Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Safer Internet Day: how we help you stay secure online
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Technology can sometimes be complicated, but you shouldn’t have to be a computer scientist or security expert to stay safe online. Protecting our users is one of our top priorities at Google. Whether it’s creating easy-to-use tools to help you manage your information online or fighting the bad guys behind the scenes, we’re constantly investing to make Google the best service you can rely on, with security and privacy features that are on 24-7 and working for you.
Last year, we launched Good to Know, our biggest-ever consumer education campaign focused on making the web a safer, more comfortable place. Today, on Safer Internet Day, we’re
updating Good to Know
to include more tips and advice to help you protect yourself and your family from identity theft, scams and online fraud. You can also learn how to make your computer or mobile device more secure, and get more out of the web—from searching more effectively to making calls from your computer. And you can find out more about how Google works to make you, your device and the whole web safer.
For example, we encrypt the Gmail and Google Search traffic between your computer and Google - this protects your Google activity from being snooped on by others. We also make this protection, known as session-wide SSL encryption, the default when you’re signed into Google Drive. Because outdated software makes your computer more vulnerable to security problems, we built the Chrome browser to auto-update to the latest version every time you start it. It gives you up-to-date security protection without making you do any extra work.
We know staying safe online is important to you - and it is important to us too. So on Safer Internet Day, we’re participating in events in countries across Europe including: one hundred simultaneous online safety workshops with the
Italian Postal Police
; a Hangout between parliamentarian
Trine Bramsen
and 80 school kids from a primary school in Højby, Denmark; and a debate about inappropriate content online in Germany, with politicians from the Brandenburg state government and civil society groups. There, we'll be talking about our
YouTube 361 campaign
to encourage tolerance and respect online:
And in Brussels, we’ll be launching of a new educational handbook for 13-16 year-olds that we have helped develop in collaboration with
InSafe
,
INHOPE
,
the European Commission
,
Liberty Global
and
European Schoolnet
(the network of thirty Ministries of Education). The booklet, which will be available in multiple languages, has been extensively tested with young people across Europe, and will guide classroom discussions on digital footprints, reputation, rights and responsibilities online.
We've also been a part of Commissioner Neelie Kroes'
Better Internet for Kids
initiative, and now support - amongst other commitments - new ways to report harmful content online, including
Second Friend
and
Net Ecoute
.
Please find some time today to talk with friends and family about Internet safety. Take affirmative action by making your passwords stronger and turning on 2-step verification to protect your Google Account. And please also visit our new
Good to Know
site to find more tips and resources to help you stay safe online.
Posted by Alma Whitten, Director of Privacy, Product and Engineering
Big Tent Brussels: Europe's economy and the Internet
Monday, February 4, 2013
Does the Internet encourage innovation in other sectors? How much does it really contribute to Europe's economy? Does it create new jobs, or just displace existing ones?
These are just some of the questions we will be debating on February 20th at our
Brussels Big Tent
event, held in association with the
Irish Presidency
.
Richard Bruton
, Irish Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will open the Brussels event.
Taylor Reynolds
of the OECD will debate the opportunities for economic growth online with
Anthony D, Williams
, co-author of Wikinomics and
Jeff Lynn
, Chairman of Coadec.
Highlights of the 2012 London Big Tent
Professor John Van Reenen
from the London School of Economics and
Kathryn Parsons
, co-founder of Decoded will discuss whether the internet can help solve unemployment in Europe and how productivity gains from technology adoption can drive growth across all sectors of the economy. Innovation Commissioner
Maire Geoghegan-Quinn
will close the event.
The
Big Tent event series
brings together speakers with diverse points of view to debate some of today’s hot topics around the internet, the economy and society.
We hope you can join us in Brussels on 20th February - please
check out the programme
and
register to attend
by 18th February.
Posted by Angela Steen, Google Public Policy, Brussels
Featuring 6 Nations rugby on YouTube
Monday, February 4, 2013
For many European sports lovers, mid-winter means rugby and specifically the
RBS 6 Nations
rugby tournament. This weekend saw the opening matches and we’re delighted to let you know you can now catch up on all the action on YouTube. The RBS 6 Nations and YouTube are partnering for the next three seasons to bring match highlights and exclusive content to viewers worldwide.
Watch
Ireland hold off Wales
in Cardiff despite a second half comeback,
England overcome the spirited Scots
in London, and
Italy surprise the French
in Rome.
The official YouTube channel,
‘RBS6Nations’
, will have highlights from every championship match available to watch within minutes of the end of each match. As an added bonus for viewers in the UK, Ireland and Italy, highlights will be uploaded during the games.
Watch Irish winger, Simon Zebo’s delicious flick against Wales
The channel will offer viewers the chance to watch a wealth of archive moments from past tournaments, which will be uploaded on a regular basis. We hope you enjoy our rugby content on YouTube and stay tuned as YouTube adds more high quality sports content.
Posted by Stephen Nuttall, Senior Director, Sports for YouTube Europe, Middle East and Africa
Google creates €60m Digital Publishing Innovation Fund to support transformative French digital publishing initiatives
Friday, February 1, 2013
Cross-posted with the Official Google Blog
Google has worked with news publishers around the globe for years to help them make the most of the web. Our search engine generates billions of clicks each month, and our advertising solutions (in which we have invested billions of dollars) help them make money from that traffic. And last year, we launched Google Play, which offers new opportunities for publishers to make money—including through paid subscriptions. A healthy news industry is important for Google and our partners, and it is essential to a free society.
Today I announced with President Hollande of France two new initiatives to help stimulate innovation and increase revenues for French publishers. First, Google has agreed to create a €60 million Digital Publishing Innovation Fund to help support transformative digital publishing initiatives for French readers. Second, Google will deepen our partnership with French publishers to help increase their online revenues using our advertising technology.
This exciting announcement builds on the commitments we made in 2011 to increase our investment in France—including our Cultural Institute in Paris to help preserve amazing cultural treasures such as the Dead Sea Scrolls. These agreements show that through business and technology partnerships we can help stimulate digital innovation for the benefit of consumers, our partners and the wider web.
Posted by Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman
Mapping creates jobs and drives global economic growth
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
Twenty years ago, we used paper maps and printed guides to help us navigate the world. Today, the most advanced digital mapping technologies—satellite imagery, GPS devices, location data and of course
Google Maps
—are much more accessible. This sea change in mapping technology is improving our lives and helping businesses realise untold efficiencies.
The transformation of the maps we use everyday is driven by a growing industry that creates jobs and economic growth globally. To present a clearer picture of the importance of the geo services industry, we commissioned studies from
Boston Consulting Group
(BCG) and
Oxera
. What we found is that maps make a big economic splash around the world.
In summary, the global geo services industry is valued at up to $270 billion per year and pays out $90 billion in wages. In the U.S., it employs more than 500,000 people and is worth $73 billion. The infographic below illustrates some examples of the many benefits of maps, whether it’s improving agriculture irrigation systems or helping emergency response teams save lives.
Click the image for a larger version
1.1 billion hours of travel time saved each year? That’s a lot of time. Also, consider
UPS
, which uses map technology to optimize delivery routes—saving 5.3 million miles and more than 650,000 gallons of fuel in 2011. And every eight seconds, a user hails a taxi with
Hailo
, which used maps and GPS to deliver more than 1 million journeys in London alone last year. Finally,
Zipcar
uses maps to connect more than 760,000 customers to a growing fleet of cars in locations around the world.
Because maps are such an integral part of how we live and do business, the list of examples goes on and on. That’s why it’s important we all understand the need to invest in the geo services industry so it continues to grow and drive the global economy. Investments can come from the public and private sectors in many forms—product innovation, support of open data policies, more geography education programs in schools and more.
We’re proud of the contributions that
Google Maps
and
Earth
, the
Google Maps APIs
and our
Enterprise solutions
have made to the geo services industry and to making maps more widely available, but there’s a long way to go. To learn more about the impact of the maps industry, see the
full reports
.
Posted by Brian McClendon, VP Google Geo
Bringing Italy’s election campaign online
Thursday, January 31, 2013
For the past several years, we’ve worked to engage voters in the electoral process, creating election websites in countries around the globe. A notable recent example was
Kenya
. Now we’re gearing up for the Italian elections scheduled for February 24 and 25.
Our Italian elections project builds on previous
initiatives
in the country to promote dialogue between politicians and the public. We aim to go beyond spreading information about the vote, focusing on promoting the interaction between citizens and politicians through digital tools. Policymakers will be able to use the new electoral platform to reach voters through Google Hangouts and live streaming. Developers will compete in a 1App4democracy contest to improve democratic participation.
This new
Italy Google Elections
campaign was launched at a recent event in Rome. The event featured a debate about “Web and Democracy” between former Minister of Innovation Renato Brunetta, Italia Futura party parliamentarian Andrea Romano, and blogger and parliamentary candidate Giuseppe Civati.
In the coming month, we will work closely with politicians to allow them to discuss directly with voters. Parliament president Gianfranco Fini, Centre-Catholic party leader Pierferdinando Casini and liberal Prime Minister candidate Fare Oscar Giannino already have taken advantage Google tools such as
hangouts
.
This ambitious project is possible thanks to the participation of two important media partners: La7, the second largest private broadcaster, and La Stampa, a leading daily newspaper. We hope this project will help Italians make their choice for their next government.
Posted by Diego Ciulli, Policy Manager, Italy
Free Raspberry Pi’s for aspiring young UK programmers
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
"The success of the BBC Micro in the 1980s shows what's possible. There's no reason why Raspberry Pi shouldn't have the same impact, with the right support."
That was Eric Schmidt
speaking in May
about the opportunity for Raspberry Pi to inspire budding computer scientists.
Today Google is backing the
Raspberry Pi Foundation
with more than words, by providing funding
to allow 15,000 UK kids
enthusiastic about computer science to get a Raspberry Pi for free.
Photo credit: Paul Beech (@guru)
To ensure no Pi is wasted, devices will be doled out with the help of six educational partners:
Codeclub
,
Computing At School
,
Generating Genius
,
Coderdojo
,
Teach First
and
OCR
. Each organisation will have a supply of free Pi’s to give to children they meet who demonstrate an aptitude and passion for computing. As an added bonus, each device handed out will come with a teaching and learning pack, created by OCR, and designed to help kids dig in right away and get the most out of their Pi’s.
There’s no magic solution to the UK’s computer science education woes, but real progress is being made thanks to the combined efforts of many. Google is proud to lend our support and, we hope, a little Pi will go a long way.
Posted by Theo Bertram, Public Policy Manager, UK
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