Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Google is a growth engine for European business
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Last month I got an email from a proud daughter in the UK whose mother Tricia Cusden used Google tools to launch a makeup business called
Look Fabulous Forever
. She used Search to find suppliers; she built a following using YouTube to show older women makeup tips; and she’s using Google Adwords to find customers online. To date, her YouTube channel has racked up over half-a-million views, and her company now exports products to 24 countries around the world.
Today we are launching an
initiative
spotlighting hundreds of European entrepreneurs like Tricia who have used Google products as a growth engine for their businesses. We’re also announcing that Google will train 1 million Europeans to learn crucial digital skills by the end of 2016. Not long ago, small businesses could only afford to source and sell locally. Global marketing and distribution were out of reach for all but the biggest. Today, any business can reach a global market using the Internet, allowing even the smallest businesses to be a multinational.
If you have a product or service,
Google AdWords
can connect your business with potential customers. Take
Berto Salotti
, a furniture-maker who has shared his story as part of our project. In 2002, after 30 years of production, Berto had six employees based in Meda, Italy, where they sold most of their furniture. Today, after marketing online through Adwords, they’ve quadrupled in both size and revenue and have customers worldwide.
Eumelia
is an ecotourism farm and guesthouse based in rural Greece that uses Google tools to reach out to prospective visitors as far away as Japan and Australia. The company’s founder, Frangiskos, said AdWords is “the best way for a small, local business to have global impact.” And Dutch office supply company
DiscountOffice
said Adwords "levels the playing field", allowing them "to compete with big multinationals from the beginning.”
But it’s not just online marketing through AdWords that helps businesses grow;
YouTube
has helped European creators and entrepreneurs attract fans and customers using the power of video. Marie Lopez is like many 19-year-old Parisians. She loves fashion, design and makeup. But what makes Marie different is that she has more than one million people around the world who subscribe to her YouTube channel,
EnjoyPhoenix
. Having amassed over 120 million views, Marie is now developing her own line of products and working with top brands like L’Oreal. Today, thousands of YouTube channels are making six figures annually and total revenue amongst our YouTubers has grown by 50 percent in each of the last two years.
Google Play
is also a huge growth engine for European developers, connecting them to a booming global app economy. Launched in Spain,
WePlan
is a free Android app that looks at how people use their phones, and recommends the best carriers for their needs. Today it has more than 100,000 users in 24 countries. And WePlan has gone from five to 18 employees in just two years. Last year, Google paid out more than €4.4 billion to developers like WePlan.
We are excited that businesses all around Europe are using the technology we provide as an engine for their growth. To see more of these stories, check out this video:
It’s clear that the opportunities for businesses in the digital age are immense--there are many more ways to reach customers than anyone could have imagined not that long ago. But, for Europe to reach its full potential, we need to clear the way for companies online. We need a single market in the digital world that reflects the single market we enjoy in the physical world already. With over two dozen regulatory and frameworks to contend with, businesses stumble when they seek to sell, grow or hire across borders. The European Commission has rightly identified the digital single market as one of Europe’s top priorities.
Of course, the opportunities afforded by the digital economy are still limited if people don’t have the right skills. At current rates, the EU predicts a shortfall of 900,000 jobs by 2020 due to a lack of digital skills, and there are many businesses that want to get online but don’t know where to start. At Google we’re playing our part. Over the last year we have have helped
tens of thousands of German entrepreneurs
export through partnerships with DHL, PayPal and Commerzbank. We have trained
tens of thousands of young, unemployed people in Spain
with free courses on subjects like web development, digital marketing, and ecommerce. And, we have shown
thousands of traditional Italian craftspeople
how to sell and market their wares online.
But we want to do more. So, today we’ve announced that Google will train 1 million Europeans in crucial digital skills by 2016. We will invest an additional €25M to broaden our current programs and take them to new markets across Europe to train more small businesses on the digital skills they so need. We’ll build a Europe-wide training hub to support businesses anywhere in Europe to get training online.
Some people look at the state of the economy in Europe and are pessimistic. We see something else: a huge diversity of businesses and entrepreneurs with creativity, ambition, and talent -- all using digital tools to create jobs and boost the economy.
Posted by Matt Brittin, President, EMEA Business and Operations, Google
Competition drives Europe's mobile market
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
IBM launched the
first smartphone
only 20 years ago. Nicknamed Simon, it weighed more than a half a kilo, cost more than EUR1400 in today’s money, and lacked a touch screen or web browser.
Today, at a
Lisbon Council event
in Brussels,
The Boston Consulting Group released a new study
we commissioned showing that, fueled by stiff competition, the mobile Internet economy in the Europe’s five largest economies generates annual revenue of EUR92 billion -- encompassing sales of devices, access, advertising, and everything you do on the mobile web. This slice of the economy has also created 250,000 jobs in Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain.
Courtesy of BCG 2014
By 2017, mobile revenue in these five countries will have more than doubled to about EUR230 billion - an annual growth rate of more than 25 percent. This boom doesn’t come from rising prices. To the contrary, it’s propelled by increasing affordability and accessibility. The average selling prices for smartphones in Europe are projected to fall almost 38 percent by 2017.
Courtesy of BCG 2014
Importantly, BCG found competition occurring “at every layer of the mobile ecosystem - among service providers, enablement platforms and companies providing apps, content and services.” Competition is particularly intense among phone manufacturers and operating systems. As recently as 2010, the BlackBerry and Symbian platforms accounted for almost half of smartphone sales; today they represent less than five percent. Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, and Microsoft’s Windows are locked in fierce competition, while new entrants include Amazon’s Fire, Xiamo MIUI, Firefox OS, and Tizen.
Courtesy of BCG 2014
A big part of this success story is the flourishing app economy. More than 100 billion downloads took place in 2013 around the globe - about 20 billion in the European Union. Leading app store operators paid developers more than EUR12.2 billion between June 2013 and July 2014. Many of the world’s most dynamic app developers and mobile game operators are based here in Europe, including Finland’s Rovio, the developer of Angry Birds, UK-based Shazam, Wooga in Germany, and Sweden’s Spotify.
All told, the mobile economy is driving economic growth and jobs. The mobile web informs, entertains, and helps us navigate the world. I have no doubt that further innovation and new growth opportunities will mark mobile’s next 20 years!
Posted by Matt Brittin, President, Northern and Central Europe Business & Operations
Powering Italy’s exporters with the web
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Before the Internet, almost all exporters were big, powerful companies. Exporting was expensive and time-consuming, requiring large sales, marketing and distribution networks. Today, thanks to the Net, almost any company, anywhere, and of any size, is able to reach a global market with a few clicks of a computer mouse. Italy represents a powerful case study and that’s why we are working with Unioncamere, Symbola Foundation and the Ca ‘Foscari University to expand our pathbreaking
“Made in Italy Digital”
program.
Italy needs to rediscover growth and increasing exports can help. The country’s powerful network of small and medium sized, family-owned companies are homes to craftsmen who produce niche products. Our program gives them tools to bring them online, aiming to help them export and reach global markets. Numerous studies have shown that companies that use the web to promote their business grow twice as fast as those who are not online.
On the program’s
website
, a new section demonstrates how Google Trends, Global Market Finder, Consumer Barometer and Translate, allows companies to launch foreign subsidiaries. The
Giovine family
which has produced wines since 1850, recently started a blog and increased its social network activity - boosting sales by 5%.
Galassia Ceramics
gained 13,000 new visitors to its website, half from France and Spain.
Ghirigoro T-Shirts & Accessories
created a website - and boosted sales by 40 percent in 2014.
Along with the association of the Chambers of Commerce, Unioncamere, we have trained and supported with a scholarship 104 youthful “digitizers” and sent them in 51 chambers of commerce across Italy, where they provide face-to-face advice on how to approach and leverage the Internet. Our online portal offers another guide for companies wishing to meet the challenge of foreign markets. It is self-service. The
eLearning
path shows quick, easy solutions to selling online, launching social media marketing campaigns and much, much more, while the
export toolkit
to help SMBs understand their potential on several global markets and draft their export plan.
Despite these successes, much work remains to be done. According to Unioncamere, only 16 percent of its members have websites and engage in e-commerce. This means that the growth potential for Italy’s small and medium enterprises remains enormous. The task ahead is to embrace the opportunities offered by the Internet and spread global wings.
Posted by Claudio Monteverde, Communications Manager, Milan
Promoting social mobility through the Internet
Monday, October 20, 2014
Policymakers often worry that the Internet creates a small number of winners and too many losers in the economy. At the same time, we have heard stories about the rise of self-employment and the creation of fast-growing companies in garages (like Google). In order to investigate the Internet’s impact on social mobility and equality, we asked British economist and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury,
Kitty Ussher
, to investigate.
Her
new research
, published this month, analyzed government data and Google Apps customers, and reached a surprising conclusion. Rather than worsening inequality, the Internet is improving the lot of economically vulnerable people across the United Kingdom. One example: the report shows that parents of young children are more likely to engage in online selling from home than singles. In other words, the Internet allow potentially vulnerable families convenient alternatives to traditional employment.
Interestingly, Internet success no longer requires PhDs. Nearly half of Google Apps customers surveyed whose highest qualification is a GSCE high school diploma, secured incomes of over £45,000. Another 20 percent earned between £30,000 and £45,000. These people achieved above average incomes through online selling, impossible before the Internet.
Success on the Internet can be achieved anywhere, with businesses from more remote parts of the UK taking advantage. As Ms Ussher concludes, “It is not just the uber-professional elite that is exploiting the commercial opportunities that the Internet has to offer.”
The Internet is a leveler. It offers new options to make a living regardless of one’s background or education. This new opportunity is paying dividends for families across the UK.
Posted by Jon Steinberg, Europe Policy Manager, London
Seizing the digital opportunity in France
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
All too often, fast-moving, disruptive digital innovation is presented as the enemy of Europe’s enviable social system. The reality, according to a
new study
published this week in Paris by consultants Roland Berger, is that digital companies not only boost economic growth - they also increase worker satisfaction.
Launching the new Roland Berger Internet report
Berger studied 505 companies, all with more than 50 employees, classifying them in four categories by how much they use the Internet. Its study focused not on sexy Internet startups, but on traditional industries such as chemistry, energy or manufacturing. The conclusion was striking: new digital technologies are just as important in these traditional sectors as for high tech startups. The most “digital” grow six times faster than the “least digital”.
Given this finding, it is unsurprising that French companies sense the opportunity: some 57% interviewed put digital transformation as one of their medium term strategic priorities. Unfortunately, actions do not follow these intentions. Only 36% of French companies have a formal digital strategy and French corporate Internet engagement lags far behind French consumer use. While nearly six in 10 French people shopped online in 2013, only one French company in 10 sold online.
If more French companies embarked on the digital journey, Berger argues they would not only improve their performance - they also would please workers. Employees of the most digitally mature companies feel at least 50 percent more involved and happier in their professional life than those of the least matures ones. In a country famed for its quality of life, this is indeed an impressive finding!
Posted by Elisabeth Bargès, Senior Manager, Public Policy and Government Affairs, France
Creating value from data
Thursday, September 18, 2014
At Google, we like to experiment. Today we are experimenting with a guest blogpost from the UK innovation charity Nesta. Although we had no involvement in this study of how companies best can benefit from the information age, we think it offers a valuable contribution on Europe’s skills debate and wanted to share the conclusions.
We are living in the middle of a data explosion – a rich opportunity, but also a much
misunderstood one. In previous
research
, we showed that businesses which analyse their data intensively become 10% more productive than their average competitor. By contrast, collecting data on its own has little impact on performance.
Our newly published research,
ModelWorkers
, the first report in a project in collaboration with Creative Skillset and The Royal Statistical Society, looks at the data skills that businesses need to produce these impacts.
Model Workers
Interviews with 45 experts in UK data-driven companies reveal that all types of companies are converging into the ‘big data’ space. from pharmaceutical giants to small retailers and manufacturers. All are all experimenting with bigger, messier and faster data, and catching up with leading players in software, advertising, games and finance.
As a result, everyone is looking for the same ‘perfect data analyst’, or ‘data scientist’: a creative worker with analytical, coding and business skills, team working and charisma. These people are hard to find. Four out of five of the companies we interviewed say they struggle to find data scientists.
In Model Workers we identify interventions to remove these shortages. They include up-skilling established professionals such as statisticians, programmers and social scientists, developing vocational training in universities and encouraging more crossover between computer science, statistics and business disciplines. We also need to build up communities of data practice, and develop training and professional standards. Policymakers should make it easier for foreign students to work in Europe after completing data analysis courses.
In the longer term we need to improve the teaching of maths at schools, and change false perceptions of data work as boring and dull. Some of the most exciting and creative jobs across the economy today – from developing new games to discovering new drugs – are based on data, and we need to make sure everyone is aware of this crucial trend.
Posted by Hasan Bakhshi and Juan Mateos-Garcia, Nesta
Driving Europe’s digital road to economic growth
Friday, May 23, 2014
For the past few years, Europe’s financial crisis has dominated economic debate. The
Lisbon Council
attempted this week to shift the discussion at its Europe 2020 summit to what policies are needed to move beyond the immediate crisis and build the foundation for future prosperity.
Google supports this agenda. We have worked with the Lisbon Council to launch its
Innovation Economics Centre
of excellence committed to shedding light on and providing scientific evidence of the profound impact of the Internet and digital technologies. At the Europe 2020 summit, our European policy head Nicklas Lundblad explained how the Internet represents a core component of any European growth strategy.
Top European officials participated, including
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso
and European Commissioner Neelie Kroes. European startups and innovators including Simon Schaefer, founder and CEO of Germany’s leading startup lab Factory, angel investor Sherry Coutu, and Spotify's Head of Product, Tech, IP and Policy Mark Silverstein urged them to end the continent’s present fragmented regulatory regimes, that forces companies must obtain separate permission to access each of the European Union’s 28 national markets.
At the summit, a new Digital Single Market study
“Productivity and Digitalisation in Europe: Paving the Road to Faster Growth”
was released. Written by Bart van Ark, chief economist of the research association called
The Conference Board
, it argues that Europe’s productivity, which is key to growth,is falling far behind America because it lags in intangible investments (see chart below) and adoption of digital technology across all sectors of the economy. As van Ark stressed “ the potential of digitisation to accelerate growth will come primarily from the use of these technologies by industries in non-ICT sector.” This should be a vision for the next European Commission.
In the addition, Dirk Pilat of the OECD, presented new evidence on contribution of young companies to the economy. 42% of new jobs come from startups and high-growth firms, which shows that policymakers in Europe should focus on enabling entrepreneurship and experimentation, rather than focusing only on SMEs and incumbents.
The event underlined how Europe enjoys a giant opportunity for the Internet to support economic growth and employment in Europe - as well as the risks of Europe being left behind related to lack of the digital single market and global scale, digital skills gap, excessive regulation or risks of emerging digital protectionism in Europe.
Google is committed to doing its part. We’re supporting a range of initiatives that help Europeans -- entrepreneurs, startups, and youth -- tap the potential of the net to start a business, reach global markets, and learn new skills and become employable. In
Germany
, we’re helping the country’s famed exporters find new customers, grow their businesses and maximize their online presence through a suite of digital tools. In
Italy
, we’re bring Italy’s famous artisan producers online. In
Spain
, we’re working with partners to create a 21st century workforce by helping people of all ages acquire new digital skills including coding and computer science. All the efforts are meant to send a single important message: in order to prosper, Europe needs to embrace the internet.
Posted by Sylwia Giepmans-Stepien, Senior Policy Analyst, Brussels
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
Made in Italy goes digital
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Italy long has been famed for its quality of life, its fashion, its heritage and its food. We believe the Internet can help promote the Made in Italy lifestyle brand and the
Google Cultural Institute
has worked with the
Italian Agriculture Ministry
,
Union of Chambers of Commerce
, the
University Ca' Foscari
,
the
Symbola Foundation
to launch an online platform designed to help bring Made in Italy online.
On the new platform, anybody, anywhere can discover hundreds of digital displays, stories, pictures, videos, and historical documents about Italian craftsmanship. Many of Italy’s most famous culinary and handcraft products are represented, from
Parmigiano Reggiano
cheese and
Prosciutto di San Daniele
ham to
Murano glass
and
Montappone Hats
. Little-known gems also can be uncovered such as
Vercelli accordions
and
Ascoli Piceno
lace.
Discover Montappone Hats
Many of the best Italian producers are small and medium sized, family-owned companies. They are homes to craftsmen who produce niche products. By bringing them online, we hope to help them export and reach global markets. Before, an American or Chinese buyer would have found it hard to obtain many of these Italian gems. With the new site, niche products no longer are forced into niche markets.
Online interest is growing in Italian “cultural” products. Google searches in these categories grew by 12 percent last year; fashion is the most searched category, followed by tourism and food. Even so, Made in Italy producers still lag with their digital activities: only 34 percent of Italian SMEs have their own website and only 13 percent use it to do e-commerce.
Media partner
Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso
, excited about the economic potential of the internet, dedicated an entire
section
to the project, focusing on examples of successful Italian entrepreneurs going digital. Savor this new digital platform - and encourage more and more Italian purveyors of the sweet life to benefit from the Internet.
Posted by Luisella Mazza, Program Manager, Cultural Institute and Diego Ciulli, Public Policy Analyst, Rome
Boosting Tourism in Southern Europe
Thursday, December 12, 2013
If Southern Europe is to recover from the euro crisis, the region will need to boost its traditionally strong tourism industry - and one of the best ways to sell its sun, beauty, and history is through the Internet. This is the conclusion of new
Oxford Economics
study titled
“The Impact of Online Content on European Tourism.”
The research, supported by us, found that Greece, Italy and Spain could improve their performance with online bookings. On average, some 49 percent of hotel bookings in the European Union,are made on the web. In Greece, by contrast, online bookings account for only 10 percent. In Spain, it is 26 percent, and in Italy, 43 percent.
In addition, the three countries enjoy great opportunities to market their rich cultural heritage. Culture-related searches account for 45 percent of all tourism-related searches on Greece, 31 percent for Italy, and 44 percent for Spain. Greek Italian and Spanish museums, art galleries, historical sites and cultural events will be able to move more traffic online.
If full advantage is taken of the Internet, Oxford calculates that Greece could see a 20 percent expansion in its tourism business, boosting GDP growth by an astounding 3.2 percent. Italy’s GDP would increase by 1 percent, and Spain’s by 0.5 percent. Some 50,000 jobs would be created in Spain, 100,000 in Greece, and 250,000 in Italy.
Specific recommendations to achieve these goals include:
Encourage tourist businesses to build websites in multiple languages across multiple online platforms - travel apps, travel apps, search, sales portals, travel reviews, travel guides.
Update the content frequently - and given the significant role that culture plays in tourism in Europe, pay special attention to online cultural content.
Motivate government agencies to work with the private sector to provide complementary destination and cultural online content.
Use social media and encourage feedback from customers. This will allow businesses to build relationships with their customers as well as improve service offerings over time.
Fortunately, we’re seeing signs that the Mediterranean tourist industry is embracing these opportunities. At the report's recent launch in Athens, the president of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises,
Andreas Andreadis
, pointed to the
Discovergreece.com
website that serves as a platform for online reservations. Tourism Minister
Olga Kefalogianni
said the
VisitGreece.gr
had attracted 7.3 million unique visitors and reported that her Ministry has launched a web-based communication campaign to promote Greece. Carlos Romero, from Spain’s government tourist innovation agency
Seggitur
, spoke of the success of
spainisculture.com
.
Let’s hope that the research will encourage additional investments in online tourism.
Posted by Dionisis Kolokotsas, Public Policy Manager, Athens
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
Young and old unite for the Internet in Italy
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Students gr0w up with the Internet, but have difficulty entering the job market. Youth unemployment now reaches 40 percent in Italy. Retired entrepreneurs were successful in the business world, but often have little experience with the Net. Only 16 percent of Italian pensioners are online, benefiting from search, chats, blogs, and social media.
For two innovative Italian associations, the
Fondazione Mondo Digitale
, and
CNA Pensionati
, these alarming figures offer an opportunity to create a mutually beneficial exchange. At the pension group’s annual conference in Rome, and with our support, 300 students from nine schools from throughout Italy heard real life testimony on how to create and manage a company. Through next April, many students will visits to these companies and benefit from a specific training in our
“Clusters on the Web”
initiative.
In exchange for the business knowledge, the students will run workshops for retirees on how to use the Internet in their everyday life, learning how to access and use public administration services online or how to stay in touch with their grandchildren studying abroad.
At the launch event, Luciano, a retired tailor (pictured above), met up with Sara, a highschool student in Rome. Luciano wants to learn how the Internet can help him keep a record of his measurements and rationalise the administration of his business, and Sara wants to help him create an Internet site to promote his hand-made suits online. The Internet can drive ahead Italy’s economy - and engage all ages.
Posted by Laura Bononcini, Public Policy Manager, Rome
Bringing “Moonshot Thinking” to Germany
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Germany is famous for its entrepreneurial spirit and innovative capacity, which is why it is suprising that Germans have been more reluctant than others to grasp new opportunities offered by the Internet. In an attempt to jumpstart moonshot thinking, Google and its partners
Deutsche Bank
,
Shell
, and start-up hub
Factory
recently launched initiative called
ConSensus
.
Technology & Society: this logo captures the innovative spirit of ConSensus
Since June, ConSensus collected from all over Germany some 280 audacious Internet ideas, ranging from energy & finance to education. This month, business executives, researchers, entrepreneurs and artists came together at the Factory campus close to Berlin’s former wall. Based on the suggestions, steering committee created a
10-point charter
to trigger a new kind of “moonshot innovation” in Germany which was handed over to the Ministry of Economics State Secretary
Anne Ruth Herkes
.
From left to right: Wolfgang Warnecke (Shell), Philipp Justus (Google), State Secretary Anne Ruth Herkes, Simon Schaefer (Factory) and Harald Eisenach (Deutsche Bank); Foto: Jürgen Stüber
The experts also chose 10 “lighthouse” projects for innovation ranging from an online education platform, a cloud computing platform, to an Aupair exchange programme for seniors. Hopefully, ConSensus can help show that Germany is still the country of bold innovators that are willing to take their idea up to the moon - and further.
Posted by Max Senges, Internet Policy and Innovation Manager
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
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
Measuring the UK’s Digital Economy
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
The British mathematician and physicist
Lord Kelvin
famously said “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” In 1948, the post-war British Government badly needed to improve the nation’s economy. To help it draw up the right policies for jobs and growth, the Government took a scientific approach - one of which Lord Kelvin would have been proud. Government statisticians were instructed to count, classify and measure the economic activity of every business in the country. They developed a set of Standard Industrial Classification codes and the data they collected was used to shape policy in every aspect of the British economy.
This week, a
new report
by the
National Institute for Economic and Social Research
, and supported by Google, updates these SIC codes to include the new, fast growing digital sector. After 65 years, the old codes are out of date. One in ten companies in the UK are now classified vaguely as ‘other’. One in five have no classification at all.
This new report is based on pioneering big data techniques. It draws not just from official tables and accounts but instead is gleaned from more than five billion data points, providing us with a level of detail and insight that statisticians in 1948 could scarcely have imagined.
The scale of the UK’s digital economy that emerges from this research is immense. In June 2013, the Government estimated from SIC codes that there were 120,000 businesses in the digital economy. The most conservative estimate from this new report of the number of digital companies is more than double government estimates - 269,695. In addition, the report found that digital companies employ 15% more, grow 25% faster than non-digital companies.
The digital economy has spread into every part of the United Kingdom, not just in London and the South East but throughout the country, with particularly great intensity in places like Manchester, Middlesbrough and Aberdeen. It has spread into every sector, from architecture firms whose activities have become almost entirely digital to machine tool manufacturers who now use huge online data-processing facilities, such as Hadoop, to monitor every aspect of their processes.
This is a groundbreaking work. For the first time in 65 years - it presents us with a new way of measuring the economy that can only help us to take the right steps to support growth and jobs.
Posted by Hal Varian, Chief Economist
Hanging out with a Nobel Prize economics laureate
Thursday, July 11, 2013
We believe the Internet represents the motor of the 21st century economy, and its always nice to hear a Nobel Prize winner explain how best to encourage net innovation. Czech
CERGE-EI
think tank recently organized a Google Hangout with Nobel Laureate for economics
Eric Maskin
.
The Prague setting was appropriate. The Czech Republic’s economy remains dependent on traditional manufacturing, particularly the auto industry, which accounts for nearly a quarter of Czech output. Czech policymakers regularly acknowledge the need to move toward a more high-tech, services-based, knowledge economy. How?
Professor Maskin suggested that the Czech Republic and the rest of Europe needed to be careful about imposing a heavy patent burden on the tech sector. Software, semiconductor, and computer industries have been innovative despite historically weak patent protection, he argues. “In software you don’t have single big breakthroughs, but rather a succession of many small improvements,” he explained. “If I patent a small discovery and you want to build on it, you won’t be able to do that easily - I’m going to block you with my patents.”
The Nobel Prize winner discussed these ideas, along with many others, with Czech commentators
David Marek
(Chief Economist, Patria Finance) and
Jakub Steiner
(Associate Professor, CERGE-EI). During his discussion, Professor Maskin is not an anti-patent zealot. He compared the software to the pharmaceutical industry, where he said patents could be effective. “In the case of drugs, where you have a single big breakthrough and have to spend hundreds of millions, patents have been useful for drug companies and society,” he said.
The Czech Republic, along with the rest of Europe, needs to embrace Internet innovation and Professor Maskin offers some important insights in how to construct the best possible innovation environment. We hope to hold new Hangouts from Prague to foster a healthy debate on Internet regulation.
Posted by Denis Gibadulin, Public Policy & Gov't Relations Analyst, Czech Republic
Campaigning for Innovation in Central and Eastern Europe
Friday, June 28, 2013
Two decades ago, Central and Eastern Europe threw off the shackles of communism. Today, the region is among Europe’s most dynamic, and we recently held our first Big Tent in the region to investigate how Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary could play a leadership role in driving forward innovation on the web.
This newfound freedom encourages the region to embrace the Internet, Polish ministers said. “We prefer freedom,”
Michal Boni
, the digitisation minister, repeated twice in the keynote address.
Deputy Foreign Minister Henryka Mościcka-Dendys
argued that new technologies helping “civic initiatives gain wider ground for their actions.” A concrete example is opening up public data. By examining online license plate records Zuzana Wienk, a Slovak anti-corruption campaigner, demonstrated the bidding for street cleanup services was rigged.
The Internet already is driving economic progress. At the Big Tent, we showcased successful Internet startups and social innovators. They ranged from Polands’ game startup
Dice+
and audio books pioneer
Audioteka
to Hungarys’ to
K-Monitor
transparency project and presentation tools developer
Prezi
. From Slovakia, traditional
Ultra Plast
plastic maker showed how to leverage its net presence to boost exports.
At the same time, the region needs to improve its education and regulation. While universities produce excellent engineers, they rank low in equipping graduates with needed business skills. Too few offerings exist for adult education. “If there is no lifelong learning, there is no lifelong earning,” quipped
Jan Figel
, Deputy Speaker of the Slovak Parliament. Other panelists wanted to see government change regulations to make it easier for companies to take risks, to start new businesses and to wind them down if and when they fail.
Our Big Tent took place in the wake of revelations that the U.S. intelligence agencies had conducted an online surveillance campaign. Google’s chief legal officer
David Drummond
stressed that the threats to the open web are not always from autocratic regimes and that any limitations to freedom online should be set narrowly. He acknowledged the dangers of online radical and racist speech. But he said that the Internet offers the best vehicle for dealing with the issue - “counter-speech” denouncing the hate.
Most of the debate had an optimistic tone, with faith in future innovation. The audience appreciated a demonstration of
Google Glass
. Slovakia’s Figel, who previously served as a European Commissioner, tried on a pair and checked the weather in the European Union’s capital Brussels. It was sunny outside in Warsaw - and grey and overcast in Brussels.
Posted by Agata Wacławik-Wejman, Head of Public Policy, Central and Eastern Europe
Our commitment to growth and jobs in Europe
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Europe faces historically high unemployment, and we’re keen to help. We’ve just joined the European Commission’s
Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs
, and we are committing to a range of initiatives that will help Europeans - particularly young Europeans - to create businesses and find jobs.
Our first commitment is to support 20,000 European entrepreneurs this year. Entrepreneurs account for a high proportion of job creation - according to an OECD survey of 11 European countries, companies less than two years old account for 5% of total private-sector employment. Our
Google for Entrepreneurs programme
funds start-up hubs in London (
Campus London
), Krakow (
Google for Entrepreneurs, Krakow
), Berlin (
The Factory
) and Paris (
Silicon Sentier
). Through these centers, we’ll provide entrepreneurs with training programmes, mentorship, and improved access to capital and talent. We’ll also run additional start-up events with our partners,
Startup Weekend
and
Startup Grind
.
Another priority is developing digital skills among Europe’s youth. Our
RISE programme
, will work with six computer science and STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) education organisations in Europe to reach 100,000 young people by the end of the year, up from the current 32,000.
These programmes nurture coding skills, use robotics to teach engineering and maths, and help teachers with STEM education tools. Our partners in RISE range from the UK’s
Code Club
to Romania’s
Uniristii Association
, to Croatia’s
Science and Society Synergy Institute
, and Germany’s
Technik Begeistert
.
Not everyone wants to a computer scientist. Even so, the Internet can help all types of job seekers develop new skills. By the end of 2013, we’ll have partnered with universities across Europe to launch 25 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). These MOOCs will cover subjects including entrepreneurship, digital marketing and law - with the aim of reaching tens of thousands of people across Europe.
The courses will employ
Course Builder
, an open source tool created by Google staff that has already been used by more than a dozen universities in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the UK to create online courses. In Spain, more than 20,000 people have already participated in a
free business skills MOOC
created last year by the University of Alicante, with our support.
The European Commission deserves credit for demanding concrete action, not platitudes, in dealing with Europe’s job crisis. We’re determined to help make her initiative a success - and contribute to getting the continent back to work.
Posted by Angela Steen, Government Relations Manager
Boosting Africa’s small businesses
Thursday, June 20, 2013
When Naa Oyoo Quartey used to go to Accra Central Market to get her fill of handmade craft jewellery, she was upset to see the stalls stacked with cheap imported items. She started
Roots by Naa
, a Ghanaian company creating fashion products such as headbands, brooches, and necklaces from handworked African fashion textiles.
What began as a side business is now a successful company supporting local crafts and promoting Ghanaian culture to the world - thanks to the Internet. Naa uses online dashboards to track visitors to the website and gain insight into the number of people and countries visiting, including clients from the US, UK, and France. She now plans to expand and train immigrant porter girls in Ghana - kayayee - to make handmade accessories, giving them a better standard of living and equipping them with an income-generating skill.
As one of the
world’s fastest growing economies
, with an entrepreneurial culture, diverse resources and political stability, Ghana aims to continue on its upward path by leveraging the Internet to reach regional and international markets. Google Ghana has partnered with the
Ministry of Trade and Industry
to launch
Innovation Ghana
, an initiative celebrating Naa and other
Innovation Heroes
.
Innovation Ghana highlights the recommendations of the
Dalberg study
, which equips African policy makers with data about the socio-economic benefits of the Internet, and how to capitalize on this potential. At the recent
launch
, Ghana's Minister of Trade and Industry,
Honourable Haruna Iddrisu
, stressed the importance of the Internet for Ghana’s economy and job creation.
As part of this effort, Google Ghana also supported the
Ghana Google Developer Group
and
Accra Google Business Group
to bring together over 300 developers and businesses to connect, inform and inspire them around the theme of the internet and its potential to unleash innovation. Leading Ghanaian developers shared their knowledge of Javascript, HTML5, Google Drive API and Android. The business sessions featured stories of how SMEs have successfully used the internet to market their products and services, manage customers, and build their brands - all of which are key common challenges in Ghana.
Another initiative is called Social Day for the creative industry. The country’s leading bloggers discussed how the blogging community can further promote the use of internet tools. The grand finale hosted over 60 Ghanaian personalities who were thrilled with a songwriting collaboration between award winning musicians
M.anifest
and
E.L,
MC’d by
Sister Deborah
. The evening showcased how Google+, Hangouts and YouTube are being used, both internationally and locally, to reach new audiences, create new content and strengthen an existing creative culture.
We look forward to supporting the country’s growing online entrepreneurial spirit.
Posted Estelle Akofio-Sowah, Country Manager, Ghana
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