TAG Bulletin: Q1 2022

This bulletin includes coordinated influence operation campaigns terminated on our platforms in Q1 2022. It was last updated on February 28, 2022.

January

• We terminated 3 YouTube channels as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations. The campaign uploaded content in Arabic that was critical of former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir and supportive of the 2019 Sudanese coup d’état. Our findings are similar to findings reported by Meta.
• We terminated 1 AdSense account and 1 Play developer as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Turkey. The campaign was sharing content in Arabic that was about news and current events in Libya. Our findings are similar to findings reported by Meta.
• We terminated 42 YouTube channels and 2 Ads accounts as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Iraq. The campaign uploaded content in Arabic that was in support of the Iraqi Harakat Hoquq party. We received leads from Mandiant that supported us in this investigation.
• We terminated 4 YouTube channels, 2 AdSense accounts, and 1 Blogger blog and blocked 6 domains from eligibility to appear on Google News surfaces and Discover as part of our investigation into reported coordinated influence operations linked to Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine. The campaign was sharing content in English that was about a variety of topics including US and European current events. We believe this operation was financially motivated.
• We terminated 4361 YouTube channels as part of our ongoing investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to China. These channels mostly uploaded spammy content in Chinese about music, entertainment, and lifestyle. A very small subset uploaded content in Chinese and English about China and U.S. foreign affairs. These findings are consistent with our previous reports

by Shane HuntleyThreat Analysis Group via The Keyword

Exploring Afrofuturism on Google Arts & Culture

• An image of a winged – half-silver, half-gold – figure lifts their hands up in the air. The figure’s torso sits on top of a municipal building and marble block.

  AstroSankofa by Quentin VerCetty from the Carnegie Hall collection on Google Arts & Culture

• A woman wearing a bright pink dress smiles at the camera. There are four other girls sitting behind her working and laughing in the background. There are drawings on the wall behind them.

  Regina Agyare from the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation on Google Arts & Culture

• A woman sits on a large sculpture of a room-sized manta ray, and wears a long, black and pink patterned dress. She holds two smaller, seahorse-shaped sculptures; one in each hand. In the background is her workspace with various cardboard boxes and pieces of plywood.

  Wangechi Mutu poses with model of MamaRay by LaToya Ruby Frazier from the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University collection on Google Arts & Culture

• A man stands and holds a skateboard behind his head. He stands in front of a bright red background. He wears white shoes, black bants (rolled up on his right leg), and a green, yellow, and red-striped mesh top.

  Kabangu (series) by Osborne Macharia from the African Artists' Foundation collection on Google Arts & Culture

• An image of an exhibition installation of an home’s interior; a green and yellow glass chandelier, a bookcase with each shelf filled with a different artwork or artifact, and living room with a chair with legs like a comb and a table and television at the center of the room.

  Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room from The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection on Google Arts & Culture

On the evening of February 13, 1893, soprano Sissieretta Jones became the first Black American artist to perform in Carnegie Hall’s main auditorium, today known as Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. When the Hall’s cornerstone was laid, Andrew Carnegie proclaimed that “all good causes may find here a platform.” In keeping with that spirit, this key moment of Black History at Carnegie Hall was soon followed by many others. Today, the Hall continues to celebrate and engage audiences in the Black American cultural legacy across all genres of music; through performances on its stages and across New York City; through the work of the Hall’s education and social impact arm, the Weill Music Institute; and through free digital resources like the Hall’s recently launched Timeline of African American Music.

This February and March 2022, Carnegie Hall invites New Yorkers and the world to participate in a journey of discovery through one of its signature citywide festivals — Afrofuturism — a movement where music, visual arts, science fiction and technology intersect to imagine alternate realities and a liberated future viewed through the lens of Black cultures.

Together with Google Arts & Culture, and coinciding with Black History Month, we are pleased to invite audiences around the world to learn more about this exciting movement as part of a new online hub: The Afrofuture is Now.

On the hub, explore the inspiration behind AstroSankofa, the festival’s signature artwork by Afrofuturist artist Quentin VerCetty, dive into Afrofuturism in Black Music (the latest chapter from the Timeline of African American Music), and visit an online version of Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall exhibition, The Black Angel of History, curated by Dr. Reynaldo Anderson, executive director and co-founder of the Black Speculative Arts Movement.

Carnegie Hall is proud to partner with Google Arts & Culture and to be part of this new chapter, The Afrofuture is Now, where you will also find incredible collections and stories from 20+ other cultural institutions to explore Afrofuturism. From the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, get to know artist Wangechi Mutu, a creative force within the Afrofuturism movement. Or you can see the work of the artists at The Met, who’ve rebuilt a speculative future home for New York’s Seneca Village residents, reimagining the past, present and future of the community. Then, travel across the Atlantic to see Afrofuturism in action and learn about how African entrepreneurs are leapfrogging into the future with highlights from the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation.

We’re hoping these online resources will be your first step into exploring the dynamic world of Afrofuturism — and if you are in New York City this March, join us for one of many Afrofuturism Festival performances at Carnegie Hall, plus talks, performances, exhibitions, and online offerings presented by 70+ leading cultural and academic institutions across New York City and beyond.

by Adriaan Fuchs via The Keyword

Don't...actually do @ me: 5 new Google Workspace features

Sixteen years ago, we launched Google Docs and Sheets and introduced a new way of working. For many, it was the first time they worked in the same digital space together, in real time, without the burden — or risk — of sending documents back and forth. This has become second nature for billions of Google Workspace users around the world, and we’re still finding ways to make it even better.

One of our most recent efforts includes smart canvas, which we launched last year. Smart canvas is a new part of Google Workspace that brings a whole new level of collaboration to the platform. And it must be working: Today, people use smart canvas features like adding checklists and smart chips more than they use commenting in Docs. We recently revealed some new features that make Google Workspace tools even more collaborative and helpful. Check out some of what you can now do, thanks to smart canvas:

1. Auto-generatedsummaries in Google Docs give you a quick overview of the main points in a document. This means Docs will suggest a summary so you can quickly parse the information that matters and prioritize where to focus.

Quickly grasp the main points of a document with summaries in Docs.

2. Page breaks and margins in a document editor were designed for printing — which you might not do so often these days. If you want to take back that extra space for a document that will only live online, you can choose the new pageless format in Docs, so you can view it across more of your screen. (You can switch it back if you want to print it, too.)

Remove the constraints of page boundaries with pageless format in Docs.

3. With smart canvas, you can pull people, files and meetings directly into your document using @-mentions. We recently expanded the “@” menu, making it easy to insert additional things like images, tables and templates. And in the coming weeks, we’ll be bringing this capability to a common scenario at work: collaborating with others on an email in Docs that will be sent out broadly. Once it’s ready, simply click to export it into a draft email in Gmail, with all the relevant fields automatically populated.

4. The recently launched meeting notes template automatically imports any relevant information from a Calendar meeting invite, including attendees and attached files.

Easily import Calendar meeting invite information with the meeting notes template in Docs.

5. You can now easily preview a Google Maps link directly in Docs, too. When you click on the smart chip, you’ll see a thumbnail with information like an image of the location in Maps and the address. We also recently launched people chips in Sheets, to show you things like a person’s job title and contact details.

Preview Google Maps links directly in Docs with maps smart chips.

We want smart canvas to make working together from wherever — and however — easier and better. With AI, we’ve found new ways to do that, and we’ll continue working hard to make Google Workspace more collaborative, helpful and dare we say it…even fun. Sign up today for a Google Workspace free trial.

Read Article

Your hybrid meetings could be better — here's how

Make your hybrid meetings more inclusive for both in-person and remote attendees with best practices and tools from Google Workspace.

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by Vishnu SivajiWorkspace via The Keyword

Demystifying the process of launching a news business

As Irene McKisson learned in launching AZ Luminaria, a non-profit, community-centered newsroom in Arizona, building a news business from the ground up is a daunting undertaking. “Before our news startup even had a name — when it was still just an idea — we knew that there were eight million things that we needed to do, we just had no idea what order to do them in,” she says. Like all journalism founders, she had what seemed like an endless list of big decisions to make: What will we report on? Who will our audience be, and how can we reach them? And, of course, how can the business earn enough revenue to sustain and grow?

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The Google News Initiative Startups Playbook, published last year in close partnership with LION Publishers, was designed to help early-stage news entrepreneurs answer these questions and begin building their editorial, distribution, and financial operations.

“The Playbook helped us step back and really assess our market, our audience needs and our revenue plan,” McKisson told us. “When you’re building something from scratch, it’s so helpful to have a place to start or inspiration from other organizations you admire."

Today, GNI and LION are introducing the second edition of the Startups Playbook, which has been built on feedback from many of its 17,000 readers to date. The first edition thoroughly outlined how to build and launch a digital news business, but it largely skipped the why. Why go independent? Why take on the risk of being an entrepreneur? To help would-be founders with these important decisions, we’ve added six founder profiles including the shared motivations that pulled them into news entrepreneurship.

We built the Startups Playbook primarily for aspiring news founders working on an idea, but we also heard from established publishers who said the Resources section was particularly useful. This section has been expanded to include an array of important documents, from business plans to media kits to founder agreements. Recognizing that the industry is in a constant state of change, we’ve also added best practices and case studies centered around the biggest challenges and opportunities facing independent publishers today.

With these updates in place, we hope that the Startups Playbook can continue to be useful to founders like Alicia Benjamin from North Carolina, who used it in founding The Charlotte Voice.

Alicia Benjamin, founder of The Charlotte Voice.

“The Playbook helped me understand the importance of testing the viability of our product,” she told us. “By talking with and surveying people in the community, I was able to learn their information needs, which, in turn, allowed me to identify my target audience and the information needs I would try to solve for them. The interactive exercises also challenged me to define what success would look like in the medium term, both financially and journalistically.”

Launching a news business is rarely a straightforward endeavor, and there will never be a silver bullet for success. But through our programs and research, GNI, LION and our partners are learning more all the time about the activities and choices of successful founders, and the revamped GNI Startups Playbook represents the latest in our shared understanding.

We are committed to keeping this resource up-to-date, so that it can continue to guide journalism entrepreneurs as they take their first steps. Over the coming weeks, we look forward to publishing the Playbook in additional languages, which will join the already-live English, Spanish and Portuguese editions. Additionally, anyone interested in launching their own news business to check out the GNI’s how-to workshop series, while also signing up for LION’s News Founder Challenge: a six-week newsletter series that pairs content from the Playbook with a weekly challenge designed to help aspiring founders refine and test their news business idea.

by Conor Crowley via The Keyword

YouTube is the Main Stream: Our NewFronts and Upfronts approach

An intro to AI, made for students

Adorable, operatic blobs. A global, online guessing game. Scribbles that transform into works of art. These may not sound like they’re part of a curriculum, but learning the basics of how artificial intelligence (AI) works doesn’t have to be complicated, super-technical or boring.

To celebrate Digital Learning Day, we’re releasing a new lesson from Applied Digital Skills, Google’s free, online, video-based curriculum (and part of the larger Grow with Google initiative). “Discover AI in Daily Life” was designed with middle and high school students in mind, and dives into how AI is built, and how it helps people every day.

AI for anyone — and everyone

“Twenty or 30 years ago, students might have learned basic typing skills in school,” says Dr. Patrick Gage Kelley, a Google Trust and Safety user experience researcher who co-created (and narrates) the “Discover AI in Daily Life” lesson. “Today, ‘AI literacy’ is a key skill. It's important that students everywhere, from all backgrounds, are given the opportunity to learn about AI.”

“Discover AI in Daily Life” begins with the basics. You’ll find simple, non-technical explanations of how a machine can “learn” from patterns in data, and why it’s important to train AI responsibly and avoid unfair bias.

First-hand experiences with AI

“By encouraging students to engage directly with everyday tools and experiment with them, they get a first-hand experience of the potential uses and limitations of AI,” says Dr. Annica Voneche, the lesson’s learning designer. “Those experiences can then be tied to a more theoretical explanation of the technology behind it, in a way that makes the often abstract concepts behind AI tangible.”

Guided by Google’s AI Principles, the lesson also explores why it’s important to develop AI systems responsibly. Developed with feedback from a student advisor and several middle- and high-school teachers, the lesson is intended for use in a wide range of courses, not just in computer science (CS) or technology classes.

“It's crucial for students, regardless of whether they are CS students or not, to understand why the responsible development of AI is important,” says Tammi Ramsey, a high school teacher who contributed feedback. “AI is becoming a widespread phenomenon. It’s part of our everyday lives.”

Whether taught in-person or remotely, teachers can use the lesson’s three- to six-minute videos as tools to introduce a variety of students to essential AI concepts. “We want students to learn how emerging technologies, like AI, work,” says Sue Tranchina, a teacher who contributed to the lesson. “So students become curious and inspired to not just use AI, but create it.”

Read Article

The future of learning is digital

Celebrate Digital Learning Day on February 22 with technology lessons from Google’s Applied Digital Skills.

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by Reena Jana via The Keyword

Google for Games Developer Summit returns March 15

With over three billion players showing strong engagement worldwide, the games market continues to remain resilient and grow beyond expectations. As we look ahead this year, the influx of new and returning players creates a great opportunity for developers to grow their games business.

TheGoogle for Games Developer Summit returns digitally on March 15, 2022 at 9AM Pacific. From mobile to cloud, learn about our new solutions for game developers that make it easier to build high-quality games and reach audiences around the world.

The event keynote kicks off at 9AM Pacific and is open for all. Check out the full agenda today at g.co/gamedevsummit.

by Belinda Langner via The Keyword

Introducing Checks: simplifying privacy for app developers

Can I trust this app with my data? Is this app respecting my privacy rights? These are questions consumers are asking more and more about mobile apps and the developers who create them. In turn, developers are faced with a privacy and compliance landscape that is becoming increasingly more complex. And the path to compliance can be both time-consuming and difficult.

We believe every developer — no matter the stage or size of their company — deserves access to easy-to-use tools that help them achieve their goals, while making privacy compliance simpler.

That’s why today, as part of Google’s in-house incubator Area 120, we’re launching Checks, a new privacy platform. We are on a mission to help simplify privacy and reduce risk for mobile app developers.

A shared passion to help developers succeed

In 2018, as the world prepared for the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we were hearing that mobile app developers were struggling to feel prepared to meet the new privacy expectations under GDPR, and they hoped Google could help. Having previously built tools like Android Vitals to address developers’ technical challenges, we had an idea to use Google’s artificial intelligence and resources to create a new product to help mobile app developers address their privacy compliance needs. Since we worked together for years on Google Play, we knew we could bring this vision to life as a team.

Joining Area 120 allowed us to focus full-time on creating a solution that simplifies privacy for developers distributing on both Android and iOS. Over the past two years, our team has spent time listening to feedback from hundreds of mobile app developers on their approach to privacy, and partnered closely with 40 highly-engaged early adopters to refine our product and roadmap. We believe Checks will help mobile app developers of all sizes save time by replacing complicated processes and providing automated privacy insights.

Greater confidence for app developers

We’ve heard developers say it’s difficult to keep pace with regulatory and app store policy changes, and determine how those changes apply to their apps. Checks helps developers gain confidence to make informed decisions by identifying potential compliance issues, providing clear actionable insights in simple language, and offering links to relevant resources.

Save time and money

Teams are able to better collaborate across legal, business and engineering roles on the Checks platform. Our product provides everyone access to the same unique insights — without the customer having to perform any technical integrations — which helps reduce the number of messages, meetings and documents necessary to track down information. Teams can focus on evaluating what actions to take and respond faster.

Gain visibility

Software Developer Kits (SDKs) can change their functionality at any time, sometimes without the app developer knowing it. Checks helps mobile app developers who use SDKs by detecting when their app’s data sharing practices have changed and then sending them an automated alert. If the change was not intended, the developer can further investigate where the new data is being shared and make necessary changes.

Help completing Google Play’s Data safety section

Many mobile app developers are still preparing for the launch of Google Play’s Data safety section, which will give end users more transparency into what data apps collect or share and how apps use their data. Checks can help developers get started by identifying what information they may need to declare and the basis for the recommendation. This can help them feel confident as they decide what to include.

Request early access today

We want to help developers build mobile apps that their users can enjoy and trust. We look forward to continuing to work closely with developers to ensure Checks provides solutions that developers need.

If you’re working on privacy compliance for mobile apps, visit checks.area120.google.com to learn more and get started today.

by Nia Castelly via The Keyword

The nonprofit leaders to watch in 2022

For as long as Google.org has been around, we’ve supported big ideas to change the world by funding organizations led by dynamic individuals. We backed Sal Khan’s Khan Academy when he was creating it from his walk-in closet in 2010; today more than 70 million people have used the service to help improve their academic outcomes. Or GiveDirectly co-founders Michael Faye and Paul Niehaus, who’ve grown their initial idea for direct cash assistance from a private giving circle to one of the fastest-growing nonprofits of the decade.

So, we asked ourselves: Who are the nonprofit leaders of today who will help create a better tomorrow? The answer: These seven individuals from around the world who are driving real-world change in their communities and finding unexpected solutions to complex challenges across equity, education, health and sustainability. Take a look at Google.org’s Leaders to Watch for 2022.

• Black and white sketch of Brandon.

  Brandon Nicholson, Ph. D., (he/him) Executive Director, The Hidden Genius Project, is Uplifting Black male youth to reach their highest potential.

• Black and white sketch of Ananya

  Ananya Tiwari (she/her), Executive Director, SwaTaleem, is helping girls in rural India gain access to educational opportunities.

• Black and white sketch of Engineer

  Engineer Bainomugisha (he/him), Associate Professor & Project Lead, AirQo, is envisioning a world with clean air for all African cities.

• Black and white sketch of Mariana

  Mariana Costa (she/her), Co-founder & CEO, Laboratoria, is changing the face of tech in Latin America.

• Black and white sketch of Clara

  Clara Rowe (she/her), CEO, Restor, is leading an open data platform that supports and connects ecological restoration projects globally.

• Black and white sketch of Dr. Kraemer

  Dr. Moritz Kraemer (he/him), Co-founder, Global.health, is building a future in which we can better predict the spread of infectious diseases.

• Black and white sketch of Dr. Scott.

  Dr. Allison Scott (she/her), CEO, Kapor Foundation, is fighting for racial equity in the tech sector.

We know firsthand the great work that these leaders do at their organizations; collectively their nonprofits have received millions in funding from Google.org over the past few years. Now we’re going beyond funding the organizations, to focus on supporting the development of individuals behind the work.

No two leaders are in the same stage of their career, so we’re giving them each a financial award of $30,000 to spend how they see fit. We’ve seen the power that direct cash assistance can have through our grantees (for example GiveDirectly) and believe that each leader will know best how to spend their award for their own development.

There is also great power in being able to exchange ideas with fellow leaders, so in addition to creating opportunities for the leaders to learn from each other, they will each also receive mentorship from directors and vice presidents at Google who will be able to provide coaching tailored to their needs. Mentors will include Engineering Director Mekka Okereke, and VP of Marketing in India, Sapna Chadha.

The work of these Leaders to Watch is inspiring, daring and optimistic, and we can’t wait to see what they accomplish in the coming years.

by Jacquelline Fuller via The Keyword

The future of learning is digital

With the rise of online learning and digital tools, education has dramatically changed over the years — requiring teachers and students alike to learn new digital skills. On February 22, thousands of educators around the world are celebrating the use of technology in the classroom by participating in Digital Learning Day. Whether in school or at home, we’ve seen technology can help provide access, increase engagement and help educators and students open up new possibilities for learning, especially over the last few years.

In honor of Digital Learning Day, Grow with Google’s Applied Digital Skills program has curated a collection of our most popular digital lessons, which includes everything from how to make art using spreadsheets to creating a presentation. Applied Digital Skills is Google’s free, online, video-based curriculum that teaches learners of all ages the practical technology skills needed to be successful in school, work and beyond. To date, this curriculum has helped more than three million students learn digital skills and has helped thousands of educators teach them in a fun and engaging way.

Matt Winters, a Senior Technical Trainer at the Utah Education Network and co-lead for Google Educator Group Utah, has incorporated Applied Digital Skills lessons in his community by training educators across the state of Utah to help them get more comfortable with technology. I met with him virtually to talk about his experience integrating technology and digital tools to create more personal learning experiences in the classroom.

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What does digital learning mean to you?

In Utah, we are promoting several activities to get teachers and students involved in Digital Learning Day. And it isn’t about celebrating just one day or one week: This is a skillset that every teacher and student needs on a daily basis. Technology is a tool, and with any tool we need to know how to use it.

Technology is a tool, and with any tool we need to know how to use it.

In your opinion, how can Applied Digital Skills be used in the classroom to promote digital learning?

We as teachers are asked to do so much, especially since the pandemic. Whether it is planning curriculum, taking attendance or being experts in social-emotional learning, on top of all that we are asked to be technology experts. Teachers just don’t have time for all of it. Applied Digital Skills gives teachers the latitude to teach the technology skills that they want students to learn, without ever having to know the technology skills themselves. Although they can take the lessons too!

I also love the open-source nature of Applied Digital Skills. The lessons can easily be adapted to not just your content area, but also the digital tool you would like to use. One of my favorite lessons is Create a Comic Strip with Google Drawings. It’s a big hit with students and was a no-brainer given my personal love for graphic novels. The curriculum encourages teachers to hand off the lessons to the students to let them easily learn the technical skills needed. This allows the teacher to step out of the “sage on the stage” role and switch into coach mode. And they are able to be the content experts that they are and focus their attention on students who need additional support.

What advice would you give to teachers who are skeptical of bringing technology into the classroom?

My biggest suggestion to teachers is to simplify what you are doing with technology in the classroom. Less is more. Get comfortable with a few tech tools first. Start small. It doesn’t have to be a huge overhaul of your curriculum. If you are going from using very little or zero technology, start with very little increments to grow your confidence. That is a very easy win as you will continue to grow your skills over time.

We have to remind ourselves that some things that seem scary to us teachers aren’t actually that scary. For example, I was initially intimidated by some of the coding lessons but I realized how comfortable and easy it was to learn to code with Google Apps Script. By using lessons like Create a Guide to an Area, I was able to get comfortable with coding and show my students that this is much less daunting than it seems. No matter where you are at in your journey with digital skills, all you need to do is start today. Just remember to take it one step at a time.

by Torie BatesApplied Digital Skills via The Keyword

Seeking news innovators in the Middle East, Turkey & Africa

Want to listen to the article instead? Press play.

From Kenya to Lebanon, innovation lies at the heart of the many news organizations across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa where we are today inviting applications for the Innovation Challenges program.

As part of our ongoing commitment to support the news industry around the world, we are launching our third Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge in the region. Funding up to $150,000 is available via this open call for any digital innovative project and all news providers are eligible, regardless of size.

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The program has been running in the region since 2019 and the first two rounds saw 43 projects selected from 18 countries. Those recipients answered a call for projects which would increase reader engagement and/or explore new business models. The ideas ranged from novel membership strategies to Arabic language search tools.

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Successful past recipients include those featured in the videos on this blogpost as well as:

• Eco-Nai+ from Ripples in Nigeria is the first digital geojournalism platform for the country. Geojournalism is a form of data journalism which takes information from users, authoritative sources such as Google Earth, meteorological agencies and others, to cover issues tied to the question of climate change.
• Diaspora par TelQuel from TelQuel Digital in Morocco is a diaspora subscription platform for Morrocans of the world, publishing original content, practical guides, and history articles for audiences viewing abroad: mainly France (35%), Canada (9%) and Belgium (8%).
• My Town, My News from ynet in Israel is a newsroom tool which helps journalists create multiple hyperlocal stories individualized to specific locations across the country to provide statistical information such as COVID-19 rates or vaccination figures.

You can find out more about all the previous recipients on the website.

How to apply

Applications are open from now until Tuesday, April 5 2022. Established publishers, online-only players, news startups, publisher consortia, freelancers, press agencies, broadcasters and local industry associations are all eligible to apply.

Projects will be evaluated against five criteria: innovation, impact on news ecosystem, diversity, equity and inclusion; inspiration; and feasibility. The range of projects could be varied — we are intentionally not being prescriptive and instead welcome your boldest ideas. This could be anything from using Artificial Intelligence in the newsroom to diversifying your business model or figuring out ways to increase audience engagement or even reach new audiences. Whatever it is, we want to hear your sharpest solutions to the challenges faced on the ground.

The selected projects will be eligible to receive up to $150,000, not to exceed 70% of the total project cost. Please note that Google does not take any equity or intellectual property rights in any projects or submissions.

Applications must be made online via our website and are open until Tuesday, April 5 2022 at 23:59 GMT. As part of the application process, applicants are required to produce an explanatory slidedeck (please note the link opens a page to make your own copy to work in). We will also be holding an online town hall on Tuesday, March 8 at 10am GMT with a live presentation and the opportunity to ask questions.

We are looking forward to seeing fresh ideas come out of the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, a region rich with talent, potential and opportunity. For more information about the challenge, visit g.co/newsinnovation.

by Sarah Hartley via The Keyword

Asian startups are shaping global trends

There’s never been a more exciting time to be building a startup in Asia Pacific. Across the region, a diverse, talented and energetic group of founders is on the rise. And these entrepreneurs have an unprecedented opportunity to find the support they need to grow, with record venture funding flowing into the region.

For Google, supporting startups of all sizes is part of our commitment to help digital economies grow. Today, at a virtual Google for Startups event, we shared some of the key insights from our partnerships with founders throughout Asia Pacific: how they’re targeting global growth, moving technology forward, and seeking out support to help realize their potential.

Building for the world

In April 2021, there were almost 200 unicorns (startups valued at $1 billion or more) in Asia Pacific, second only to the United States (290) and ahead of Europe (69). Many of Asia’s leading startups are making a global impact, whether by influencing new business models — like Grab and other Southeast Asian ‘super apps’ — or by tackling universal challenges — like CogSmart in Japan, which is working to help prevent dementia at an early age.

At the same time, the impact of COVID-19 has created greater demand for new digital services that startups are ideally-placed to build. In Southeast Asia, for example, 60 million people have become ‘digital consumers’ — using at least one online service — since the pandemic began.

Exploring emerging technologies

To meet the changing needs of the region’s online population, Asian startups are exploring what’s possible with the next wave of advances in technology. Many want to help solve entrenched social, financial and environmental challenges. Often they’re focused on areas where technology hasn’t made the same progress it has in more established sectors of the digital economy.

• In artificial intelligence, the region’s founders are working on a wide range of powerful applications. Indonesia’s Kata.ai is a leader in conversational AI, helping businesses provide better experiences for their customers, while India’s BrainSightAI is building new tools to help researchers and clinicians better understand the human brain.
• Decentralized finance (DeFi) is another growth area. Southeast Asian DeFi startups raised $1 billion in equity funding in 2021, six times the amount in 2020. With an eye on the shift away from traditional finance and trading, entrepreneurs behind startups like Korea’sDA:Ground are making it easier for people in the region to invest and access other financial services.
• Financial technology (fintech) and e-commerce in Asia is booming. Many founders working in the fintech sector are driven by the goal of making finance more inclusive and e-commerce an even better experience. The Philippines’ Advance is making it easier for Filipino workers to access zero-interest credit through responsible partnerships with their employers. In Singapore, Shopinks helps retailers better engage their customers through chatbots and personalized emails.
• In the wake of the pandemic, there is great momentum behind health technology startups such as India’s Zyla, which provides 24/7, personalized care through a mobile app, and Caredoc, a Korean platform that shares information on elderly care facilities.
• Other founders are increasingly focused on sustainability, given Asia’s vulnerability to the climate crisis. Startups contributing to the response include Indonesia’s Duitin, which is managing 2,000 waste management sites across Indonesia, and Taiwan’s Lockists, a shared transportation platform that helps improve air quality by reducing car use.

Laying foundations for growth

While there’s ample funding available for Asian startups, we know that the region’s founders need a much wider range of support beyond investment. Common challenges faced by startups in the region include keeping up with regulations (which differ at country, state and provincial levels), getting access to infrastructure or technologies, and increasing the current low rate of women’s entrepreneurship.

Our aim is to work with everyone in the startup community — including founders, venture capital firms and governments — to help move the entire ecosystem forward. This year, we’re running Google for Startups Accelerator programs in India, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, providing support and mentorship for growth-stage startups. Our new Startup Academy program — launched in Indonesia — will coach early-stage startups. We’re working to help a more diverse range of startups through the Women Founders Academy. And we continue to build close links with private and public sector partners who share our commitment, with initiatives like Project Hatcher in Taiwan and our Startups & FinTechs Program with Cyberport in Hong Kong.

Southeast Asian startups with Google mentors during our inaugural regional accelerator program.

At this moment of possibility for Asian startups, we want to make sure founders across the region have all the opportunities they need to grow, thrive and shape technology for the region and the world.

by Mike Kim via The Keyword

African developers: creating opportunities and building for the future

Every day, African businesses harness ingenuity to empower their communities. African software developers are an engine for digital transformation in local economies across the continent, and there’s no one better to solve challenges than local developers, founders, and entrepreneurs. And as African startup funding reaches unprecedented levels (growing by over 2.5x in 2021 over the previous year), understanding Africa’s developer landscape is key to support the growth of these startups.

For the second year in a row, Google published the Africa Developer Ecosystem report to map Africa’s developer landscape. We expanded this edition of the report to include year-on-year growth analysis, tech ecosystem components and key growth factors. The research was conducted in 16 African markets (Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda) and the findings were extrapolated to the rest of the continent.

Here are the five key takeaways from our study:

1. Africa’s developer population is growing across the continent.

We found that COVID-19 has continued to shape both the tech community at large and the nuances of the developer experience. Despite a contracting economy, the pool of professional developers increased by 3.8% to make up 0.4% of the continent’s non-agricultural workforce. Salaries and compensation also rose, and more developers secured full-time jobs.

2. VC investment in African startups rebounded as the digital economy expanded.

As local businesses transitioned online across the continent, they boosted the need for web development and data engineering skills. African startups raised over $4bn in 2021, 2.5x times more than in 2020, with fintech startups making up over half of this funding. The shift to remote work also created more employment opportunities across time zones and continents for African developers while lifting the pay for senior talent. As a result, international companies are now recruiting African developers at record rates.

3. Learners, junior developers, as well as underrepresented groups including women, need more support.

These groups faced challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Without access to in-person education — or affordable, reliable internet access and at-home equipment — they struggled to make gains last year. This can be seen in how the gender gap between men developers and women developers widened: there are 2.5% fewer women developers in the workforce than there were in 2020.

4. Educators, technology companies and governments are undertaking initiatives to strengthen the developer pipeline.

Educators, tech companies and governments can help developers succeed by improving internet access, education and business support. Bootcamps and certifications, run as part of formal and informal education, are working to bridge the vocational training gap between traditional education and employment moving forward. Global technology companies are investing in digital skill building across the continent to improve job readiness and alleviate the tech talent bottleneck. Governments can also play a vital role in strengthening the developer pipeline by investing in both internet access and education.

5. Nigeria is a striking example of the symbiotic relationship between digital transformation and developer growth in Africa.

The developer ecosystem in Nigeria is thriving, thanks to strong demand for developer talent, significant support from big tech, and Nigerian startups raising the largest total amount of funding on the continent in 2021. Nigeria had the highest number of new developers of all countries surveyed, with 5,000 additional developers joining Nigeria's developer population in 2021. As countries like Nigeria continue to transform, they will unlock more opportunities for developers, who in turn, grow the economy.

To support the continued growth of Africa’s developers, technology companies, educators and governments are tackling local challenges through innovative partnerships and programs. Google is committed to supporting developers at each stage of their journey through regional developer training, community, and mentorship programs, including Google Developer Groups, Google Developer Student Clubs, Women Techmakers and Google Developer Experts.

by Nitin Gajria via The Keyword

Our new $100 million Google Career Certificates Fund

Editor’s note:Today Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a new $100 million Google Career Certificates Fundat an event with U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Castillo and the CEOs of Social Finance, Merit America and Year Up. Below is an edited transcript of his remarks. Watch the event above.

One of the best parts of my job is visiting the communities where Google operates. These visits remind me that America is full of people who want to work hard and contribute to their communities.

That sense of purpose and optimism is what brought me to America nearly 30 years ago. And it’s what drew me to Google and its mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

We are a company of technology optimists. We believe in what people can do with technology to improve their lives and the lives of others.

That’s what inspired us to launch Grow with Google in 2017, to help all Americans access training to grow their skills, careers and businesses. What we’ve learned over the last five years is what can be accomplished when private-sector companies like ours come together with public-sector institutions and nonprofit partners. Our digital skills program is one example. Together we’ve helped train eight million Americans in all 50 states.

Another example is our Google Career Certificates. Seventy thousand Americans have now completed these certificates. They prepare people for high-paying, high-growth jobs in fields like data analytics, IT support, project management and user experience design. They are available to anyone, no college degree required. Seventy-five percent of graduates report seeing a positive impact on their career within six months, including a raise or a new job.

That includes Natalie Burns, who I met in 2019, and who is here with us today. Natalie earned her Google IT Support certificate while attending community college in Texas. She got a job in cybersecurity and — I’m told — a significant pay increase. Congrats, Natalie!

We want to help more people access these Certificates, especially in underserved communities.

That’s why I’m excited to announce a new $100 million Google Career Certificates Fund. The goal is to enable Social Finance to reach more than 20,000 American workers. This investment in America’s future has the potential to drive $1 billion in wage gains.

This fund is a new kind of financing model. We’ll invest Google capital and Google.org grants and provide our Career Certificate program. Social Finance will provide funding to nonprofit partners like Merit America and Year Up, who in turn will provide services like career coaching, living stipends and job placement support. And we’ll connect students to an employer consortium of more than 150 companies who are looking to hire workers with these skills.

It’s all designed around student success. They will receive all of this at no upfront cost. And will only pay it back once they find a job earning at least $40,000 a year. Social Finance will then redistribute those repayments to future learners, making this model more sustainable.

It’s another promising example of how the entire ecosystem — from private companies to nonprofits — can work together to help more Americans access economic opportunities.

I’m excited to see all the ways this could be transformative for people, their families and their communities. Thank you to our partners again for their efforts and support.

by Sundar Pichai via The Keyword

A watch company founder looks to the future

In 2014, Randy Williams founded Talley & Twine Watch Company with the desire to create beautiful, high-quality watches at a reasonable price point. Since then, he’s grown the business to 16 employees, has expanded to hundreds of styles and gives back to a variety of nonprofits. Digital tools like Google Ads have been critical to growing his business, helping him efficiently build his brand and connect with customers from across the world. As we celebrate Black-owned businesses this Black History Month, we had a few questions for Randy about how he got started and his advice for other aspiring business owners.

How were you inspired by other Black-owned businesses before founding Talley & Twine?

Seeing other successful Black-owned businesses inspired me by showing me what was possible. Black entrepreneurs are more than business owners; they're leaders in their communities. Seeing them opened my mind and allowed me to be creative and to dream. I'm still inspired daily by the creativity and ingenuity of entrepreneurs from my community.

What do you know now that you wish you had known on Talley & Twine’s first day?

In the beginning stages of starting Talley & Twine, I had no idea of the true power of having a great team around you. The synthesis and growth you can experience with a team versus working solo are unmatched. Knowing what I know now, I would have sought out partners and employees much sooner.

What advice would you give to other aspiring business owners?

View starting a business as a learning process. Allow yourself to be a student of entrepreneurship by synthesizing the lessons you learn along the way. Things won't always go as planned, but view these challenges as building blocks for your personal and professional growth.

• Two men stand at the intersection of two residential streets named Talley Avenue and Twine Circle

  Randy Williams, Founder & CEO of Talley & Twine, and Eric Heyward, COO of Talley & Twine, stand at the intersection of Talley and Twine streets, the inspiration for the company’s name.

• A woman works on a watch with a green, black, and red striped watch band

  A woman works on Talley & Twine’s Juneteenth watch.

• Two men sit at desk looking at a laptop computer showing a YouTube video that shows a person’s hand wearing a watch

  Randy Williams and Eric Heyward watching a Talley & Twine YouTube video

• Google search results for Talley and Twine watches showing five watches: 2 black, 2 gold, 1 silver

  Google Ads featuring five Talley & Twine watches

What are some of the future plans you have for the brand?

We have plans to launch our first Swiss-made automatic watch this year and we're really excited about it. We also plan to expand our philanthropic efforts to support future entrepreneurs and business leaders. In 2021, we launched the first Talley & Twine business scholarship at my alma mater, Albany State University and we plan to extend that to other historically Black colleges and universities as well.

What makes you most proud to be a business owner?

Hearing from other business owners about how they were inspired to start after hearing Talley & Twine's story makes me the proudest. That means the cycle that inspired me to start continues to multiply and flourish.

by Google Small Business Team via The Keyword

This Googler wants to ‘add every voice’ to AI

Early in his career, Laurence Moroney was working on an equation — not something related to his job in tech, but to his bank account. “At one point, I calculated I was about three weeks away from being homeless,” Laurence says. “My motivation was to put a meal on the table and keep a roof over my head.”

Today Laurence is a developer advocate at Google focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). “It’s my goal to inform and inspire the world about what we can do with AI and ML, and help developers realize these possibilities.” Laurence applied at Google in 2013 after hearing then-CEO Larry Page talk about Google’s vision to make the world a better place. “I was hired on my third attempt — so yes, I failed twice!”

Now he focuses on inviting and introducing more people to roles in the AI and ML fields through coursework, workshops and bootcamps that help developers gain job skills through professional certificates. “I try to meet developers where they are, whether that’s on YouTube, social media or in-person events,” he says. He’s particularly motivated to reach out to groups who have been historically underrepresented in tech. “Often they look and see everyone is one ethnicity and one gender and they think they don’t belong, but that’s not the case: Everyone, all ages, disabilities, whatever your background is, you should be here,” he says. “It's so important for AI and ML work to include the entire scope of people which is why I'm so motivated to try and make everyone feel like they belong in this work.”

But it wasn’t an easy or straightforward path: his early years were tumultuous. Originally from Cyprus, Laurence and his family were forced to leave their home when a civil war resulted in an invasion. Exposure to chemicals used in the war zone permanently stained Laurence’s teeth, and he was also left with shaky hands. After moving to four different countries before the age of 8 (and learning four different languages), they settled in Ireland. “When you’re young, you don’t notice how difficult these things are, you just think…this is your life and this is normal,” he says.

He didn’t have the luxury to find his “passion” at work. “I needed a job and I needed a career. And around that time, the internet was starting to open up all of these new possibilities and opportunities.” In 1992, while bouncing around between odd jobs after receiving his degree in physics, Laurence heard about a government AI training program in the U.K. — one that worked as a sort of fellowship helping participants earn their master’s degree while also working on ways that AI systems could benefit the country.

“Hundreds of people descended on the testing center, where they looked at things like IQ, reasoning skills and so on,” Laurence says. Laurence also went — and ended up with the highest score. “They signed me up without realizing my background or ethnicity, and I was glad for that because I had experinced a lot of discrimination for being Irish,” he notes. “By that time I had gotten in the habit of disguising my accent. I tried not to talk much when I spoke to the government official who was running the program.” Despite his nerves, Laurence was asked to be the first person to sign on…though, the program itself was short-lived.

Every voice we add enriches what we’re doing — and every voice we lose diminishes it.

by Molly The Keyword via The Keyword

How Ada’s work empowers Black creators and artists

Welcome to the latest edition of “My Path to Google,” where we talk to Googlers, interns and alumni about how they got to Google, what they do in their roles and how they prepared for their interviews.

Today’s post is all about Adrienne (Ada) Hopkins, a Strategic Partner Manager at YouTube and a tireless advocate for Black creatives.

What do you do at YouTube?

I’m a Strategic Partner Manager on YouTube’s Top Creators team, where I focus on amplifying and accelerating the growth of creators from underrepresented backgrounds. I also co-lead efforts to promote inclusion across YouTube’s partnerships, and work to strengthen the relationship between YouTube and aspiring Black creators, artists, executives and creative communities. I’m called to use technology to ensure creatives, particularly those most marginalized, are educated about the businesses they occupy, have equitable access to opportunity, are compensated for their gifts and have safe spaces to use their authentic voices.

Can you walk us through a typical work day?

Part of the reason I love my job is because no two days are the same — my time is dictated by what my creators need and the big ideas they imagine. What is consistent is the fact that most of my days are spent in meetings collaborating with our most influential creators, building YouTube’s approach to driving equity and inclusion in our partnerships (including how we show up authentically in cultural moments), imagining ways YouTube can invest in aspiring creators and serving our employee resource group, Black@YouTube.

What were you up to before YouTube?

If you told me I’d be working in tech 10 years post college graduation, I would have laughed you out of the room! After graduating from Stanford, I started my career in investment banking. However, I realized I needed more purpose, so I took a mini “sabbatical” to join a social enterprise in Nairobi, Kenya. That set me on a path of purpose-driven work that included a stint in social impact consulting, leadership development and philanthropy advising. I wanted to go deeper in this space, so I enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania for my MBA. During this time, I co-founded a social enterprise to bring plant-based, affordable food to low-income, food desert communities.

Ada at our Playa Vista office

How did you go from social impact to YouTube?

I began to feel overwhelmed and disillusioned by the magnitude of the problems I was tackling and knew there had to be another path to effect change. Music is a mighty tool for progress and has always played a central role in my life. Plus, I’ve always been struck by the challenges I witnessed artists grappling with. I thought that if I could empower creatives to manage the business side of their work while also tending to the spirit, it would help them create from healed places. That vision led me to Grammy-nominated recording artist Jidenna and other TV and film producers, directors and agencies. I found renewed purpose in this work and wanted to do it on a larger platform, which led me to YouTube.

What inspires you?

I’m inspired to open my computer everyday because at the core, I’m helping historically disenfranchised creators build intergenerational wealth. To do this work for the world’s largest platform is a responsibility and gift I do not take lightly. And with YouTube’s renewed commitment to racial justice, equity and product inclusion, there isn’t a better time. Service is my highest calling, I’m immensely grateful for each and every day.

Ada at our Mountain View HQ during Noogler orientation

Any advice for your past self?

Find your why — what you were uniquely put on this earth to do — and focus on just that. When you are aligned with your truest and highest self, things flow and you find the right opportunities. I would tell her difficult seasons are guaranteed but suffering is a choice so find peace within if you hope for peace in the world. Finally I’d tell her not to run from her light. We’re conditioned to play small and devalue our worthiness, but those days are over!

Anything else you’d like to share?

Yesterday I spoke at Google’s Transforming Tech event, a month-long campaign to highlight recent transformative work in tech, the Googlers behind it and their impact on the Black community. I spoke at the “Uplifting Black Voice on YouTube” panel, where we discussed our multi-year effort to center and grow Black creators and artists. You can find it at goo.gle/bhm2022 if you want to watch!

by Jason Rowland via The Keyword