Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
A Big Tent for free expression in The Hague
Thursday, December 8, 2011
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.
Posted by Rogier Klimbie, Policy Manager, Amsterdam
Saluting Europe’s eTowns
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
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.
Posted by Ben Novick, European Communications Manager
Measuring Internet network speeds with the OECD
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
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.
Posted by Meredith Whittaker, Program Manager, Google Research
Inaugurating our new French headquarters
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
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.”
Posted by Anne-Gabrielle Dauba Pantanacce, Head of Communications, France
Supporting innovation in Europe’s capital
Monday, December 5, 2011
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:
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.
Europe’s future need not be one of crisis - but one of innovation, Eric concluded. Europe has the talent. It has the human potential. Now the task is to summon new thinking and leadership at every level in society to ensure that the full promise of technology is unlocked.
Posted by Simon Hampton, Director, European Public Policy and Government Affairs
Honoring innovative digital journalism in Paris
Friday, December 2, 2011
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.
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.
Posted by Elisabeth Bargès, Institutional Relations, Google France
Making Internet a safer place in Russia
Friday, December 2, 2011
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.
Posted by Ksenia Karyakina, Policy Analyst for Russia
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