, when Belgians visited YouTube, they were taken to our global site. The launch of YouTube in Belgium means Belgians will see a home page featuring a wealth of content from their home country. Partners are welcome to join us and we’re happy to learn that large Belgian media companies such as broadcaster RTBF are interested in having parts of their archives appear. For my part, I plan to catch up on Jacques Brel videos.
Celebrating LEO, the world’s first business computer
This year marks the 60th anniversary of LEO, the world’s first business computer—built by J.Lyons & Co, a leading British food manufacturer at the time that also ran a famous chain of tea shops.
Lyons management had long been keen to streamline their back-office operations. In 1947, two Lyons managers visited the U.S. to learn about the latest business processes, including whether the electronic computers they’d heard about during their wartime service, like ENIAC, might be useful. (At the time, the closer-to-home advances at Bletchley Park were still a well-kept military secret.)
They returned inspired by the possibilities and keen to build a machine of their own. After several years of development, LEO, a.k.a. Lyons Electronic Office, took on its first office job on November 17, 1951—weekly valuations for the bakery division, calculating margins on Lyon’s output of bread, cakes and pies.
Until LEO, computing in a work setting was treated like a specialist bit of kit on a factory production line. Each machine was dedicated to a single task. In essence, they were narrowly defined calculating machines. The vision for LEO, in contrast, was bravely broad. LEO was a single computer capable of handling a whole swathe of accounting and bookkeeping tasks, as well as producing daily management reports.
LEO was such a success that Lyons set up a commercial subsidiary to sell spare time on LEO to other businesses, including the Ford Motor Company, which used it to process the payroll for the thousands of workers at its U.K. plant. Later, Lyons also built entirely new LEOs and sold them to other blue-chip companies of the era. In total, more than 70 LEO’s were built, with the last remaining in service until the 1980’s (not bad for a computer that took up an entire room!).
Today we view IT as critical to any enterprise, but in the 1950s, this was by no means a given, as evidenced by a quote from a 1954 issue of The Economist: “There are those who do not believe in the desirability of introducing anything as esoteric as electronics into business routine.” Things certainly have changed, and in a sense, all modern day businesses owe a debt to the LEO team.
Last week at the Science Museum in London, we were delighted to sponsor a small gathering of early LEO programmers to celebrate their accomplishments and reminisce about their pioneering work. Today, on this 60th anniversary, we invite you to have a cup of tea and join us in toasting LEO—a remarkable ancestor in IT’s family tree.
Senin, 14 November 2011
Greater choice for wireless access point owners
(Cross posted on Official Google Blog)
From tagging a post with your location, to checking in to a restaurant, to simply finding out where you are, location-based services have become some of the most popular features of today’s Internet. One of the key ways technology companies are able to determine a location for these services is through a location database, which matches publicly broadcast information about local wireless networks with their approximate geographic location. By looking for wireless access points that are close to a user’s phone, location providers can return the approximate location you need. In addition, this method is a good alternative to other approaches, like GPS, because it’s faster, it works indoors, and it’s more battery-efficient.
The wireless access point information we use in our location database, the Google Location Server, doesn’t identify people. But as first mentioned in September, we can do more to address privacy concerns.
We’re introducing a method that lets you opt out of having your wireless access point included in the Google Location Server. To opt out, visit your access point’s settings and change the wireless network name (or SSID) so that it ends with “_nomap”. For example, if your SSID is “Network”, you‘d need to change it to “Network_nomap”.
To get started, visit this Help Center article to learn more about the process and to find links with specific instructions on how to change an access point’s SSID for various wireless access point manufacturers.
As we explored different approaches for opting-out access points from the Google Location Server, we found that a method based on wireless network names provides the right balance of simplicity as well as protection against abuse. Specifically, this approach helps protect against others opting out your access point without your permission.
Finally, because other location providers will also be able to observe these opt-outs, we hope that over time the “_nomap” string will be adopted universally. This would help benefit all users by providing everyone with a unified opt-out process regardless of location provider.
Update Nov 21: Edited punctuation to clarify the "_nomap" tag.
Jumat, 11 November 2011
Boosting Italy's digital economy
The Internet represents a great opportunity to boost growth and employment in Italy. A new McKinsey report confirms that the digital economy contributes 2% of the Italian GDP and has created 700,000 jobs in the past 15 years. By next year, McKinsey concludes, the digital economy could generate 3.5% of Italian GDP.
Yet much more can be done. Italy still remains far behind Internet leaders such as the UK, where the Net’s contribution to GDP is estimated at 7%.
More than 30 companies now have joined together in an effort to help Italy achieve its true Internet potential.These include private and public companies as well as universities, that came together under the name of “Digital Advisory Group.” Google is playing an important part in this initiative as a founding member.
The Digital Advisory Group has identified 12 concrete areas for boosting Italy’s digital economy. In order to encourage venture capital to invest in Internet start-ups, the VC industry needs to benefit from a similar tax scheme used to encourage filmmaking in Italy - and a fund-matching system should be established managed by the a fund-matching mechanism managed by the public Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. Another plan is to launch region road shows to help Italian small and medium-size business get online. For details on all the recommendations, please look here. Please feel free to suggest your own ideas and solutions in this interactive tool.
In many ways, it is no surprise that so many important Italian businesses and institutions are gathering together to embrace the Internet. Italy’s relative digital backwardness signals a giant opportunity. If the country embraces the Net, it could benefit from catch-up growth – an alluring prospect in these difficult economic days. It’s time for all of us to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
Kamis, 10 November 2011
Speaking out at the Brandenburg Gate
The speakers were of all ages. Two nursing home roommates arrived Wednesday at the Brandenburg Gate to join us for our celebration of freedom of expression. Both were in a wheelchair. They rolled up to our Hyde Park-style Speaker’s Corner and said, "We want a haircut or a pedicure. We cannot afford more at these prices.”
The audience applauded.
On the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we sponsored two organizations dedicated to free speech - Speaker’s Corner Trust and the delightfully named Centre for Political Beauty - to produce an event celebrating free speech. On a perch resembling the Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park, speaker after speaker rose to raise their opinion. Most of the speakers's interventions can be watched on this YouTube channel.
While the topics ranged from “last wishes” seniors we brought from old people homes, genital mutilation and elimination of freedom of speech in Russia, Syria and Tibet, many evoked, naturally enough, the Berlin Wall. Philipp Ruch of the Center for Political Beauty called the the anniversary of its a "symbol of change and a triumph for freedom of speech and expression of our democracy." The Director of the Speakers' Corner Trust, Peter Bradley, said: "The wall was not alone, there were the people they have torn down." And Gesine Schwan, President of the Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance, appeared before the audience to say "Democracy is a culture of co-speech.”
Some pictures from this exciting event are posted. We’ll update with videos as soon as they become available.
Hack4Transparency in the EU Parliament
A hackathon is not about breaking into IT systems. It’s about bringing together the talent and creativity of coders in one place to solve tough problems in a short time – in this case 24 hours.
The EU Hack4Transparency brought together 54 participants representing 17 nationalities with the goal increasing transparency on the Internet. A Google team led by engineer Brian Fitzpatrick travelled from the United States to participate.
The Hackathon was launched at the European Parliament - perhaps the first time hackers ever had been officially invited into a legislative institutiion. Christian Democrat MEP Petru Luhan wished participants well and European Commission Vice President and Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes offered support with a taped message.
Hackers then retired to Google’s Brussels office and worked overnight and through the following day. (Transparency: our sponsorship also included food, drinks and some of the awards. Skype and some 18 NGOs also sponsored the event. )
The EU Hack4Transparency brought together 54 participants representing 17 nationalities with the goal increasing transparency on the Internet. A Google team led by engineer Brian Fitzpatrick travelled from the United States to participate.
The Hackathon was launched at the European Parliament - perhaps the first time hackers ever had been officially invited into a legislative institutiion. Christian Democrat MEP Petru Luhan wished participants well and European Commission Vice President and Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes offered support with a taped message.
Hackers then retired to Google’s Brussels office and worked overnight and through the following day. (Transparency: our sponsorship also included food, drinks and some of the awards. Skype and some 18 NGOs also sponsored the event. )
The coders worked on one of two challenges. First, they aimed to give consumers greater knowledge about the quality and speed of their Internet connections by updating M-Lab code. M-Lab, short for Measurement Lab, is an open platform for researchers. Second, the coders promoted transparency by attempting to improve our Transparency Report by visualizing the number of times governments have asked to remove content from Google servers.
After 23 hours of intense (and for some teams – all-night) coding during which Google’s Chief Internet evangelist Vint Cerf joined the fun through a Google+ Hangout.
The jury chose the following winners:
For the Internet Quality Track measuring network speeds:
- First Prize: Team Ferioli (Federica Cau, Pasquale De Luna and Nicola Ferioli) – Italy
- Second Prize: Team Maggi (Federico Maggi, Roman Kochanek, Francesco Roveta, Alessandro Frossi, Alberto Volpato) – Italy
- Third Prize: Team Artimon (Alexandru Artimon, Ionut Dobre, Florin Barhala, Walter Schneider) – Romania
- First Prize: UN-Team (Sven Clement, Hauke Gierow, Stefan Wehrmeyer) – Luxembourg And Germany - with their game: ‘Beat the Censor‘
- Second Prize: Niels Rasmussen – Denmark
- Third Prize: Team Indigeni Digitali (Giuliano Iacobelli, Alessandro Manfredi, Claudio Squarcella, David Funaro, Matteo Collina) – Italy
Congratulations!
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