Last Monday, we hosted experts from the U.S. Department of Energy, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Nth Power and Google for a discussion on clean energy innovation in our San Francisco office. The panelists focused on the important role innovation plays i…
(Cross-posted from the Google Public Policy Blog)President Obama today announced $3.4 billion in federal stimulus funding to build a “smarter” electricity grid. The funds are the largest single energy grid modernization investment in U.S. history, acco…
The first outbreak of the new “swine flu” strain, now known as H1N1, earlier this year in Mexico caught the world by surprise. Public health officials around the world tried to stop the virus at the borders but were largely helpless. Shortly after, on …
As a relatively new philanthropy ourselves, Google.org continues to explore innovative and sustainable solutions to improving the lives and livelihoods of people in the developing world. This exploration often brings us into dialogue with many start-u…
Well, there’s now an app for that.Today Google.org grantee HealthMap launched a new iPhone application called “Outbreaks Near Me” available for free download.Curious about what disease outbreaks have been reported in your neighborhood? Or maybe in that…
When we launched our Geo Challenge Grants project last fall, we hoped our small grants program would provide nonprofits with the impetus and resources they need to take advantage of powerful online mapping tools like Google Earth and Google Maps. We w…
(Cross-posted from the Public Policy Blog)It’s no surprise that the cheapest and most available solution to the climate problem is simply to use energy more efficiently. But a recent study issued by McKinsey & Co. details just how compelling an opp…
An international group of scientists, including Dr. Nathan Wolfe and the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative (GVFI), announced today their discovery of the origins of the deadliest form of human malaria – Plasmodium falciparim. The falciparim parasite…
Global Health Corps (GHC) places recent university graduates to year-long assignments with public health organizations. Last night members of the Google.org team were delighted to celebrate the inaugural class of Global Health Corps Fellows as they ass…
Recently I was in Cambodia with a group of Googlers for “Gcamp” at the Royal University of Phnom Penh when the country’s first H1N1 (swine flu) case was discovered – a 16-year old American girl on an exchange student visit. The pandemic had traveled th…
(Cross-posted from Official Google Africa Blog)Today is a big day for the Google Africa team for several reasons. We’re announcing an exciting partnership between MTN Uganda, the Grameen Foundation and Google, along with the launch of Google SMS in Uga…
As the flu season begins in the southern hemisphere, we’re excited to announce the expansion of Google Flu Trends to Australia and New Zealand.By using aggregated search data, we’ve been able to produce estimates of flu activity for these countries in …
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed by President Obama in February, includes tens of billions of dollars in federal stimulus funding for clean energy. This investment gives our country an unprecedented opportunity to rebuild our energy s…
It’s with a grateful heart that I leave full-time work with Google to begin a new chapter in my life. I served as start up Executive Director for Google.org for nearly three years before moving into the role of Chief Philanthropic Evangelist in Februar…
Today the YouTube homepage is featuring an Oscar®-nominated film set in the slums of India. No, not that one — this film tells a true story. In honor of World Health Day, YouTube is highlighting The Final Inch, an inspiring short documentary create…