Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
2014 RISE Awards: Supporting computer science education
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
"We need more kids falling in love with science and math.” Our CEO Larry Page said this at last year's
Google Developers I/O event
, and it's a feeling shared by all of us. We want to inspire young people around the world, and so five years ago we created the
Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards
, which provides funding to organisations around the world that engage girls and underrepresented students in extracurricular computer science programs.
This year, the RISE Awards are providing $1.5 million to 42 organizations in 19 countries that provide students with the resources they need to succeed in the field. Ten winners come from Europe. They range from
Generating Genius
in the U.K. which provides after-school computer science programs and mentoring to prepare high-achieving students from disadvantaged communities for admission into top universities to
Mezon
in Russia, which operates a learning center for educational robotics, developing curriculum for senior school teachers. Visit
our site
for a full list of our RISE Award recipients.
Created in 2007, the Children’s University Foundation has been carrying out educational programs for more than 20,000 children aged 6-13. Click on the photo to learn more about this and other RISE Awardees.
This year we’re also expanding the program with the RISE Partnership Awards. These awards aim to encourage collaboration across organizations in pursuit of a shared goal of increasing global participation in computer science. For example, more than 5,000 girls in sub-Saharan Africa will learn computer science as a result of a partnership between the Harlem based program
ELITE
and the
WAAW Foundation
in Nigeria.
We’re proud to help these organisations inspire the next generation of computer scientists.
Posted by Hai Hong, RISE Program Manager
Inviting you to take a Romanesque journey
Monday, February 3, 2014
More than a millenium before the birth of the European Union, a style of architecture and art spread across the continent. It was called Romanesque and it emerged almost simultaneously in Spain, France, Italy, and Germany with sufficient unity to be considered Europe’s first common international art style.
Celebrating this achievement, our Cultural Institute just has launched launch a new, virtual exhibition, called
“Origins of Romanesque: the Birth of Europe.”
Curated by the
Santa María la Real Foundation
, it presents 26 iconic expressions of Romanesque beauty, explaining their social, political and cultural context. More than 100 guests attended the launch event in Madrid, featuring the president of the Foundation, José María Perez Peridis and the President of National Heritage as speakers.
Monestaries and abbeys led the way in spreading Romanesque constructions. In Spain, Romanesque cathedrals, churches, monasteries, cloisters and chapels mark the famed
Camino de Santiago pilgrammage
route.
Elsewhere in Europe, abbeys in
Fulda,
Lorsch
,
St. Gallen
and
Bobbio
arose in the 11th century and became beacons for the new style, as did Europe’s first universities, beginning with
Bologna
in 1088.
Beside exploring Romanesque buildings, the new online exhibition includes drawings, photographs, films and video about Romanesque Europe.
We hope this present exhibition is only the first of a series, exploring other a series of exhibitions on life and art in Europe from Roman to modern times. Our goal is help everyone learn about and enjoy the beauties from the past.
Posted by Barbara Navarro, Director of Institutional Relations and Public Affairs Google
Driving into our 55th country and updating Russian imagery
Friday, January 31, 2014
With the eyes of winter sports fans turning to Russia, we thought this would be a good time to add more towns, cities and picturesque sights of this sprawling country to Google Maps. From today, Street View is available in Vladivostok, Yakutsk, Irkutsk and, of course,
Sochi
.
Winter lovers also are treated, for the first time, to images of mountainous Slovenia. This gorgeous Central European country becomes our 55th country to launch Street View.
Map of some of the newly available areas to explore in Russia
In Russia, our drivers reached the far away corners of the world's largest country. Users can take a walk around Yakutsk, the city with the greatest seasonal temperature swings on Earth (the lowest recorded winter temperature was −64.4°C with the highest summer peak hitting 38.4°C).
View Larger Map
Explore the city center of Yakutsk
In total, Street View cars covered 300,000 kilometers in Russia in 2013, an area housing almost 60 percent of the population. We mapped the biggest Russian island of
Sakhalin
and the
Russkiy Bridge
, the world's longest cable-stayed bridge. While snapping the
M52 highway
, also known as
Chuya Highway
or Chuysky Trakt, Street View drivers met indigenous tribes.
The mapping team faced unusual challenges. When taking imagery of the
Tobolsk monastery
the drivers spent two days praying with the Monastery Abbot. In order to get to some remote spots, Street View cars were transported in containers on tracks and boats. There was even place for romance: while shooting Sakhalin, one driver met his future wife!
View Larger Map
The Tobolsk Monastery in Tyumen Oblast
We also are launching our imagery in Slovenia. Virtual tourists now can explore cities like Ljubljana, Maribor, Celje, Kranj, and Koper, as well as beautiful places like
Bohinj Lake
or the sea town of
Piran
.
View Larger Map
Congress Square, Ljubljana
Enjoy some of these amazing sights on StreetView’s journey eastward through Europe.
Posted by Carlos Reolid, Program Manager for Google Street View
Vote for Digital Defender of the Year
Thursday, January 30, 2014
For the past 14 years the
Index on Censorship Awards
have honoured some of the most remarkable fighters for free expression from around the world - from assassinated Russian journalist
Anna Politkovskaya
to Israeli conductor
Daniel Barenboim
and Syrian cartoonist
Ali Farzat
to education activist
Malala Yousafzai
. Until now, distinguished juries have selected all the winners. But this year, we’re working with Index on an innovation - asking the public to vote for the digital activist award, which honours the person who has done the most to defend online freedom.
Take a look at the nominees and vote here. Voting finishes next Monday, February 3, so please do act fast.
This is the fourth year Google has worked with Index on its annual awards event. Total editorial control remains with Index; they choose the nominees. We are just delighted to support this important organization’s new and important work in defence of online freedom. For a taste of the excitement surrounding the ceremony, watch last year’s highlight video below.
This year’s awards ceremony take place on Thursday March 20, 6.30pm, at the
Barbican Centre
in London. In addition to the digital defender award, three other awards will be given out, one for journalism, one for advocacy and one for arts. Tickets are available, so please do join us to celebrate free-expression champions and shine a light on their ongoing struggle against censorship around the world.
Posted by William Echikson, Head of Free Expression, Europe, Middle East and Africa
The real story behind high-tech jobs
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
We’ve all heard the damning indictment - technology destroys jobs. While it is true that the digital revolution disrupts the workplace - just as the Industrial Revolution swept away many artisan professions such as weavers -
a new report by University of Leuven researchers
tells a fascinating story of how the high tech revolution is, surprisingly, creating an explosion in non-high tech jobs in Europe. Indeed, for every one high-tech job created, more than four additional non-high tech jobs are created in the same region.
That’s not the only good news, either. Across the European economy, the high-tech sector is showing impressive signs of growth. The new research shows that high-tech employment grew 20 percent in the EU-27 between 2000-2011, while total employment increased by just eight percent.
Growth in high-tech jobs also has a positive spillover effect in local economies. The presence of high-tech workers in a region is likely to create additional work for a wide range of occupations - from lawyers, doctors and school teachers to taxi drivers, waiters and technicians.
This spillover is not limited to Europe’s biggest economies. While Germany contributed the most to total high-tech employment in Europe, it is relatively unexpected regions in Europe that saw the fastest growth in high-tech jobs. For example, Bratislava, Slovakia is one of the fastest growing regions for high-tech employment, growing at nearly 56 percent from 2000-2011. This contributes to the region’s high level of per-capita income and contrasts with assumptions that high-tech jobs are only in traditional hubs.
Not only is the high-tech sector outperforming other sectors in total employment growth, but its workers enjoy high rates of employment, a substantial wage premium (over 65% in some countries, like Portugual and Romania) and higher wage growth. With many economies struggling with stagnant wages, a vibrant high-tech sector makes a strong contribution to these countries.
So what lessons should we take from these findings?
First, that the EU’s pursuit of high-tech and digital job growth is worthwhile. The Europe 2020 strategy and recent agreements at the European Digital Council provide the opportunity to build on the success of the past ten years to support this vibrant part of the economy.
Second, we know that supporting high-tech jobs will benefit the wider economy. The high-tech sector is generating faster, higher-paying job growth across the EU-27, the knock-on effect of which is positive across the economy.
Third, investing in high-tech and digital skills will pay dividends. The difference in wages between STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs and non-STEM jobs is high right across Europe. And with the high-tech jobs multiplier, supporting skills development in high-tech fields should create benefits beyond traditional high-tech industries.
As these jobs spread across the continent, it is clear that supporting high-tech industries will benefit the whole economy and make a substantial contribution to resolving the unemployment crisis facing many economies.
Posted by Jon Steinberg, Google Public Policy team
Life in the fast lane: Street View on the Top Gear test track
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Thanks to Street View, you might have already traversed the elegant
plains
of Botswana, or discovered the serene
fjords
of Norway. But now for something completely different.
One of our brave Street View drivers has been to a
remote airfield
in Surrey, England — filming location of the BBC’s automotive TV show,
Top Gear
. He went to take on the fearless petrolhead that reigns supreme on the iconic show —
The Stig
. While the Stig raced around in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black, we took a tour with our own vehicle. Take a look at the results in this behind the scenes video.
View Larger Map
Crossing the chequered line. The track plays host to regular Top Gear features like the Power Lap and Star in a Reasonably Priced Car.
The Top Gear test track is the latest in a line of special Street View collects designed to delight motorsport fans. Previously, we’ve put online the
Laguna Seca
raceway in California and the
Monza
Formula 1 circuit, host to the Italian Grand Prix, among others. Get behind the “wheel” and enjoy!
Posted by Ulf Spitzer, Street View Program Manager, Google
More Swedish wind power for our Finnish data centre
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
We’re keen to make sure that our data centres around the world use as much renewable energy as possible. By entering into
long-term agreements
with wind farm developers over the past few years, we’ve been able to increase the amount of renewable energy we consume while helping enable the construction of new facilities.
Today we announced that we’ve signed a new power purchase agreement (PPA) in Sweden (our
second such agreement
there in less than 12 months). We will buy the entire electricity output of four as-yet-unbuilt wind farms in southern Sweden, at a fixed price, for the next ten years.
Windfarm developer
Eolus Vind
will build four wind farms, in Alered, Mungseröd, Skalleberg and Ramsnäs, Sweden. The 29-turbine project, with a total combined capacity of 59MW, already has all relevant planning approvals and permits and will become fully operational in early 2015.
Picture: Our seawater-cooled data centre in Hamina, Finland
Once completed, the wind farms will provide Google’s Hamina, Finland, data centre with additional renewable energy as the facility
expands
in coming years.
Buying renewable energy in Sweden and consuming it in Finland is possible thanks to Europe’s increasingly integrated power markets, in particular the Nord Pool spot market. This allows Google to buy renewable energy with Guarantee of Origin certification in Sweden, “retire” the certificates and then consume an equivalent amount of power elsewhere in Europe.
This marks our sixth long-term agreement to purchase renewable energy. We keep signing these contracts for two main reasons: they make great financial sense for us, and increase the amount of renewable energy available in the grid, which is great for the environment too.
Posted by Francois Sterin, Director, Global Infrastructure Team
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