Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Talking Moonshots at the London Design Festival
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
London has long been considered a global centre for design and innovation. Google UK partnered with the
London Design Festival
, a ten day event bringing some of the world’s leading designers and visionaries together to discuss the future of the planet.
Our own Google visionariy,
Dr. Astro Teller
, Engineering Director of Google X, joined the festival live from California, via Google+ Hangout. Google X affords an opportunity for top researchers to take a high impact technology vision and bring it to the world at scale. Much of the group's work is still in the very early stages, but the lab is already known for its technology moonshots like
self-driving cars
and
Project Glass’s computer animated eyewear
.
Astro spoke about Google’s culture and ambition to take Moonshots; audacious projects that aim to solve global problems. “Our goal is to create things that are massively positive for the world,” Teller said.
Moonshots may sound like science fiction. But Teller and his Google X colleagues are showing that what may sound like science fiction may end up solving enormous global that affect billions of people.
Posted by Stephen Rosenthal, UK Communications and Public Affairs Manager
Celebrating startups with the new Google for Entrepreneurs
Monday, September 24, 2012
Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
Startups and entrepreneurs have the power to build technologies and creative solutions that transform the world and move us forward. Innovation is happening everywhere: There are approximately
400 million entrepreneurs across 54 countries
, and 69 million early-stage entrepreneurs offering new products and services. As Google turns 14 this month, we’re celebrating this creative spirit and officially launching
Google for Entrepreneurs
, the umbrella for our several dozen programs and partnerships around the world that support startups and entrepreneurs.
Our focus is threefold:
Partnerships with strong organizations that serve entrepreneurs in local communities
Google-led programs to bring our teams and our tools directly to entrepreneurs
Placing relevant Google tools in the hands of startups as they are getting off the ground and ready to scale
We’re already on a roll, with current projects ranging from support for the
annual journey of entrepreneurship
through India by train, to partnering with a number of accelerator and incubator programs around the world, like
iHub
in Kenya and
Le Camping
in France. And, this week, we’re rolling out our newest partnership: teaming up with Women 2.0 to bring their Founder Friday events to more cities. These events bring together current and aspiring female entrepreneurs once a month to connect with mentors and one another to build community. We’re partnering to launch Founder Fridays in Detroit, New Orleans, Sao Paulo and Moscow over the next year.
To celebrate both our birthday and the spirit of entrepreneurship that’s helped get us where we are today, we are hosting our first annual Google for Entrepreneurs Week, which will bring together more than 3,000 entrepreneurs and Googlers around the world. We kicked off over the weekend with a
Startup Weekend
event hosted at the Google Ventures Startup Lab in Mountain View, Calif., where Bay Area entrepreneurs came together to create their own startups in 54 hours.
Over the course of the next week, Googlers in 28 cities across 13 countries will be hosting an event in their communities to bring their passion and expertise to local entrepreneurs. We’re teaming with a number of partners to make this happen, including the
Idea Village
in New Orleans,
Communitech
in Waterloo,
Tetuan Valley
in Wroclaw, the
Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship
in Johannesburg and the
Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce in Iowa
.
For more on these existing programs and to stay connected on upcoming events, visit google.com/entrepreneurs and
follow us on G+
.
Posted by Mary Grove, Head of Global Entrepreneurship Outreach
Democratising high speed Internet access in Senegal
Monday, September 24, 2012
A decade ago, Senegal was one of the most promising African countries in adopting the Internet, with more than double the Internet penetration than in Nigeria. Yet today Nigeria have leaped ahead with 30% of its population enjoying access to the web versus only 16% for Senegal.
In order to find out what went wrong, we commissioned a study being published today. Produced by the consulting firm
Balancing Act
, the report is titled
"Obstacles and Opportunities for the democratization of broadband in Senegal
."
Many obstacles exist in Senegal. Because of rigid licensing and weak regulation, the incumbent operator holds a de facto monopoly on access to the national fiber infrastructure and the copper lines into households. This lack of competition keeps prices high - it costs $400 to get 1 Mbps/km capacity in Senegal, but only $20 in Kenya.
In contrast, the study shows that the introduction of liberal licensing regime in Kenya and South Africa has increased competition. In Kenya, for instance, the number of infrastructure licences doubled over the past three years and now counts 30 providers. Similarly, in South Africa the number of ISP soared to 726, up from 326.
Balancing Act proposes several key changes. Internet suppliers must be authorized to build their own infrastructure and compete against incumbents. Government should encourage competition and transparency in international capacity by enforcing existing but until now ignored regional regulation.
We believe it is important to have a conversation on how to improve Internet access in Senegal. Please download and read the
report
and share your comments, observations, questions and contributions via this
form
. Next month, we will organize a feedback workshop.
We look forward to hearing from you - and hopefully, sparking a vigorous debate.
Posted by Seydina L. Diop , Policy Analyst, Francophone Africa
European Commission President Barroso speaks out
Saturday, September 22, 2012
An Irish homeowner asked what could be done to help him deal with his unsustainable mortgage. “What’s next for my country?” wondered a Greek worker. The Italian head of the Europe Youth Forum inquired about solutions to the continent’s high youth unemployment.
The questions were directed via Google+ Hangout to European Commission President
José Manuel Barroso
.
Aired live throughout Europe on Euronews, the interactive interview featured Europeans asking, often plaintively, about the continent’s economic and political crisis and its future. Take a look below on the European Commission’s
EUTube
to see how the president answered.
A full transcript is available here on the
European Commission website
.
Posted by Al Verney, Senior Manager, Communications and Public Affairs, Brussels
Hanging out for Jewish-Arab dialogue in Israel
Friday, September 21, 2012
Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
Despite the fact that Israeli Arab and Jewish youth live in the same country and even study at the same universities, they often grow up without meeting. When tensions rise in the region, this lack of mutual understanding can lead to stereotyping, hostility and even violence.
We believe the Internet can help break down these barriers. In honor of today’s 30th annual International Day of Peace, we’re partnering with the
Peres Center for Peace
, a non-profit organisation founded by the President of Israel and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Shimon Peres
. The center promotes cooperation and peacebuilding between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel as well as between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
Together, we’ll be holding a series of Hangouts on Google+ designed to enable dialogue between Israeli Arab and Jewish students. “Hanging Out for Peace” is a six-month project that will involve nearly 150 Israeli university students, women and men, with an equal number of Arabs and Jews. Students will be divided into mixed Jewish and Arab ‘circles’, matched with other students who study the same subject at university.
The circles will meet via Hangouts on Google+, led by instructors from the Peres Center, and will undertake online and offline projects related to the circle’s area of academic focus. After a series of Hangouts, the students will meet face to face, present the projects they’ve developed to the larger group of participants and discuss issues that arose during their work together.
The Internet provides a perfect platform for dialogue and cooperation. It can help overcome
physical barriers
and connect people from
different cultures
who have shared interests and common values. We’re excited to see how this project develops and hope that, in a small way, it will help foster coexistence and understanding between Israeli Jews and Arabs and, in the future, build bridges between other communities too.
Posted by Doron Avni, Head of Policy, Israel
Stepping up on free expression in Germany
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Until now, the
German Foreign Ministry
had sponsored one main conference on the Internet - focusing on cybersecurity. Last week, it held a new conference focusing on the counterpart -
cyberfreedom
.
Google was happy to sponsor, along with many others including Microsoft and the eco ( Association of German Internet Industry). In a video address, our Chief Internet Evangelist
Vint Cerf
warned the assembled 120 international experts from the political, academic and business sectors as well as from civil society that the open Internet is threatened as never before. More than 40 countries now censor or filter the net, up from only four a decade ago. "A new international battle is brewing,” Vint said, “a battle that will determine the future of the Internet."
The
conference
coincided with a particularly tense time for Internet free expression, just as an anti-Islam video sparked protests in Egypt and Libya. Foreign Minister
Guido Westerwelle
condemned the video, while insisting that it was no excuse for violence. The fundamental principles of German Cyber Foreign Policy were: freedom, responsibility and transparency,” he said.
Another recent event in Berlin highlighted Google’s commitment to free speech - the second Speakers Corner. Last year, we partnered with
Speakers Corner Trust
to export a bit of Hyde Park to Berlin. Together with our partners, we
celebrated
the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate.
This year, we moved the event forward to ensure better weather and to the main site of the protests against the East German communist regime - Alexanderplatz. A wide range of speakers from politics, digital activism, journalism and civil society groups spoke about everything from the future of online piracy to the challenges of a united Germany. It was a joyous occasion - just what we mean by free expression.
Posted by William Echikson, Head of Free Expression, Europe, Middle East and Africa
Snakes, crocodiles - and the Internet in Africa
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Where can you watch intelligent discussion about the Internet mixed with performance poetry and the best in book writing alongside snakes and crocodiles? This year’s
Nairobi Hay-Storymoja
festival, of which Google was one of the main sponsors, took place in the
National Museum of Kenya
.
Many of Africa’s most thought-provoking writers and an array of international guests participated. One panel brought together
Ory Okolloh
, Google’s head of policy for Africa, with Christian Turner and the British Ambassador to Kenya.
Their wide-ranging discussion about the online world encompassed everything from the economic benefits, to the challenges of cultural and religious sensitivity, to whether the Internet lessens or enhances inequalities. Asked by a local school pupil what her message was for anyone seeking to fulfil their ambitions, Okolloh declared: “at some point you just have to go out and do it.”
African writers, both local and from the diaspora, were at the forefront, performing live, giving workshops to young people and taking part in Google + hang outs. Lemn Sissay and Patience Williams, both Africans brought up by adoptive parents in the UK, spoke movingly about the challenges of “difference”. One of the most passionate defences of free speech and activism came from Kenyan poet
Sitawa Namwalie
. Her spectacular show,
“Cut off My Tongue”
, which has been performed in several countries, managed the tough feat of injecting humour into the treatment of difficult issues, such as ethnic violence and corruption.
Arguably the star of the show was
Jung Chang,
author of
Wild Swans
, the extraordinary story of Mao’s brutality told through the lives of three generations of her family. She was giving the first Wangari Maathai Memorial Lecture, in honour of the Kenyan environmental activist and Nobel Laureate who died a year ago.
Storymoja-Hay is a joint venture between a Kenyan publishing house and British literature festival. It has grown into one of the most prominent artistic events in the region. Google funds and participates in six Hay festivals around the world, including Beirut, Spain and Kenya. Google is proud to support this exciting international expansion.
Posted by John Kampfner, External Advisor on Freedom of Expression and Culture Team
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