Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Hanging out with a Nobel Prize economics laureate
Thursday, July 11, 2013
We believe the Internet represents the motor of the 21st century economy, and its always nice to hear a Nobel Prize winner explain how best to encourage net innovation. Czech
CERGE-EI
think tank recently organized a Google Hangout with Nobel Laureate for economics
Eric Maskin
.
The Prague setting was appropriate. The Czech Republic’s economy remains dependent on traditional manufacturing, particularly the auto industry, which accounts for nearly a quarter of Czech output. Czech policymakers regularly acknowledge the need to move toward a more high-tech, services-based, knowledge economy. How?
Professor Maskin suggested that the Czech Republic and the rest of Europe needed to be careful about imposing a heavy patent burden on the tech sector. Software, semiconductor, and computer industries have been innovative despite historically weak patent protection, he argues. “In software you don’t have single big breakthroughs, but rather a succession of many small improvements,” he explained. “If I patent a small discovery and you want to build on it, you won’t be able to do that easily - I’m going to block you with my patents.”
The Nobel Prize winner discussed these ideas, along with many others, with Czech commentators
David Marek
(Chief Economist, Patria Finance) and
Jakub Steiner
(Associate Professor, CERGE-EI). During his discussion, Professor Maskin is not an anti-patent zealot. He compared the software to the pharmaceutical industry, where he said patents could be effective. “In the case of drugs, where you have a single big breakthrough and have to spend hundreds of millions, patents have been useful for drug companies and society,” he said.
The Czech Republic, along with the rest of Europe, needs to embrace Internet innovation and Professor Maskin offers some important insights in how to construct the best possible innovation environment. We hope to hold new Hangouts from Prague to foster a healthy debate on Internet regulation.
Posted by Denis Gibadulin, Public Policy & Gov't Relations Analyst, Czech Republic
Supporting Israeli and Palestinian technology students
Monday, July 8, 2013
In his recent Jerusalem speech, President Obama referenced one of our 2013
RISE
award recipients,
MEET - Middle East Education through Technology
as an example of how innovation is reshaping the Middle East.
Today, on MEET’s 10th anniversary, hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis will come together in Jerusalem to celebrate MEET's impact, showcasing technology and business projects built by students who’ve participated in their program. The event will be livestreamed on YouTube between 4-6pm GMT/6-8pm IDT, to enable MEET’s community all over the world to join the occasion. Watch
here.
Working in partnership with
Massachusets Institute of Technology
, MEET's mission is to educate and empower the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians to bring about positive change in the region. Their groundbreaking program teaches computer science, entrepreneurship and leadership to 160 high school students (age 15-17) over three years. The program comprises three consecutive summers at the Hebrew University with volunteer instructors from MIT, and weekly program sessions in the two intervening years at the MEET hubs in Jerusalem and Nazareth, taught by MEET alumni.
Google’s work with support for MEET goes beyond the RISE award. Googlers from Tel Aviv, Mountain View and London serve as project mentors; and the Venture Lab incubator for social and business initiatives led by MEET alumni is a partner of
Google’s Campus Tel Aviv Launchpad
program.
MEET has accomplished much in its first decade, and we know they have great plans for the future.
Alison Daniel-Cutler, Pre-University Education Outreach, Europe, Middle East and Africa
A new way to experience the 100th Tour de France
Monday, July 8, 2013
This year, the Tour de France is celebrating its 100th edition with a special route, from Corsica to Les Champs-Elysées, giving people around the world the chance to admire beautiful sights as well as amazing athletic feats.
Our Doodle celebrating the 100th edition of the Tour de France
The Tour de France uses a variety of Google products that can help you experience the race like never before, including a
YouTube
channel, a
Google+ page
and an
Android app
where you can keep up with this 100th edition. We’ve also used Google Maps and Street View to create a new interactive experience that lets you feel what it’s like to pedal alongside the greats. Put on your helmet and cycle
here
.
So what are you waiting for?
Line up and get started
!
Posted by Raphaël Goumain, Consumer Marketing Director, France
Hanging out with innovators
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Over the past decade, Slovakia has reformed its taxation, healthcare, pension, and social welfare systems, attracting large inflows of foreign investment into the automobile and electronic sectors, and becoming Central Europe’s first country to adopt the euro in January, 2009. But Europe’s economic woes have slowed growth. The Slovak government believes it must forge ahead finding new and innovative sources of growth - particularly on the Internet.
For this reason, the Ministry of the Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic recently worked with Slovak Alliance for Internet Economy to stream its first ever live
Google Hangout
with Israeli venture entrepreneur
Jon Medved
. Medved has invested in over 100 Israeli startup companies, helping 12 of them to get to valuations in excess of $100 million. His presentation, entitled “Israel - the Power to Astonish,” explained to the online audience that venture capital for web startups was flowing into israel despite the global economic crisis. What is Israel’s “special sauce?,” he asked rhetorically. “A willingness to accept risk and failure,” he answered.
Slovakia’s major economic daily
Hospodarske noviny
streamed the hangout live on its website and four national startup hubs participated. We are planning to continue these hangouts from Finland and elsewhere, creating a series of
“Innovators Connect”
policy discussions about innovation and Internet Economy. Tune in and see if Slovakia can become the next hot e-country.
Posted by Ondrej Socuvka, Public Policy Manager, Bratislava
An evening with the UK’s computing pioneers
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
It was fish and chips, ice-cream and popcorn all round as we celebrated the UK’s computing heritage on Monday with a night of film and stories from some of the country’s pioneers.
The evening began with unveiling a new display showcasing the extensive contributions the UK has made to computing—from
Charles Babbage
and
Ada Lovelace
, to
Donald Davies
and
Tim Berners-Lee
. It now has pride of place in the reception of Google’s Central St Giles office in London, and we hope will help make these achievements better known.
Following came more formal sessions, beginning with those who first brought the Internet to the UK. The
pioneering work of the National Physical Laboratory
was described by Roger Scantlebury and Peter Wilkinson, both members of Donald Davies’ team who built the NPL network—the first Internet-like thing in the UK. They were joined
by Peter Kirstein from UCL
and
Vint Cerf
who recounted the story of how the US Arpanet came to be connected to NPL’s network, via Peter’s workaround gateway at UCL.
It was a thrill to have these four pioneers together, reminiscing about their early work and the creative ways they overcame the many challenges, bureaucratic and technological. If you’d like to hear the inside scoop on how the Internet got started in the UK, enjoy this video:
The evening was rounded off with
some film screenings
, interspersed with presentations by Tilly Blyth from the
Science Museum
, and David Hartley from
TNMOC
, describing the great work they’re doing to help preserve and promote the UK’s computing heritage. Finishing with a lively Q&A session with Vint Cerf where we talked about the Internet’s future.
Thanks to everyone who came, and all who shared their stories, making it such a memorable night.
Posted by Lynette Webb, Senior Manager, External Relations
Joining the European Union - live on YouTube
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Croatia
this week became the 28th member of the European Union, with crowds joining celebrations in the capital Zagreb. Fireworks lit the sky as membership became effective - and the celebrations were streamed live on YouTube.
Thousands of people assembled in Zagreb's main square for the accession ceremony."Welcome to the European Union!,"
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso
said in Croatian to the cheering crowd.
Croatia’s President Ivo Josipovic
said it was "a great and joyful day for our homeland".
More and more European politicians are using YouTube and other Google tools to get their message across. Lithuania this week took over the rotating six month presidency of the European Union’s Council.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite
welcomed the moment, naturally, on YouTube.
“Europe is going through tough times,” the President said. “We Lithuanians know exactly what it means. We have survived a number of occupations. We fought for our freedom. We have never doubted our European path.” We hope these stirring words will signal six months of success for Europe.
The
opening ceremony
of the Lithuanian presidency of the EU Council will be live-streamed via Hangout on Air on Friday afternoon. Watch it on
YouTube
or
Google+
from 4 PM Central Eruope Time. Guests are expected to include European Commission President Borroso, and
European Council President Herman van Rompuy
.
Posted by Marta Poslad, Policy Analyst, Central and Eastern Europe
Campaigning for Innovation in Central and Eastern Europe
Friday, June 28, 2013
Two decades ago, Central and Eastern Europe threw off the shackles of communism. Today, the region is among Europe’s most dynamic, and we recently held our first Big Tent in the region to investigate how Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary could play a leadership role in driving forward innovation on the web.
This newfound freedom encourages the region to embrace the Internet, Polish ministers said. “We prefer freedom,”
Michal Boni
, the digitisation minister, repeated twice in the keynote address.
Deputy Foreign Minister Henryka Mościcka-Dendys
argued that new technologies helping “civic initiatives gain wider ground for their actions.” A concrete example is opening up public data. By examining online license plate records Zuzana Wienk, a Slovak anti-corruption campaigner, demonstrated the bidding for street cleanup services was rigged.
The Internet already is driving economic progress. At the Big Tent, we showcased successful Internet startups and social innovators. They ranged from Polands’ game startup
Dice+
and audio books pioneer
Audioteka
to Hungarys’ to
K-Monitor
transparency project and presentation tools developer
Prezi
. From Slovakia, traditional
Ultra Plast
plastic maker showed how to leverage its net presence to boost exports.
At the same time, the region needs to improve its education and regulation. While universities produce excellent engineers, they rank low in equipping graduates with needed business skills. Too few offerings exist for adult education. “If there is no lifelong learning, there is no lifelong earning,” quipped
Jan Figel
, Deputy Speaker of the Slovak Parliament. Other panelists wanted to see government change regulations to make it easier for companies to take risks, to start new businesses and to wind them down if and when they fail.
Our Big Tent took place in the wake of revelations that the U.S. intelligence agencies had conducted an online surveillance campaign. Google’s chief legal officer
David Drummond
stressed that the threats to the open web are not always from autocratic regimes and that any limitations to freedom online should be set narrowly. He acknowledged the dangers of online radical and racist speech. But he said that the Internet offers the best vehicle for dealing with the issue - “counter-speech” denouncing the hate.
Most of the debate had an optimistic tone, with faith in future innovation. The audience appreciated a demonstration of
Google Glass
. Slovakia’s Figel, who previously served as a European Commissioner, tried on a pair and checked the weather in the European Union’s capital Brussels. It was sunny outside in Warsaw - and grey and overcast in Brussels.
Posted by Agata Wacławik-Wejman, Head of Public Policy, Central and Eastern Europe
Labels
Academics
18
Advertising
10
Africa
26
Austria
7
Belgium
25
Big Tent
11
Bosnia and Herzegovina
2
Browsers
1
Brussels Tech Talk
7
Bulgaria
5
Campus
2
Child Safety
24
Cloud computing
17
Competition
16
Computer Science
35
Computing Heritage
37
Consumers
11
controversial content
2
COP21
1
copyright
34
Crisis Response
2
Culture
116
Czech Republic
16
Data Centre
15
Denmark
4
Digital News Initiative
6
Digital Single Market
1
Diversity
7
Economic Impact of the Internet
57
Economy
24
Elections
7
Energy + Environment
16
Engineering
6
Environment
5
Estonia
6
European Commission
21
European Parliament
14
European Union
104
exhibitions
1
Finland
13
France
77
Free Expression
88
Free flow of information
47
German
1
Germany
65
Google for Entrepreneurs
9
Google in Europe Blog
846
Google Play
1
Google TechTalk
2
Google Translate
1
Google Trends
3
Google+
4
Greece
16
Growth Engine
3
Hackathon
3
Hungary
16
Innovation
70
Internet Governance
7
IP
10
Ireland
16
Israel
17
Italy
42
Journalism
34
Latvia
1
Lithuania
1
Luxembourg
3
Maps
17
Middle East
18
Netherlands
6
News
2
News Lab
1
North Africa
6
Norway
3
online
1
Online Safety
2
Open data
8
Open Government
7
Open source
2
Poland
24
Portugal
6
Power of Data
25
privacy
49
Publishing
30
Right to be Forgotten
9
Rio+20
1
Romania
3
Russia
18
Safer Internet Day
4
San Marino
1
Science
5
Security
7
Single Market
7
Slovakia
16
Slovenia
2
SMEs
24
Spain
39
Startups
6
State of the Union
2
STEM Education
36
Street View
38
Surveillance
1
Sweden
13
Switzerland
11
Telecoms
11
The Netherlands
4
Tourism
1
Transparency
12
Tunisia
4
Turkey
3
Ukraine
3
United Kingdom
94
Vatican
2
Youth
2
YouTube
42
Archive
2016
Sep
Introducing YouTube Creators for Change
Announcing a Google.org grant for XperiBIRD.be, a ...
Bringing education to refugees in Lebanon with the...
Juncker embraces creators -- and their concerns
Tour 10 Downing Street with Google Arts and Culture
European copyright: there's a better way
Digital News Initiative: Introducing the YouTube P...
#AskJuncker: YouTube creators to interview the Eur...
An extinct world brought back to life with Google ...
Project Muze: Fashion inspired by you, designed by...
Come Play with us
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Feed
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
