Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Moving journalism into the digital age
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
As the news business experiments with new ways of creating and delivering journalism in the digital age, we’re keen to offer support at the grassroots level. Over the past two years, the Google-funded
IPI News Innovation Contest
has awarded $2.7 million in grants to media projects throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
On September 13, we celebrated the fund’s 17 winners at the Guardian in London. The event included a Google+ Hangout on Air to allow contest winners who couldn’t make it to the event in person to participate - and to allow the public to watch.
Grants were given to both non-profit and for-profit organisations working on digital journalism initiatives, including open-source and mobile technology projects created by or for journalists and distributed in the public interest. Winners ranged from the
Guardian’s own experiment with collaborative journalism
to the
World Wide Web Foundation’s Citizen Journalism project
in Africa to
Mediacenter Sarajevo’s data journalism program
in Bosnia. You can find links to all the projects here.
In London, much of the discussion focused on making the winners’ innovations sustainable. IPI plans to host an ongoing online dialogue to keep track on progress. We’re delighted to be part of that conversation.
Posted by Peter Barron, Director, Communications, Europe, Middle East and Africa
The HALO Trust: Helping communities clean up mines
Monday, September 16, 2013
From time to time we invite guests to post about subjects of interest and today we’re pleased to share a post from Guy Willoughby, Executive Director of
the HALO Trust
, a U.K.-based nonprofit dedicated to landmine clearance in post-conflict areas. Hear how HALO is using
Google Maps for Business
to fight the war against mines, clearing more than 1.4 million landmines worldwide.
-Ed.
When conflicts end, making communities safe and livable often means removing dangerous remnants of war. “Getting mines out of the ground, for good,” as we say at the HALO Trust, has been our mission over the last 25 years. We work in more than a dozen countries and regions across the globe, clearing landmines and other explosives, many of which have been buried underground. While we’ve been in operation for almost three decades, there is still more to be done.
In Kosovo, where people are reclaiming their homeland after the conflict in 1999, we’re working in close cooperation with the government and local population to collect and share information about where mines are located. It’s a true community effort—farmers tell us where they’ve seen signs of mines and where accidents have occurred. It’s our job at the HALO Trust to take this data and make it usable, accessible, and visually compelling, so clearance becomes more efficient and happens faster.
One of our biggest challenges is keeping our field teams safe. We need easy-to-use tools that can help us find, map and clear hazardous areas without putting our operations at risk. Over the years, we’ve continuously improved our mine clearance techniques, including the deployment of
Google Earth Pro
.
Google Earth Pro makes it easier for the HALO team to do the dangerous and detailed work of finding and mapping at-risk areas. Because it’s based on the same technology as Google Maps and Earth, it’s easy for our teams to use and create maps without IT or
GIS
expertise. It’s a tool that is familiar to our employees and something they use in their daily lives, so we can start mapping right away.
The information we gather, including GPS references to landmines in the field, is imported into Earth Pro so that we can plot mine locations. We also use the incredibly detailed satellite imagery in Google Earth to identify and map hazardous areas. These high-resolution maps serve many people: from families who live near mines, to crews who clear them, and donors and other organizations that support us. When donors view the vivid interactive maps of our project areas—with mines so close to schools, farms and houses—they understand why the HALO Trust’s work is so critical.
Accurate maps from Google Earth Pro mean safer working conditions for our local teams, and faster progress toward our goals. In Kosovo alone, we’ve removed thousands of landmines, cluster munitions and other explosives. And with the help of Google’s mapping tools and our donors, we’ll be able to declare the country mine-free.
Posted by Guy Willoughby, Executive Director, the HALO Trust
Explore the Galapagos’ biodiversity with Street View
Thursday, September 12, 2013
This week marks the 178th anniversary of Darwin’s discovery of the Galapagos Islands. This volcanic archipelago is one of the most biodiverse and unique places on the planet, with species that have remarkably adapted to their environment. Through observing the animals, Darwin made key insights that informed his theory of evolution. Here’s a short documentary that captures the 10-day expedition:
Today, in partnership with the Directorate of the
Galapagos National Park
and
Charles Darwin Foundation
, we’re launching the 360-degree images from the Galapagos Islands that
we collected in May
with the
Street View Trekker
. Now, you can visit the islands from anywhere you may be, and see many of the animals that Darwin experienced on his historic and groundbreaking journey in 1835.
Darwin may have first sighted San Cristobal Island
from the water
, perhaps near where we sailed with the Trekker strapped to a boat in order to observe the
craggy shoreline
and the
Magnificent Frigatebirds
that the rocky landscape shelters. After landing on San Cristobal, we made our way to Galapaguera Cerro Colorado, a breeding center that helps to restore the population of the island tortoises, seriously threatened by invasive species. Wearing the Trekker, we walked by
giant tortoises munching on leafy stalks
and recently hatched
baby tortoises
.
View Larger Map
The Galapaguera plays a critical role in conservation of the giant tortoises
Darwin visited Floreana Island, but he didn’t have the scuba gear needed to properly explore the marine life just off the island’s coast. Thanks to our partner,
Catlin Seaview Survey
and their
SVII underwater camera
, we were able to collect underwater imagery of some especially
energetic and inquisitive sea lions
that came out to see whether the divers wanted to play!
View Larger Map
The playful Galapagos Sea Lion is one of the endemic species of the islands
On our hike through the wetlands of Isabela Island, we spotted some marine iguanas, including
this one
sunning itself after a morning swim. On North Seymour Island, we got up close and personal to
blue-footed boobies performing their mating dance
and the
Magnificent Frigatebirds with their red throat sacs
.
View Larger Map
The blue-footed boobies on North Seymour island
The
extensive Street View imagery of the Galapagos Islands
won’t just enable armchair travelers to experiences the islands from anywhere in the world—it will also play an instrumental role in the ongoing research of the environment, conservation, animal migration patterns and the impact of tourism on the islands. See our
Lat Long blog post
for an example of how the imagery will be used for scientific research.
Visit our
behind-the-scenes experience
and tune in to an exclusive
Google+ Hangout
with the Google Maps team and our partners at 9:00 a.m. PT today to learn more about this special collection of imagery.
Posted by Raleigh Seamster, Project Lead, Google Earth Outreach
Discovering Europe’s historic Parliament buildings
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Few Europeans have the opportunity to visit their parliament, the historic home of their democracy. Now, however, technology and the Internet offer a glimpse into the splendours of the some of these hidden chambers where important decisions are made.
To mark this year’s European Heritage Days (where people can get a peek inside iconic buildings not normally open to the public), we joined with the French National Assembly on two exciting projects. From today, you can
virtually visit
the Palais Bourbon, seat of France’s National Assembly
via Street View
in Google Maps. A
trolley
equipped with fifteen lenses took 360° pictures allowing anyone with an Internet connection to virtually explore the architecture, paintings and decor of this impressive building. At the click of a button you can transport yourself to the centre of decision-making in France.
View Larger Map
The Street View imagery is also featured in an online exhibition created by the National Assembly using imagery from the the
Google Cultural Institute
G. Entitled
"Enter the Chambers"
, the exhibition features photos and historical commentary on the European Union’s 42 parliaments, ranging from the Bundestag in Berlin to the Sejm in Warsaw. ontributions have been made from many individual Parliaments to showcase an impressive array of buildings and architecture rarely seen in a single place.
The parliamentary initiative is not the only one way we are working to bring online historic buildings and sites On our Cultural Institute platform, we offer virtual tours of many sites around the world, from the
archaeological site of Pompeii
to the
Versailles Palace
and even the art collection of the
White House
in the US on the Cultural Institute site with content contributed from cultural institutions from all around the world. We hope you enjoy exploring.
Posted by Francis Donnat, Senior Policy Counsel, Google France
Report: How Google fights piracy
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
More music, video, text and software is being created on the Internet by more people in more places than ever before. Every kind of creative endeavor, both amateur and professional, is being transformed by the new opportunities and lower costs made possible by digital tools and online distribution. But copyright infringement remains a problem online, and Google is working hard to tackle it.
Today, we are releasing a report, “
How Google Fights Piracy
,” bringing together in one place an overview of the programs, policies, and technologies we have put in place to combat piracy online. Here are few highlights:
Better Legal Alternatives
: The best way to fight piracy is with better, convenient, legal alternatives. On YouTube and Play, Google is committed to creating those compelling alternatives for users. Each time a music fan chooses YouTube or Play over an unauthorized source, for example, it’s a victory against piracy. And thousands of copyright owners now use Content ID on YouTube to elect to monetize user-generated content on YouTube, rather than take it down, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties from Google each year.
Follow the Money
: When it comes to rogue sites that specialize in online piracy, other anti-piracy strategies will have limited effect so long as there is money to be made by their operators. As a global leader in online advertising, Google is committed to rooting out and ejecting rogue sites from our advertising services, to ensure that they are not being misused to fund these sites. In 2012, we disabled ad serving to more than 46,000 sites for violating our copyright policies, the vast majority detected through our proactive efforts. We are also working with other leaders in the industry to craft
best practices
aimed at raising standards across the entire online advertising industry.
Removing Infringing Results from Search
: When it comes to Search, Google is a leader in addressing the concerns of copyright owners, responding to more copyright removal notices, and faster, than ever before. During 2012, copyright owners and their agents sent us removal notices for more than 57 million web pages. Our turnaround time on those notices was, on average, less than 6 hours. That’s faster than we managed in 2011, despite a 15-fold increase in the volume of requests.
Hundreds of Google employees work on the problem of piracy online, and we will continue to work with copyright owners to focus our energies on combating the problem.
Posted by Fred von Lohmann, Legal Director, Copyright
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
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