Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Celebrating start-ups at Campus Party London
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Last week, I joined more than 10,000 “Campuseros” at
Campus Party London
- a huge gathering of coders, tech entrepreneurs, press and politicians, all focused on the Internet as an engine of economic growth for Europe. The event felt more like a music festival than a traditional conference, and featured an
indoor campsite
and countless, workshops, hackathons and demonstrations - all dedicated to showing what the digital sector can deliver for Europe’s future.
European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes
used the occasion
to give an inspiring speech about the need for Europe to embrace digital innovation. Her “Startup Europe Leaders Club” launched the
Startup Manifesto
.
Drafted by European entrepreneurs including Joanna Shields, CEO of TechCity UK, Daniel Ek, founder of Spotify and Niklas Zennström, founder of Atomico and Skype, the manifesto is an excellent proposal to tackle the issues that inhibit entrepreneurship and innovation in Europe. We hope it will be a useful guide for the 28 EU leaders who’ll meet to discuss digital opportunities in October at the European Council.
Google was glad to play its part in the event too. My Google colleagues Vint Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the internet, and Chris DiBona, Google’s open source guru, spoke about the future of the Internet and Open Source.
I gave a talk about the principles of innovation at Google and how we implement them in our own
Campus London
, which, in its first year alone, has hosted
more than 860 events
, offering more than 60,000 entrepreneurs
mentorship, technical advice and training
. We’re replicating these kinds of initiatives across Europe and around the world via our
Google for Entrepreneurs
programme too.
Throughout the event, noise and energy levels were high - in part because of performances from the likes of
Beardyman
- but also because Europe’s digital sector is gaining momentum. Since the start of the crisis in 2008, the number of European start-up accelerators and incubators has grown by nearly 400%, putting the continent more or less on an even footing with the US in terms of startup programs per capita. And more broadly, the digital economy already contributes up to 8 percent of GDP in some EU economies, and 4% of EU GDP and is predicted to grow seven times faster than the rest of the economy. This is an accomplishment to cherish - and nurture!
Posted by Eze Vidra, Head of Campus London
Afternoon tea and a new gallery with computing’s heroines
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Last Saturday saw a special gathering at Bletchley Park to showcase the contributions of women to computing. We were joined in person by some of the UK’s female pioneers—including
Margaret Bullen
who did the wiring and soldering for Colossus, the world’s first electronic computer;
Sophie Wilson
who co-designed the ARM processor, found in almost every mobile phone and tablet; and
Dame Stephanie Shirley
who founded Freelance Programmers, one of the UK’s earliest software startups.
Photos thanks to
Shaun Armstrong
(copyright
Mubsta.com
) and
James Martin
The afternoon got into full swing with a presentation applauding the pioneers present and the
announcement of a new Google sponsored gallery
at The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC). The gallery aims to highlight the achievements and roles played by women as visionaries, engineers, entrepreneurs, programmers and more. It was aptly launched with a
speech by Dame Stephanie Shirley
speaking via hangout from the new Gallery.
Afterwards, people were free to enjoy tours of
Bletchley Park
, guided by some of the original ‘Wrens’ stationed there during the war, and to visit
TNMOC
where they could see the new gallery as well as many other exhibits, and even get hands on and learn to solder!
Photos thanks to
TNMOC
and
James Martin
Bletchley’s Mansion was also decked out for the event with posters highlighting 20 women from the UK and beyond who have made groundbreaking contributions to computing—among them,
Dina St Johnston
,
Grace Hopper
,
Kateryna Yushchenko
,
Karen Sparck Jones
,
Barbara Liskov
,
Sister Mary Kenneth Keller
,
Hedy Lamarr
, and many more, not least
Ada Lovelace
who started it all. Other exhibits included displays by those working to encourage young people to get interested in computing, including
CAS #include
,
Technology Will Save Us
and
Apps For Good
.
Photos thanks to
Shaun Armstrong
(copyright
Mubsta.com
)
Overall, it was a splendid day and a chance to shine a light on some of those whose contributions are often overlooked. And this is just the beginning. Thanks to the
digital touch screens
installed in the new gallery, the displays will evolve and expand as more stories are found.
Do get in touch
if you have an idea or would like to contribute. We’re keen for this to be an inspiring resource for all visitors—especially for girls curious about computing’s opportunities.
Posted by Lynette Webb, Senior Manager, External Relations
What's the State of the European Union? #askbarroso!
Monday, September 9, 2013
Is Europe really emerging from the financial crisis? What’s going to happen to Europe’s 5 million unemployed young people? Does the rise of euro-sceptic politics spell the end of the EU as we know it? Will Europe act on Syria?
Now’s your chance to put these questions and others to the man in charge of the European Commission, President José Manuel Barroso, in a special, live State of the European Union Hangout interview, hosted by the
euronews Global Conversation
team, but driven by you.
The Hangout on Air takes place on Thursday 12 September at 20:50 CET / 11:50 PDT, one day after President Barroso’s 2013
State of the European Union
address.
euronews is soliciting questions, comments and ideas for the interview until 12:00 CET / 03:00 PDT on Wednesday 11 September. No topic is too big or too small—all you need to do is submit your question (text or video) on Google+, Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag
#askbarroso
. The authors of the best questions—as chosen by euronews editors—will be invited to interview the President in person, live, in the Google+ Hangout.
To tune in, visit the
European Commission’s Google+ page
Thursday 12 September at 20:50 CET / 11:50 PDT. And of course, you can keep commenting up to and after the interview using the hashtags
#askbarroso
and
#SOTEU
.
Posted by Al Verney, Communications Manager, Google Brussels
Four women share stories from UK computing’s early days
Thursday, September 5, 2013
So far, with
rare
exception
, the focus of our
computing history series
has been on technology—the machines that broke new ground and the people behind them.
This time we’re approaching it from a different angle, with the release of short films highlighting the stories of four women. By luck or design, all found themselves working at the forefront of the UK’s computing industry in its earliest stages, and it was fascinating to hear their diverse experiences.
In three clips from past interviews,
Joyce Wheeler
and
Margaret Marrs
talk about their time using
EDSAC
at Cambridge, and
Mary Coombs
tells of programming
LEO
, the world’s first business computer. And in a fourth brand new film,
Dame Stephanie Shirley
shares her extraordinary tale of founding
Freelance Programmers
, one of the UK’s first software startups.
Launched in 1962, Freelance Programmers wasn’t the UK’s first independent software company—that honour goes to
Vaughan Programming Services
founded by another pioneering woman,
Dina St Johnston
, in 1959.
What made Dame Stephanie’s company stand out however was its unusual business model, dedicated to employing women programmers working part-time from home. In an era when women were routinely expected to leave the workforce upon marriage, this was a bold move. Against all odds, Dame Stephanie—or “Steve” as she signed her business letters—dramatically overcame the glass ceiling by sidestepping it, bringing many others in her wake.
Few entrepreneurs have been as successful as Dame Stephanie; even fewer have done as much to champion the cause of women in computing. We’re delighted to share her inspirational story.
Posted by Lynette Webb, Senior Manager, External Relations
Fighting against a censorship machine
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
The Internet is a remarkable platform for giving each of us a voice to reach a global audience. In some cases, unfortunately, people abuse this freedom by publishing unlawful content. Europe’s E-Commerce Directive provides clear rules for dealing with this content without sacrificing the Internet’s broader free expression mission. Importantly, the law says platforms should not be forced to become Internet police, monitoring all content to prevent certain material from ever getting online.
In a Paris courtroom today, former Formula One head Max Mosley's lawyers asked a judge to upset this balance by imposing an alarming new model of automated censorship. He wants web companies to build software filters, in an attempt to automatically detect and delete certain content. Specifically, Mr. Mosley demands that Google build a filter to screen Google’s index and proactively block pages containing images from our results – without anyone, much less a judge, ever seeing it or understanding the context in which the image appears.
We sympathize with Mr. Mosley, and with anyone who believes their rights have been violated. We offer well-established tools to help people to remove specific pages from our search results when those pages have clearly been determined to violate the law. In fact, we have removed hundreds of pages for Mr. Mosley, and stand ready to remove others he identifies.
But the law does not support Mr. Mosley’s demand for the construction of an unprecedented new Internet censorship tool. In repeated rulings, Europe’s highest court has noted that filters are blunt instruments that jeopardise lawful expression and undermine users’ fundamental right to access information. A set of words or images may break the law in one context, but be lawful in another. As an example, a filter might end up censoring news reports about Mr. Mosley’s own court case.
While constituting a dangerous new censorship tool, the filter would fail to solve Mr. Mosley’s problems. Pages removed from search results remain live on the Internet, accessible to users by other means – from following links on social networks to simply navigating to the address in a browser. As an example, one page Mr. Mosley sought to remove comes from a blog, which according to public sources, receives the vast majority of its visits from sources other than web search.
This not just a case about Google, but the entire Internet industry. If Mr. Mosley’s proposal prevails, any start-up could face the same daunting and expensive obligation to build new censorship tools -- despite the harm to users’ fundamental rights and the ineffectiveness of such measures.
We don’t hold paper makers or the people who build printing presses responsible if their customers use those things to break the law. The true responsibility for unlawful content lies with the people who produce it; how web companies work to reduce this content is set out in the E-Commerce Directive. We hope that the courts of France and Germany, where Mr. Mosley has also filed suit, will reject his request for a censorship machine.
Posted by Daphne Keller, Associate General Counsel
Reimagining Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Monday, September 2, 2013
For many, visiting Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon to watch the
Royal Shakespeare Company
perform is a pilgrimage. For many others, however, the trip is too far or too expensive. In an experiment with Google’s Creative Lab, the RSC extended their stage online, to let the world watch, and even participate in a new kind of production called Midsummer Night’s Dreaming. A video summing up the production just has been released.
This groundbreaking project saw a full RSC company, directed by Artistic Director Gregory Doran, perform Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in real time over three days. A group of commissioned artists created new characters inspired by the activity in the play. The new sub-plots were shared on Google+, allowing audiences to interact and see the story unfold through new eyes on this new online stage.
As a legacy of the experiment, the RSC has created an interactive timeline to accompany an audio recording of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Online audiences can hear the play while seeing the secondary content created by the creative team and audiences. Take a look at the
timeline
at and follow the RSC on
Google+
. We hope you will enjoy this attempt to bring Shakespeare to new audiences.
Posted by Tom Uglow, Project Director and Creative Director of Google’s Creative Lab
Highlighting MOOCs—a new way to learn
Saturday, August 24, 2013
From the abacus to the chalkboard, the biro to the desktop PC, new technology has always helped people in their quest for knowledge. So it’s no wonder that widespread use of smartphones, social networks, and faster video streaming are fuelling dramatic changes in educational opportunities.
Take MOOCs for example
—
Massively Open Online Courses, which enable an unlimited number of students to take courses spanning almost any topic, from computer science to music, taught by some of the world’s leading institutions. Over the last few months there’s been real growth in the use of MOOCs, with many based on
Course Builder
, an open source tool created by Google staff.
Some MOOCs have mass appeal, like those from the
University of Alicante in Spain
and the
Humboldt Institute in Germany
who both offer MOOCs teaching the practical aspects of starting up a business. The University of Alicante is now on its second version and has already welcomed 30,000+ attendees.
Other MOOCs are more niche, like the one coming up soon on cellular metrics offered by the
Institute Mines-Telecom
, which will also make use of simulated environments to aid learning.
MOOCs can also be creative or unique. If you’ve ever wanted to figure out just how and why footballers get paid as much as they do, then sign up for the
Valoraction de Futbolistas MOOC
offered by University of Valencia. In this programme, you’ll learn all you ever wanted about how to evaluate a footballer’s value. Watching a football match might never be the same again!
Particularly in Europe, where youth unemployment remains high, MOOCs offer a new way to boost skills and employability.
Google is committed to helping young people create businesses and find jobs
, so we’re delighted to see MOOCs strike such a chord.
Posted by Michel Benard, University Relations Manager, Google
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
.
.png)
