Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Launching a “human” start-up center in France
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
It rivaled the famed Parisian catwalk shows for glitz and glamor. More than 8,000 people recently crowded into and outside of a new building on Rue du Caire near the Paris Stock Exchange - not to celebrate fashion, but to to launch a 1,500 square meter large startup-incubator called NUMA.
NUMA is short for “numérique” (French for “digital”) and “humain” (French for human). We partnered to create this exciting new facility with telephone operator Orange, the Paris city government and the Ile de France regional authorities. Beyond our financial support, we will organise workshops and other learning opportunities for web entrepreneurs and traditional companies that want to go digital.
Minister Fleur Pellerin
The new center is our latest attempt to help jumpstart the web economy. Our
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. Another
Campus opened last year in Tel Aviv
and we’re rolling out across the region our
Google for Entrepreneurs
.
In Paris, the new NUMA aims to attract up to 45,000 visitors and 600 tech start-ups each year. It will serve as a base for consolidating existing start-up projects – Le Camping and La Cantine.
At Numa’s launch party, the crowd demonstrated an optimism in sharp contrast with the ongoing stagnation and pessimism about France’s economy. “Together we open NUMA, and declare our ambition to fly the flag of French innovation even higher,” the organizers said on the
NUMA website
, predicting raft of investment and new jobs. Minister of Digital Economy, Fleur Pellerin, saluted this ambition.
The crowd was so numerous that many had to wait outside for an opportunity to enter and see the new facilities. No matter. Instead of fretting, the eager entrepreneurs turned the surrounding streets into a big party, complete with good drink, food and talk of exciting digital ventures.
Posted by Elisabeth Bargès, Public Policy Manager Innovation, Google France
Improving Internet access in Africa with White Spaces
Monday, November 18, 2013
Almost three billion people are online - but four billion remain without access, a failure that drives much political and economic frustration. TV White Spaces—the unused spectrum between TV channels—have the potential to bring wireless broadband access to underserved and rural areas. These low frequency signals can travel long distances and fill a need in places where telecommunications infrastructure is lacking.
Google, joined by a group of partners, (
CSIR Meraka Institute
,
TENET
,
e-Schools Network
,
WAPA
, and
Carlson Wireless
), wanted to help make this potential a reality. In March 2013, the
group
launched a six-month trial using White Spaces to bring broadband Internet access to 10 schools in Cape Town, South Africa. The goal of the trial was to show that White Spaces could be used to deliver broadband Internet without interfering with TV broadcast.
After six months, we can report some good news: the trial has been a success. The participating schools, which previously had slow or unreliable Internet connections, experienced high-speed broadband access for the first time. Teachers were able to use videos in their lesson plans, make Skype calls to other schools, update school websites, and send regular email updates to parents. Students could use educational videos for research. Because the service was better and faster, teachers and learners used the web to enrich the classroom experience.
At the same time, multiple sources confirmed that there was no interference with TV broadcast. Trial partner Meraka Institute performed frequent scientific studies to measure any potential interference over the six-month period. We also provided tools for people to report any interference experience while watching TV. The
final results
of the test have been published for those who wish to take a deeper dive on the trial's outcomes.
ICASA, South Africa’s communication regulator, plans to use the trial outcomes as inputs into the White Spaces regulatory process. This is a big step to bringing this technology to more of South Africa. We hope the results can be useful in encouraging others to consider White Spaces to help bring the power of the Internet to more people in more parts of the world.
Posted by Fortune Sibanda, Policy Manager, Google South Africa
Unveiling a potential Internet superpower - Ukraine
Friday, November 15, 2013
Ukraine faces big choices in coming weeks as it debates signing an Association Agreement with the European Union. A large part of the upside from improved EU commerce could come from the Internet. In order to underline this crucial point,
Google Ukraine
and market research group,
GfK Ukraine
, yesterday launched a study titled: “The impact of Internet on the Ukrainian economy.”
Ukraine should be a computer science superpower. Famed Ukrainian computer scientist Sergei Lebedev unveiled
the first Soviet compute
r -- and indeed the first in continental Europe -- on December 25, 1951. Today, Ukraine already provides the world with backend support thanks to its 50,000 computer science university graduates. It enjoys a largely free and open Internet. More than half of Ukrainians are now online and approximately 90% of Ukraine’s businesses use regular broadband or WiFi access.
Last year, Ukraine’s economy expanded by a mere 0.2 percent. If Ukraine’s businesses could increase their Internet use intensity from 25 to 35 percentage points, the GfK study calculated that it could have grown GDP by 1.2%. At the study’s launch event, Vice Prime Minister
Alexandr Vilkul
highlighted the importance of Internet for Ukrainian business and confirmed his and the Ukrainian government’s support for the digital economy.
Individual Ukrainian companies gain by going online, the study show. Businesses with more active Internet navigated turbulent economic conditions in 2012. Their profits decreased only by 0.7% while companies with a weak Internet presence suffered a 7.3% drop.
Amid Ukraine's tough economic climate, the online sector still is seeing tremendous growth. Hopefully, the report will alert Ukrainians - government officials, business leaders and technology leaders - that the Internet could do even more to drive forward a transformation from its agricultural and traditional industrial past to a shining digital future.
Posted by Oleg Yakymchuk, Policy Manager, Ukraine
Government requests for user information double since 2010
Thursday, November 14, 2013
In a year in which government surveillance has dominated the headlines, today we’re
updating our Transparency Report
for the eighth time. Since we began sharing these figures with you
in 2010
, requests from governments for user information have increased by more than 100 percent. This comes as usage of our services continues to grow, but also as more governments have made requests than ever before. And these numbers only include the requests we’re allowed to publish.
Over the past three years, we’ve continued to add more details to the report, and we’re doing so again today. We’re including additional information about legal process for U.S. criminal requests: breaking out emergency disclosures, wiretap orders,
pen register
orders and other court orders.
We want to go even further. We believe it’s your right to know what kinds of requests and how many each government is making of us and other companies. However, the U.S. Department of Justice contends that U.S. law does not allow us to share information about some national security requests that we might receive. Specifically, the U.S. government argues that we cannot share information about the requests we receive (if any) under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. But you deserve to know.
Earlier this year, we brought a federal case to assert that we do indeed have the right to shine more light on the FISA process. In addition, we recently wrote
a letter of support
(PDF) for two pieces of legislation currently proposed in the U.S. Congress. And we’re asking governments around the world to uphold international legal agreements that respect the laws of different countries and guarantee standards for due process are met.
Our promise to you is to continue to make this report robust, to defend your information from overly broad government requests, and to push for greater transparency around the world.
Posted by Richard Salgado, Legal Director, Law Enforcement and Information Security
Street View floats into Venice
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Venice was once described as “undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man,” and from these pictures it’s hard to disagree. You can now explore panoramic imagery of one of the most romantic spots in the world, captured with our Street View
Trekker
technology.
It was impossible for us to collect images of Venice with a Street View car or trike—blame the picturesque canals and narrow cobbled walkways—but our team of backpackers took to the streets to give Google Maps a truly
Shakespearean
backdrop. And not just the streets—we also loaded the Trekker onto a boat and floated by the famous gondolas to give you the best experience of Venice short of being there.
Our Trekker operator taking a well-earned rest while the gondolier does the hard work
The beautiful
Piazza San Marco
, where you can discover Doge's Palace, St. Marks' Cathedral, the bell tower, the Marciana National Library and the clocktower
We covered a lot of ground—about 265 miles on foot and 114 miles by boat—capturing not only iconic landmarks but several hidden gems, such as the
Synagogue
of the first Jewish
Ghetto
, the Devil’s Bridge in Torcello island, a
mask
to scare the same Devil off the church of Santa Maria Formosa and the
place
where the typographer
Manutius
created the Italics font. Unfortunately, Street View can’t serve you a
cicchetto
(local appetizer) in a classic
bacaro
(a typical Venetian bar), though we can show you how to get there.
The
Devil’s Bridge
in Torcello Island
Once you’ve explored the city streets of today, you can immerse yourself in the beauty of Venice’s past by diving deep in to the artworks of the
Museo Correr
, which has joined the
Google Cultural Institute
along with
Museo del Vetro
and
Ca’ Pesaro - International Gallery of Modern Art
.
Compare the modern streets with paintings of the same spots by artists such as Carpaccio and Cesare Vecellio
Or delve into historical maps of Venice, like this one showing the Frari Church, built in 1396
Finally, take a look
behind the scenes
showing how we captured our Street View imagery in Venice.
The Floating City is steeped in culture; it’s easy to see why it’s retained a unique fascination and romance for artists, filmmakers, musicians, playwrights and pilgrims through the centuries—and now, we hope, for Street View tourists too.
Posted by Daniele Rizzetto, Street View Operations Manager (and proud Venetian!)
Playing for online safety in Russia
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Although educational topics such as child safety and digital literacy may appear to be studious, virtuous but perhaps even a little dull, we’re working hard to make them fun and interactive.
Our new
Russian digital literacy project
, developed with Moscow State University’s Department of Psychology, the Foundation for Internet Development, and the Russian Institute for Education Development of the Ministry of Education, puts teens in the futuristic world of an
Internet laboratory
inhabited by amiable robots. The robots give out helpful advice on how to tell facts from lies on the web, what copyright online is, what information should and should not be shared about yourself and others, and how to protect your data from fraudsters and phishing. At the end of their journey, students complete a
test
that evaluates their digital literacy skills and awards Google certificates. Those who score the most points gain the status of ‘Internet Legend’.
The Russian program is only one of efforts across the region to promote online child safety. In Germany, we have created
Juki
, combining video community, interactive lessons, an encyclopedia, and an animation studio, all designed with child safety in mind. In Israel, our
Web Rangers
transform traditional scouting.
We believe such educational efforts represent the best ways to increase online safety as many risks teens face online, such as bullying, are difficult if not impossible to combat through regulation or filtering technologies. This was also proven by the results of the first ever
Russian study
which measured the level of digital literacy skills of Russian school children aged 12-17. Key findings include:
75% of kids learnt to use Internet on their own, without help from school or parents;
55% of Russian kids agree to meet online strangers in real life without even letting grownups know (compared to the EU's
9% average
);
both teens and parents expressed strong willingness to receive additional training on online safety and hope schools would help to provide necessary literacy programmes; fewer than 20% of parents believe legislation will help keep their children safe online, despite the Russian Law on Protecting Children from Harmful Information which entered force in November 2012; parents claimed digital literacy programs and education are a key to family safety on the Internet.
Russian children have fun studying web safety
Creating a code of conduct for web surfing
At the same time, we recognize the need for companies to step up on protecting children. Our project in Russia arms
teachers
with a textbook and interactive exercises kit for the classroom. It gives useful tips for teachers and parents on how to turn on safety tools on Google Search, YouTube and Android based on the
Good to Know
educational portal, and includes advice from educators and psychologists on how to explain key online safety rules to teenagers through case studies, games and
videos
.
Teachers in Moscow and several other Russian regions have already received training through this programme and are now actively using it in their schools. One of the exercises encourages kids to create their own code of conduct on the web, then discuss and share their experiences with teachers and fellow students. We look forward to seeing the program spread in schools throughout the country.
Posted by Ksenia Karyakina, Senior Policy Analyst, Russia
Bienvenue CANAL +!
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Ever since it was launched in 1984,
CANAL+
has played a pivotal role in boosting French culture. Much like
HBO
in the United States, the pay-tv broadcaster financed many of France’s most daring films and became home for many of France’s most innovative television shows, including the sharp-hitting and hilarious
Guignols
that spoofed and titilated the French political world. That’s why we take special pleasure today in announcing a new partnership between CANAL+ Group and YouTube.
Les Guignols
Under the new partnership, CANAL + will launch about 20 different channels on YouTube, bringing some of France’s most iconic TV shows all across the world, including
Le Grand Journa
l or
le Petit Journal
. In addition to featuring CANAL+ content, the new YouTube channels will also show highlights from CANAL+ Group’’s other broadcast outlets, including D8, D17 and i>Télé.
The partnership will also support new talent through a new label, Canal Factory. CANAL+ will use its online distribution with YouTube to feature new shows created only for the web. It will experiment with different formats and short original productions. In the past, CANAL+ Group has discovered online new artists such as les Kairas and tested new formats such as the wacky web series at Cannes 2013.
Over the past decade, YouTube has not only become the largest online video service in the world, but it has reshaped the way information is produced, distributed, and accessed. More than one billion people are finding and subscribing to the channels they love on YouTube every month. That’s almost half the people on the Internet.
YouTube channels are attracting a global generation of viewers that has grown up watching what they want, whenever they want, on whatever device is closest. With this new partnership, we’re very excited to help CANAL+ boost viewership and engagement for some of France’s most iconic audiovisual creations and shows and are delighted to bring all this great content to our YouTube community across the world.
This partnership represents exciting news for all lovers of French culture.
Posted by Helene Barrot, Communications and Public Affairs Manager, YouTube, Paris
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