Supporting Information Age Art in Germany

For the past quarter century, some of the world’s most innovative multi-media art is displayed at the Berlin “Transmediale.” This year’s event opens today and Google is proud to sponsor a supporting a specific installation - the Joshua Light Show.

transmediale 2k+12 in/compatible trailer from transmediale on Vimeo.

Joshua Light illustrated psychedelic music from The Doors, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa just to name a few. Its first emerged back in 1967 in New York. For its comeback at Transmediale, founder Joshua White will be in Berlin and will direct his orchestra of lights on three night-sessions in Berlin.



Why are we involved? The Joshua Light Show exemplifies the art that arose at the beginning of today's information age, which mixed sound and light in new ways. As Transmediale’s organizers, say, "before YouTube there was the light-show - a creative meeting between the past and future of art in the age of information freedom."

The 1960's stood on the cusp of our modern global information society. It was a era with a rich counter-culture that connected the wild imagination of scientists and artists. In many cases, the artistic imagination was ahead of technology: inspired by new technologies it presaged an integration of data and audiovisual forms. Its ultimate form was the psychedelic light-show, fusing the latest projection

In their upcoming Berlin performances, today’s Joshua Light Show connects the analogue light show to the latest VJ technologies, fusing old and new and bringing a young audience to reflect on the heritage of today's global audiovisual flows. White ill direct his light-orchestra for three nights at the House of World Cultures Auditorium, each night appearing with new musicians.

Either way, enjoy.

Posted by Ralf Bremmer, Senior Communications Manager, Berlin

Reigniting the global economy

In Davos, leaders are attempting to find ways to restart the sputtering global economy. Two new studies released today at the World Economic Forum offer an answer: open up an Internet browser on our laptop, mobile phone or tablet and encourage the Internet.



The Boston Consulting group’s “Digital Manifesto” predicts that the value of the Internet economy in of the world's top 20 economies will boom to $4.2 trillion in 2016—nearly double 2010’s number. One of the biggest drivers will be the huge increase in the number of people accessing the web. In four years, the report predicts three billion people will be using the internet, or nearly 50% of the world's population.

The Internet does not just benefit the developed world, either. It contributes an average of 1.9 percent of GDP across 30 countries in the developing world and generated 1.9 million jobs alone in six countries: Hungary, Malaysia, Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey, and Vietnam, according to the new McKinsey & Co. report, also released today in Davos.

Both the McKinsey and BCG reports are the latest chapter in more than a year of work by the two consultancies and others on the Internet’s growing economic impact. Full disclosure: Google funded this joint research effort, though the reports were conducted independently. Until now, the research focused largely on Europe. For example, the BCG’s “Connected Kingdom” report published in the U.K. in October 2010 found (amongst other things) that the Internet contributed £100bn, or 7.2% of GDP, and forecasted that the figure will rise to 10% of GDP by 2015. You can see the full range of all these country reports on a new website.

Understanding the economic potential of the web is crucial, especially given Europe's current economic challenges. In Brussels this week, on the same day European Finance ministers were meeting to discuss the situation in Greece, we hosted an event to illustrate how countries and companies are able to reap the rewards of the Internet. Google, BCG and McKinsey are well known international businesses, but the the message of all our work is that small businesses going online will drive the majority of growth of the Internet economy in the future.

Posted by William Echikson, External Relations, Brussels

Promoting small businesses and economic growth in Europe

As European Finance Ministers gathered in Brussels to address the Euro crisis, we wanted to share our belief that small businesses and entrepreneurs can be at the heart of Europe’s strategy for economic growth. In our view, the key that will unlock this much needed growth is the Internet.



In order to demonstrate this important opportunity, we organised an event today in Brussels bringing together small businesses, European Commission officials, European parliamentarians, business associations and others to discuss how the Internet can drive growth and jobs. Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani keynoted the event, and picked up on the themes of an important manifesto, published last week by the Commission, that is designed to build trust in the Digital Single Market.

The Commissioner said Europe must put the Internet at the heart of its economic strategy. “I think of the third industrial revolution – information technologies are at its heart,” he said. Instead of “destroying” jobs, he insisted that it powers employment, saying that for each position displaced, the Internet creates another 2.6 new positions. Companies with websites grow twice as fast as companies that stay offline, he added. “Our goal is to double the amount of commerce online by 2015,” Tajani said. “We need exponential growth” to get Europe out of its present economic crisis.

Our own European Vice President Matt Brittin announced a new collaboration between the Lisbon Council and Google. In some countries, Matt noted, the Internet already generates more than 7% of GDP - a figure that is set to grow rapidly - with much of the growth coming from small companies. “SMEs are the unsung heroes of the economy,” he said. “But the internet can give them a voice.” In order to prove the point, we assembled small business owners from 15 countries, including a Polish butcher, a Swedish sweet shop, a Dutch clog seller, a Spanish baby clothes retailer, and a Greek travel agent. All power their businesses by leveraging the Internet.



The focus of the event then turned to the platforms (generally large companies) that support online commerce. Martin Tidell, Telenor’s Head of Business Management for SMEs, joined by Google+ hangout from Stockholm and said that the Internet is not just for high tech businesses. “I cannot think of one business that wouldn’t benefit by going online,” he said.

Back in Brussels, Frank Jahn, the Managing Director of Parcels at Belgium’s post office said his company was bracing for a transformation. “We are now a mail company with a parcels operation,” he said. “We need to become a parcels company with a mail operation.”

Next up were three small businesses who shared their experiences of growing online and selling in both domestic markets and across the Single Market. Their panel session also highlighted the "Getting business online” initiative, which has helped more than 250,000 businesses get a website over the last two years.

The final panel of the day, hosted by European Voice, focused on the policy conclusions that the European Commission, European Parliament and the key stakeholder - Europe’s consumers - draw from the debate. And all agreed that the Internet opportunity for businesses is big - and growing.

Posted by Al Verney, Communications Manager, Brussels

Supporting a new Oxford free speech initiative

As the debate over free expression online grows ever louder, Oxford University has launched an innovative interactive forum in 13 languages called freespeechdebate.com. We’re proud to support the initiative with both funds and technology, including Google Translate.

Timothy Garton Ash - a professor and journalist who has analyzed social movements from the rise of the Solidarity free trade union to the tumult of the Arab Spring - is leading the exciting project. At the event’s launch last week in Oxford, Garton Ash interviewed Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. Just the day before, Wikipedia had gone black in protest of two proposed U.S. laws threatening Internet freedom, helping force the U.S. Congress to pull back from a vote on the bills. “On a normal day 25 million people see Wikipedia; yesterday, 162 million saw it and I heard that we even crashed the House of Representatives phone system,” an ebullient Wales said. “Congress saw that there is a passionate community out there ready to defend the Internet.”



The reception afterward took place in Oxford University’s Divinity School library, an appropriate setting where poet John Milton‘s censored writing were saved from being burned almost half a millennium ago. “From yesterday's Wikipedia protest to the role of social media in the Arab Spring, every day brings a free speech controversy to the headlines, Garton Ash said. “Our project aims to contribute structure, depth and detail to this global debate, as well as openness to the views of netizens from different cultures and perspectives.”

Freespeechdebate.com brings together a team of more than 30 graduate students and researchers. It publishes interviews with prominent personalities and case studies from around the globe illustrating the complexity of free speech in the Internet age. At the inauguration, the web site already presented case studies and interviews with a diverse range of free speech defenders. Nobel Peace Prize 2003 winner Shirin Ebadi said that criticism of Islam should be permitted in Iran, while arguing that insults to the religion should be prohibited. Arundhati Roy, the award-winning Indian novelist, spoke about the limits to free speech in India, including government censorship through the media and "goon squads.”

The site's editorial content is translated into Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Urdu. “Freespeechdebate.com will continue producing material for the coming six months, and everyone is encouraged to participate. Members of the public are invited to register online to join the debate. Details on how to participate are found here. The debate will be digitally archived by Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries and become an online educational resource.

Posted by William Echikson, Head of Free Expression, Europe, Middle East and Africa

News Innovation contest opens for applications

We are eager to see journalism flourish in the digital age. Last week, we announced our support of the Global Editor Network’s data journalism prize. Today, we’re happy to see that the International Press Institute has begun accepting applications for the second round of Google-funded media innovation prizes.

Click here for more information and to enter. Applicants are eligible from anywhere in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The Vienna-based International Press Institute is our European partner for Google’s ambitious $5 million global program announced in 2010 to help journalism create new ways of reaching readers online. As media organizations globally continue to broaden their presence online, we’re eager to play our part on the technology side—experimenting with new ways of presenting news online; providing tools like Google Maps and YouTube Direct to make websites more engaging for readers. But while we’re mostly focused on working with news organizations to develop better products for users, we also believe it’s crucial to encourage innovation at the grassroots level. Our grants to non-profit organizations are designed to benefit news publishers of all sizes.

More than 300 applications were received for the first round of International Press Institute-run Google-sponsored prizes last year; three winners were named at the end of last year.

This year’s News Innovation Contest offers prizes in two categories:

• News Platforms: The International Press Institute is looking for projects that leverage online tools to enhance news gathering and delivery. It aims to encourage the creation of new online news platforms that offer new revenue models for supporting high quality journalism.

• Training: Little proper training in online media exists. The Press Institute is looking for initiatives that help traditional journalists transition into online media, by improving their technology skills and familiarising them with online news models.

The contest deadline is February 23 at 15:00 Central European Time. Winners can be announced at the beginning of April.

Posted by Simon Morrison, Copyright Communications and Policy Manager.

Figuring out the value of the web

Today we’re launching a website called Value of the Web to collect research that sheds new light on the economic impact of the Internet. It’s available in English, French, German, Russian and Spanish and currently features a range of studies focusing on (amongst other things) the value of cloud computing in Europe, the value of search around the world, and the Internet’s contribution to GDP - a theme highlighted just last week by the European Commission in its new strategy to build trust in the Digital Single Market.

The value of the web is also the theme of a special event we’re hosting in Brussels on Tuesday 24th January called The Single Market Opportunity - Getting Europe’s SMEs Online. European Commission Vice President Tajani, other prestigious guests and small business from 15 EU countries will join us at the event to discuss how the Internet can help drive economic growth and jobs and help lift Europe out of the economic crisis.

Even though industrial metrics like GDP can’t fully capture the Web’s contributions to our information society, these reports represent the best efforts so far to quantify the Internet’s contributions to the economy and society. The new website will highlight the broad range of value generated by the internet, including in areas such as the contribution of the firms who provide the essential hardware and software to power the Internet and the jobs

In other studies, the findings project exponential growth for economies that are already engaging in e-commerce online. The Boston Consulting Group predicts that by 2015, at least 10% of the British economy will be Internet-based. Universal broadband access and creating innovative business models that capture consumer surplus could increase the value added by the Internet by roughly £43 billion, which is just less than half what the British government spends on education today.

The reports draw on work by globally renowned economic analysts such as the Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte Access Economics, McKinsey Global Institute, Nomura Research Institute, the Sogang University Market Economy Research Institute and academic economist Federico Etro at the University of Venice.

In time, we hope the site will become a central repository for insight derived from new measurements and data that move toward a more complete understanding of the Web’s impact. We’ll continue developing the site by adding more improvements, including more languages and content. Check back frequently for updates or choose to subscribe for alerts via email.

And if you’d like to participate in Tuesday's discussion about how the Internet can help get Europe’s economy back on track, please register now to secure one of the final places available at the Single Market Opportunity event.

Posted by Patricia Wruuck, Policy Analyst, Brussels

Data Journalism Awards Now Accepting Submissions

Last November, we announced our support for a new Data Journalism competition, organized by the Global Editors Network. The competition is now open to submissions and today we hosted an event at our offices in London to share details on how to compete and win a total of six prizes worth EUR 45,000. The European Journalism Centre is running the contest and Google is sponsoring.



Journalism is going through an exciting—if sometimes wrenching—transition from off to online. Google is keen to help. We see exciting possibilities of leveraging data to produce award-winning journalism. “Data journalism is a new, exciting part of the media industry, with at present only a small number of practitioners,” said Peter Barron, Google’s Director of External Relations. “We hope to see the number grow.”

In data journalism, reporters leverage numerical data and databases to gather, organize and produce news. Bertrand Pecquerie, the Global Editor Network’s CEO, believes the use of data will, in particular, revolutionize investigative reporting. “We are convinced that there is a bright future for journalism,” he said at the London event. “This is not just about developing new hardware like tablets. It is above all about producing exciting new content.”

The European Journalism Centre, a non-profit based in Maastricht, has been running data training workshops for several years. It is producing the Data Journalism Awards website and administering the prize. “This new initiative should help convince editors around the world that data journalism is not a crazy idea, but a viable part of the industry,” says Wilfried Ruetten, Director of the center.

Projects should be submitted to http://www.datajournalismawards.org. The deadline is April 10, 2012. Entries should have been published or aired between April 11, 2011 and April 10, 2012. Media companies, non-profit organisations, freelancers and individuals are eligible.

Submissions are welcomed in three categories: data-driven investigative journalism, data-driven applications and data visualisation and storytelling. National and international projects will be judged separately from local and regional ones. “We wanted to encourage not only the New York Times’s of the world to participate, but media outlets of all sizes,” says Pecquerie. “Journalism students are also invited to enter, provided their work has been published.”

An all-star jury has been assembled of journalists from prestigious international media companies including the New York Times, the Guardian, and Les Echos. Paul Steiger, the former editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal and founder of the Pulitzer Prize-winning ProPublica, will serve as president.

Winners will be announced at the Global News Network’s World Summit in Paris on May 31, 2012.

Posted by William Echikson, External Relations