Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Involving French citizens in the 2014 municipal elections
Thursday, February 13, 2014
In March, French citizens will head to the polls to decide who is best fit to manage their cities. Before they vote, they will engage in a heated debate on issues ranging from housing, to urban planning and local taxes. We believe the Internet can play a central role in facilitating this debate and access to information. This is why we have partnered with France’s public TV network France Televisions - its information website
France TV info
and its regional TV channel
France 3
- to allow French internet users to question candidates via Hangout on Air.
Visit
“Mon Débat 2014”
(My debate 2014) and register for these live debates or organise your own. More than 50 Hangouts are set to take place across the country in the weeks to come. Once they have taken place, the playbacks of the debates will be available to watch.
This week, the two main candidates in the race to become the next mayor of Paris,
+Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet
and
+Anne Hidalgo
, will both answer questions from citizens via Hangout on Air. Sign up now to participate. Below, see an example of an already conducted hangout.
The platform also will serve as a news hub. Users will be able to browse electoral news curated just as the rest of the platform by our partner, France TV info, and discover election search trends to get a sense of what fellow French citizens have on their mind.
Posted by the Election Team, Google France
Participating in Safer Internet Day
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
In time for Safer Internet Day this week, we revamped our
Family Safety Centre
. The new version aims to be a one-stop shop that provides step-by-step instructions for using safety tools built into Google products. We attempt to answer questions about specific topics that are most concerning to parents, such as accessing inappropriate content and meeting strangers online.
Throughout Europe, we promoted Safer Internet Day on Google home pages and our teams got into action. In Spain, for example, we participated in a presentation with local partner Protegeles bringing together kids, parents and teachers. In Israel, the Children’s Rights Committee at the Parliament met with our
Web-Rangers
, to discuss how teenagers can promote online safety.
Here in Brussels, we hosted for lunch in our office with the winners of the European Award for
Best Content for Kids
, a European wide contest highlighting content allowing young people online opportunities to learn, play, discover and invent. Winning entries such as the from the UK (see below) touch important topics like the issue of
cyberbullying
.
European Commissioner Neelie Kroes
received the winners later in the day at the Commission’s Berlaymont headquarters and posted its “Let’s Create a Better Internet Together” video on YouTube.
The Internet and social platforms offer tremendous opportunities for youth: self-expression, civil engagement, and collaboration with communities. At the same time, like any tool, the web can be abused. We are proud to build powerful safety tools into our products, ranging from SafeSearch to Safety Mode. In the end, its up to all of us to stand up for for a safe and secure internet, not just on the annual Safer Internet day - but every day!
Posted by Marco Pancini, Senior Policy Manager, Brussels
Promoting Child Safety in Greece
Friday, February 7, 2014
The play takes place on a farm with many animals who love to surf the Internet. Unfortunately, they soon run into trouble. A naughty pig finds how dangerous it is to reveal personal data online. A shy hen runs encounters difficulties after talking to strangers online. Playful geese learn the importance of cross-checking the reliability of information they find online. Thankfully, a wise owl and the two kids living in the farm always come to the rescue.
In Greece, in collaboration with
Saferinternet
, we took this play called
“The Internet Farm”
on tour through ten cities around the country. In addition to the theater, the program included integrated digital workshops for children and informative sessions for teachers and parents.
The project attracted widespread support. Besides the national Ministry of Education, some 30 local and regional organizations offered their support. They included
Western Greece's Education Directorate
, the
IT teachers Association of Evros
, the
municipality of Chania
, the
Region of Crete
, and the
Church of Kalamata
.
The tour had a strong impact. About 40,000 children and 3,000 parents and teachers attended the play and participated in the activities. Many theaters were fully booked, with some spectators standing or sitting on the steps.
Our hope is that the show’s lessons are carried beyond the theater. Many of the educators who are involved are taking the messages back to their classrooms. So the Internet Farm will live on - and maybe even spawn a sequel.
Posted by Dionisis Kolokotsas, Public Policy Manager, Athens
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
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