Denmark’s "Borgen" goes live on Street View

After scaling Swiss mountains and roaring along the new Sochi Formula One race track in recent weeks, StreetView has broken new ground in Europe by launching collection of one of the world’s most interesting political monuments - going inside the Danish parliament Borgen. Our cameras combed the Copenhagen icon’s halls and brought its extensive art collection to the world on our Art Project.



Since the 15th century, the address in the center of Copenhagen has been home to various castles and palaces which ruled the Danish Kingdom, regardless of whether the power was executed by hereditary kings or elected politicians.

Its most famous occupant, arguably, is the cool modern Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg. She is not a real politician, but the fictional Prime Minister played by actress Sidse Babett Knudsen in the popular Danish political TV series "Borgen." All of us now get the possibility to enjoy the same view as the politicians speaking at the podium. Look closely and you might even find the secret stock of the licorice hidden behind the parliament chairman’s desk.

This project required 18 months of hard work. Credit first goes to Liberal MP Michael Aastrup Jensen, who suggested to the Parliament that the Parliament itself should open up to the world. Negotiations followed with the local copyright association to secure rights to film the Parliament art collections. Some 89 pieces are showcased in the Art Project exhibition. Talks also were needed with the security services to win their approval.

In the end, everyone saw the benefits of putting Borgen online. Please enjoy and explore.

Posted by Martin Ruby and Christine Sorensen,Communications and Government Affairs, Copenhagen

Chromebooks come to five more European countries - in verse

Chromebooks are coming to nine more nations
to improve computing for all generations.

So we’d like to say our Hellos
to our new global Chromebook fellows:



Kia ora to our New Zealand mates,
where getting on-line will have shorter waits.

Kumusta to new friends in the Philippines,
a better way of computing is what this means.

Hallo to all the folks in Norway
Speed, simplicity and security are coming your way.

Hej Hej to the people in Denmark
Built-in virus protection will be your new computing benchmark.

To Mexico and Chile, Hola we say
Tons of apps and free automatic updates are starting today.

And in the coming weeks -- very soon, you’ll see --
Chromebooks will be in Belgium, Spain and Italy.

Chromebooks are easy to share, manage and use,
With lots of shapes, colors and sizes to choose.

Stay safe with your data stored in the cloud,
A smart pick like Chromebook will make your mom proud.

When Chromebooks in these countries alight,
We hope our new global friends find some computing delight.

Posted by David Shapiro, Director of Chromebook Marketing and Occasional Versifier

Something’s starting in the Copenhagen media industry

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

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

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



Photos thanks to Ernst Poulsen via Pinterest

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

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

Posted by Christine Sørensen, Communications and Public Affairs Manager

Boosting innovation in Denmark

In Denmark, as elsewhere in financially-strapped, slow-growing Europe, the government is looking to digital technology to encourage innovation and boost the economy without extra spending. Danish Minister of Science, Innovation and higher Education, Morten Østergaard recently visited Google’s offices in Århus University to discuss how to to spur Internet innovation.

Our lead engineer and one of the key designers of the Google Chrome web browser, Lars Bak, also hosted a public debate with the Minister in a crowded auditorium at Århus University. Some 100 students, start-up employees and university staff took part. The debate was also live streamed as a Hangout on Air.



During the Hangout, participants discussed how the Internet already contributes some 5.7% to Danish GDP, a figure that is expected to grow to 7.3% by 2015. Despite this success, participants suggested that Denmark could do even better. Lars Bak started his career in Silicon Valley before returning to Denmark. In California, he told the Minister, failure is an accepted part of the innovation process, whilst in Denmark, it remains hard to get back on your feet for those who fail early on. More generous bankruptcy and venture financing rules would help Denmark reach its full innovation potential, Bak argued.

The Minister soon plans to publish a broad strategy for innovation in Denmark. Lars Bak urged him to use this opportunity to rev up Denmark’s digital engine.

Posted by Martin Ruby, Policy Manager, Denmark