listEntries({"version":"1.0","encoding":"UTF-8","feed":{"xmlns":"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom","xmlns$openSearch":"http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/","id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-07-31T12:49:44.751-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Official google.org Blog"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default?alt\u003djson-in-script\u0026start-index\u003d26\u0026max-results\u003d25"},{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default?alt\u003djson-in-script"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"A Googler"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"58"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"25"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-8355472243275377185"},"published":{"$t":"2008-07-23T01:02:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-07-23T12:47:52.253-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Driving plug-in technology with investments of $2.75 million"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://bp0.blogger.com/_sW35VbFrGw8/SIbs74Z96kI/AAAAAAAAA5c/g6SjlQiv0Kg/s1600-h/imagecourtseyofapteramotors.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;\" src\u003d\"http://bp0.blogger.com/_sW35VbFrGw8/SIbs74Z96kI/AAAAAAAAA5c/g6SjlQiv0Kg/s320/imagecourtseyofapteramotors.jpg\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226124931107777090\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003eLast June Google.org launched \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.rechargeit.org/\"\u003eRechargeIT\u003c/a\u003e, an initiative to accelerate the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles. At that time we announced a request for investment proposals (RFP) from teams working on technologies relevant to this goal. Today we are pleased to announce our first RechargeIT investments in two promising companies tackling the challenge of vehicle electrification.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.aptera.com/\"\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAptera Motors \u003c/a\u003eof Carlsbad, California is building  an ultra-high efficiency vehicle based on                  improved aerodynamics and composite materials. Aptera's first prototype achieved over 230 miles per gallon during testing, and they are developing an all-electric as well as a plug-in hybrid vehicle based on this design.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.actacell.com/\"\u003eActaCell\u003c/a\u003e is an Austin-based company working to commercialize lithium-ion battery technology developed at the University of Texas at Austin.  ActaCell's technology offers the promise of improved battery cycle life and lower costs, while maintaining a focus on battery safety, all of which are important factors in the widespread adoption of plug-in vehicles.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eBoth of these innovative companies and their capable teams are working to develop technology that is crucial to helping us realize the RechargeIT vision: millions of plug-in vehicles on the road.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by Karl Sun, Google.org Investments Principal\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/07/driving-plug-in-technology-with.html","title":"Driving plug-in technology with investments of $2.75 million"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/8355472243275377185/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/8355472243275377185"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/8355472243275377185"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Niki Fenwick"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/13881152948934232359"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-8839927515632182324"},"published":{"$t":"2008-07-22T12:24:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-07-22T12:35:34.508-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Our plug-ins perform: 90+ MPG"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://bp2.blogger.com/_sW35VbFrGw8/SIY2bWXxubI/AAAAAAAAA4o/dL4ItWnw9uU/s1600-h/rechargeitblogimage.gif\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;\" src\u003d\"http://bp2.blogger.com/_sW35VbFrGw8/SIY2bWXxubI/AAAAAAAAA4o/dL4ItWnw9uU/s320/rechargeitblogimage.gif\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225924261099714994\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003eLast summer Google.org launched the RechargeIT program, an initiative to accelerate the commercialization of plug-in vehicles. As part of this project, we created the GFleet, a free car-sharing program for Google employees. The GFleet includes a handful of hybrid vehicles converted to plug-ins with a \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.a123systems.com/hymotion\"\u003eHymotion\u003c/a\u003e conversion module.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eOur plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have been on the road for about a year now, and the RechargeIT team has been diligently collecting statistics on their performance. We noticed that employees primarily use our plug-ins for short trips close to our headquarters, so the data weren't truly representative of typical U.S. driving patterns. We were curious to see how the cars would perform under controlled conditions - and how they would stack up against other conventional automobiles typically found in U.S. households. With that, the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v\u003dcJQA3suRxMw\"\u003eRechargeIT Driving Experiment\u003c/a\u003e was born!\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIn total, it took just over seven weeks to complete all the trips in all the vehicles.  And with the results in, our plug-ins did great, with the Priuses getting more than 90 miles per gallon.  The PHEVs not only greatly outperformed the average American fleet fuel economy of 19.8 MPG, they did significantly better than the standard hybrids – 53% fuel economy improvement for the plug-in Ford Escape and 93% improvement for the plug-in Prius.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eCheck out our newly improved \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.rechargeit.org/\"\u003eRechargeIT website\u003c/a\u003e for more details on our Driving Experiment.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by Rolf Schreiber, RechargeIT Engineer\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/07/our-plug-ins-perform-90-mpg.html","title":"Our plug-ins perform: 90+ MPG"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/8839927515632182324/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/8839927515632182324"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/8839927515632182324"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Niki Fenwick"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/13881152948934232359"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-460528088855669718"},"published":{"$t":"2008-07-10T16:26:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-07-10T16:29:21.963-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"They are going to school, but are they actually learning?"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"HakiElimu, one of Google.org’s partners, recently released an important \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.hakielimu.org/quality.pdf\"\u003ereport\u003c/a\u003e about the quality of education in Tanzania to stimulate a national discussion about the challenges facing the education sector. \u003ca href\u003d\"http://services.google.com/blog_resources/google_org_hakielimumedia.pdf\"\u003eMedia coverage\u003c/a\u003e in Dar es Salaam indicates the report has already made an impression and is prompting the government to act.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eFor too long, success in the education sector has been defined by the number of schools and classrooms built and by the increase in student enrollment - measures that don't necessarily register learning.  But the conversation is now shifting: \"quality\" has become more front and center, forcing governments and development agencies to re-evaluate their policies.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIt’s hard to address the “quality” issue without knowing what children can and cannot do. Part of HakiElimu’s report captures a “snapshot of the quality of education actually provided in schools by presenting the results of short tests administered to children in primary and secondary schools.” The sample pool is small, but the findings are interesting indicators of what may be happening in much of the country. Here are two of the findings that I found most powerful and alarming:\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003eOne of the tests was a short dictation in both Kiswahili, the national language, and English (a total of 483 primary school students and 559 secondary school students were tested). While students scored higher on the Kiswahili dictations, HakiElimu found it “concerning that 25% of primary pupils’ Kiswahili dictations were rated “poor.” Pupils who took this test had completed six years’ of schooling in Kiswahili and yet one in four were unable to write a coherent paragraph as dictated in the national language. In the dictations, students in both primary and secondary schools made fundamental errors in punctuation, giving researchers the impression that these things are not taught in schools. Children were often using the improper case for letters. Similarly, many did not appear to have a sense of spacing between words, or between letters in the word and between sentences. Knowledge of punctuation was also limited” (page 29)\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003eThe next point is equally alarming: Primary school students are taught in Kiswahili while in secondary schools the language of instruction is in English. As the report indicates, this is problematic.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e“Overall, data show that while children’s Kiswahili language competencies are generally well developed, English language competencies are poorly developed in both primary and secondary school students. Students had difficulty in reading, writing and translating the language. This is particularly troublesome in case of secondary school students. On entering secondary schools, children not only have to relearn all the terms and concepts in a new language but also to take on a more difficult set of subjects. If the majority of the students in secondary schools are unable to read and understand the language in which they are taught, as our data show, it is difficult to see how their learning can be enhanced. (page 33)\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eMy colleagues and I often say “you can’t fix what you can’t see.”  This report helps to highlight to communities, organizations and the government that while money might be spent on education, there are still significant gaps in learning outcomes.  More information and data about these outcomes help create the metrics, so action can be taken to fix these gaps.  We are proud of HakiElimu's work and their commitment to ensuring that citizens and government know more about the quality of education in Tanzania.  We believe that the information and the discussions it is sparking in Tanzania are important first steps toward improving the educational system.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by \u003c/span\u003eJuliette Gimon, Program Manager, Google.org"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/07/they-are-going-to-school-but-are-they.html","title":"They are going to school, but are they actually learning?"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/460528088855669718/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/460528088855669718"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/460528088855669718"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-7832640115416931632"},"published":{"$t":"2008-07-09T09:45:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-07-09T09:49:52.477-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Technology leaps in Africa"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"I recently returned from a research trip across four East African countries. Every time I return from the region, I am energized by the dynamism of the young people I meet but overwhelmed by the challenges the region faces. The combination of high oil and food prices affects the United States economy, to be sure, but the impact on poor people in poor countries is exponentially greater. People have to make hard decisions like taking their children out of school, rationing the little food they have, and in some cases not eating at all. High fuel prices also contribute to lower uses of fertilizer, resulting in lower agricultural yields. The cycle spirals in a way that hurts the poorest people the most.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAnd yet there is another story unfolding simultaneously in Eastern Africa. It is the story of \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.safaricom.co.ke/\"\u003eSafaricom\u003c/a\u003e, the most successful telecom company on the continent. Safaricom started trading publicly on the Nairobi stock exchange in June and catalyzed the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/may2008/gb20080530_725619.htm\"\u003elargest IPO on the continent\u003c/a\u003e ever. More than $800 million was raised from Kenyans from all walks of life, resulting in an over-subscription of stock of more than 400%. Mobile is growing faster in Africa than in any other part of the world. While levels of internet penetration are well below 5% for the continent, nearly 40% have access to mobile phones and Nairobi sends more text messages in a single day than New York (a statistic frequently quoted in the region).\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eTen years ago people were talking about land lines and how they would ever penetrate rural Africa. Infrastructure has long been a constraint on economic development and growth in Africa but nobody imagined that a new technology would completely leap-frog the traditional phone and fundamentally disrupt telephony in Africa. I can't help but think about rural energy in the same light. Today, countries like Uganda are still \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.sidint.org/files/africa/Africa_Report_2006.pdf\"\u003e90% unserved by electricity\u003c/a\u003e. Can you imagine not having power in 90% of any country and still trying to grow the economy? Do we expect Africans to wait for grid electricity to incrementally reach people or are there disruptive innovations that can provide off-grid renewable energy to rural Africans in scaleable ways? What would this look like given large geo-thermal and bio-diesel reserves in East Africa and can renewable energy sources provide opportunities for greener solutions in Africa?\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eInteracting with dynamic and bright Africans under 30 (who make up 70% or more of most African countries), I cannot help but wonder what is on the horizon. People are innovating all over the continent with bio-gas, small scale hydro, wind, and solar power. Where people have electricity, there is a massive difference in economic activity, public services, productivity, and hope about the future. Energy is truly a platform that affects nearly every aspect of rural life. Today, Africa is mostly unserved by power grids but given innovation possibilities, are there not scalable ways to introduce renewable energy to millions of people who are completely unplugged from the global economy today?\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by Aleem Walji, Head of Global Development Initiatives, Google.org\u003c/span\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/07/technology-leaps-in-africa.html","title":"Technology leaps in Africa"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/7832640115416931632/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/7832640115416931632"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/7832640115416931632"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-2703054891629190365"},"published":{"$t":"2008-07-08T18:01:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-07-08T18:04:30.710-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"HealthMap paving the way for earlier disease detection"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Major kudos to \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.healthmap.org/en\"\u003eHealthMap\u003c/a\u003e, one of our early grantees, for their work using free, web-based data sources to facilitate early outbreak detection and make it public on Google Maps.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eHealthMap just published an excellent overview of their work and findings in the journal \u003ca href\u003d\"http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request\u003dindex-html\u0026amp;issn\u003d1549-1676\"\u003ePLoS Medicine\u003c/a\u003e. The article, \"\u003ca href\u003d\"http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request\u003dget-document\u0026amp;doi\u003d10.1371/journal.pmed.0050151\"\u003eSurveillance Sans Frontières: Internet-Based Emerging Infectious Disease Intelligence and the HealthMap Project\u003c/a\u003e,\" is definitely worth a read. Wired.com thought so too and \u003ca href\u003d\"http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/07/researchers-tra.html\"\u003eposted here\u003c/a\u003e about HealthMap's Google.org supported efforts.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWe're proud to support HealthMap as they continue to hone their methodology and expand their coverage, including the addition of Hindi, Portuguese, and Arabic language information sources to their current suite of Chinese, Spanish, Russian, French and English. Way to go HealthMap...keep up the good work!\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by \u003c/span\u003eCorrie Conrad, Associate, Predict and Prevent"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/07/healthmap-paving-way-for-earlier.html","title":"HealthMap paving the way for earlier disease detection"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/2703054891629190365/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/2703054891629190365"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/2703054891629190365"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-3824247282716991212"},"published":{"$t":"2008-06-20T15:19:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-06-20T15:29:36.511-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Getting ahead of the curve in fighting disease"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan id\u003d\"pumx0\"  style\u003d\"font-size:100%;\"\u003e\u003cspan id\u003d\"pumx1\"\u003eAmy Luers, Program Manager, \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan id\u003d\"tmxa\"  style\u003d\"font-size:100%;\"\u003e\u003cspan id\u003d\"tmxa0\"\u003eEnvironment,\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan id\u003d\"tmxa1\"  style\u003d\"font-size:100%;\"\u003e\u003cspan id\u003d\"tmxa2\"\u003e Predict and Prevent\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe Myanmar cyclone and extreme flooding in Iowa are among the most recent beats in what seems to be a constant pulse of extreme weather-related disasters across the globe. Floods, hurricanes, heatwaves, and droughts nearly always bring with them various threats to public health– including the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. However, these threats now loom even larger with the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/FAQ/wg1_faq-10.1.html\"\u003eexpected rise in the frequency and intensity of extreme events\u003c/a\u003e as a result of the Earth’s changing climate. \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIn times of disaster our vulnerabilities are revealed. While the recent extreme events cannot be directly attributed to climate change, they are omens of what lie ahead and their devastating impacts raise serious questions about society’s vulnerability to, and its ability to cope with continued climate change.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe good news is that environmental and health scientists are beginning to work together to get us ahead of the curve and prepare for the changes underway by designing new analytical tools, providing access to real-time data, and developing forecasts of emerging infectious diseases. For example, Madeleine Thomson and Stephen Connor at the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://portal.iri.columbia.edu/portal/server.pt\"\u003eInternational Research Institute for Climate and Society\u003c/a\u003e (IRI) have developed a Summer Institute 2008 on \u003ca href\u003d\"http://portal.iri.columbia.edu/portal/server.pt?space\u003dCommunityPage\u0026amp;control\u003dSetCommunity\u0026amp;CommunityID\u003d964\u0026amp;PageID\u003d0\"\u003eClimate Information for Public Health\u003c/a\u003e. This institute offers people the opportunity to learn practical methods for integrating climate knowledge and information into public health decision-making.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eYesterday the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.press.org/\"\u003eNational Press Club\u003c/a\u003e hosted scientists at an event examining the challenges and opportunities to predict and protect global public health from our changing climate. These are the same challenges and opportunities that the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://google.org/predict.html\"\u003ePredict and Prevent Initiative\u003c/a\u003e seeks to support.  Our own Frank Rijsberman participated in the event and outlined Google.org’s efforts to support projects that advance the use of climate and weather information to help predict and prevent emerging infectious diseases.  You can watch the panel Frank participated in, “Changing Climate, Changing Health Patterns: What will it take to Predict and Protect?” \u003ca href\u003d\"http://video.energypolicytv.com/displaypage.php?vkey\u003da1c3ad668b8bb5df7963\u0026amp;fr\"\u003ehere\u003c/a\u003e.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe Associated Press covered the event with an \u003ca href\u003d\"http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h8n95TQYU_xUAOr7FRkNz1zdkL9wD91CMEMO0\"\u003ein-depth article\u003c/a\u003e. It's encouraging to see this growing interest in health as a part of the climate change discussion, especially given the WHO's dedication of \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.who.int/world-health-day/en/index.html\"\u003e2008 World Health Day\u003c/a\u003e to climate and health."},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/06/getting-ahead-of-curve-in-fighting.html","title":"Getting ahead of the curve in fighting disease"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/3824247282716991212/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/3824247282716991212"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/3824247282716991212"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-3945087161664877772"},"published":{"$t":"2008-06-20T09:56:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-06-20T10:07:15.003-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"A conversation in Kisii"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by Meryl Stone, Associate, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eA recent field visit took me to \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kisii_town\"\u003eKisii\u003c/a\u003e, a Kenyan town close to the shores of Lake Victoria.  The population has swelled to 100,000 from approximately 70,000 largely because of refugees fleeing the post-election violence in other parts of Kenya.  Local authorities expect to see that population double over the next ten years. Providing public services, especially water and sanitation, to this growing population is an enormous challenge.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIn 2000, the international community made a commitment to the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/\"\u003eUN Millennium Development Goals\u003c/a\u003e to help communities access basic public services, like health, education, water and sanitation.  One the key milestones of Goal 7 is to \"halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.\" As of 2004, the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.mdgmonitor.org/map.cfm?goal\u003d6\u0026amp;indicator\u003d0\u0026amp;cd\u003d\"\u003eMDG Monitor\u003c/a\u003e shows the nations bordering Lake Victoria- Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya only 60% of their populations have access to improved drinking water sources.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWhile great progress is being made in Kisii, local officials say far less than 60% of their population has adequate service, despite what the official statistics say. New water pipes have been donated to the local water provider.  This has doubled the capacity, but it only reaches half of Kisii's estimated population (50,000).  Water kiosks stand proudly along the main road.  And yet, the taps run dry.  The connections to the main line are not even functional.  Young women still trudge the kilometers to the river, at risk to their own security, to collect water.  Bright blue toilet stalls line the periphery of a girls school. While the school has seen an increase in attendance since the installation of these toilets, they continue to be plagued by their inability to deal with the sanitation requirements of their students.  As we depart, the headmistress of the school pleads with us to help with the sanitation problem.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://bp1.blogger.com/_t00ArAMsPec/SFvhlT4X_tI/AAAAAAAAAD0/D1DBWdKRkrA/s1600-h/IMG_2509.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;\" src\u003d\"http://bp1.blogger.com/_t00ArAMsPec/SFvhlT4X_tI/AAAAAAAAAD0/D1DBWdKRkrA/s400/IMG_2509.jpg\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214009024719617746\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eSome more recent data gathered from towns surrounding Lake Victoria in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, tell us a very different story than information from the MDG Monitor.  This story is closer to the facts reported to us on the ground: while basic infrastructure (water pipes, points, toilets) may exist, those facilities are rarely functional, affordable or accessible, indicating to us that access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation services is substantially lower than many think. Presented with this information at a recent UN-Habitat meeting in Nairobi, international donors and development agencies were astonished. They asked, \"how come we didn't know about this earlier?\"\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAnd yet, unsurprisingly, the people of Kisii have long known that they don't have appropriate water and sanitation services.  They may not have even heard of the MDG's. They are likely unaware of the conversations that transpire amongst donors and development agencies and help shape where resources are allocated. They are having their own conversations about what they need.  But who can they tell?  Who hears their voices?\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eOur challenge going forward is to help amplify these voices and contribute to efforts to inform these local discussions."},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/06/conversation-in-kisii.html","title":"A conversation in Kisii"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/3945087161664877772/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/3945087161664877772"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/3945087161664877772"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-8371181660943851138"},"published":{"$t":"2008-06-13T07:35:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-06-13T08:09:50.116-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Plug-in conference highlights, day 2"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by David Bercovich, Project Manager, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"display: block;\" id\u003d\"formatbar_Buttons\"\u003e\u003cspan class\u003d\"on\" style\u003d\"display: block;\" id\u003d\"formatbar_CreateLink\" title\u003d\"Link\" onmouseover\u003d\"ButtonHoverOn(this);\" onmouseout\u003d\"ButtonHoverOff(this);\" onmouseup\u003d\"\" onmousedown\u003d\"CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eDay two of the Google.org-Brookings Institution \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.org/recharge/dcpluginsconference/\"\u003econference\u003c/a\u003e was punctuated by a \u003ca href\u003d\"http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Agenda.aspx?e\u003d1ba5bcee-2991-4be2-b8cb-a994058fc5ce\"\u003epanel\u003c/a\u003e moderated by \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Friedman\"\u003eTom Friedman\u003c/a\u003e. The lively discussion covered topics including policy leadership, innovative business models, the potential for plug-ins to become ‘greener’ over time, and the security and stability of the grid. Two important themes emerged – the importance of plug-ins and clean energy for U. S. economic competitiveness and the policy and leadership needed to make this industry transformation a reality.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.ferc.gov/about/com-mem/wellinghoff/wellinghoff-bio.asp\"\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eJon Wellinghoff\u003c/a\u003e, Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), surprised many in the audience by describing the 40 million electric vehicles on the road today in China (many of which are scooters) and emphatically argued that the grid is ready for plug-ins today. \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.americanprogress.org/experts/PodestaJohn.html\"\u003eJohn Podesta\u003c/a\u003e, President of the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.americanprogress.org/\"\u003eCenter for American Progress\u003c/a\u003e, credited Germany’s \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/jul/23/germany.greenbusiness\"\u003efeed-in tariff\u003c/a\u003e with creating a vibrant solar industry in Germany and causing the U. S. market share of the global solar industry to decline from 45% to 10%.  Assistant Secretary of Energy \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www1.eere.energy.gov/office_eere/karsner_bio.html\"\u003eAndy Karsner\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.doe.gov/news/6337.htm\"\u003eannounced\u003c/a\u003e a $30 million Department of Energy investment in plug-in vehicle technology. \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.analysisgroup.com/AnalysisGroup/staff.aspx?id\u003d508\"\u003eSue Tierney\u003c/a\u003e talked about the fact that leadership on plug-ins is currently happening outside of Washington at the state level and within the business community.  Finally, \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.house.gov/inslee/index.shtml\"\u003eCongressman Jay Inslee\u003c/a\u003e inspired the crowd by suggesting that we need visionary leadership on plug-in vehicles and renewable energy, likening the climate crisis to the challenge put forth by \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy\"\u003eJohn F. Kennedy\u003c/a\u003e when he launched the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program\"\u003eApollo program\u003c/a\u003e to put a man on the moon in 10 years."},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/06/plug-in-conference-highlights-day-2.html","title":"Plug-in conference highlights, day 2"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/8371181660943851138/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/8371181660943851138"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/8371181660943851138"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-5252185207530078656"},"published":{"$t":"2008-06-11T16:07:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-06-12T09:09:52.245-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Participants plug in"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by \u003c/span\u003eJenny Kwan, Climate and Energy Intern, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eHundreds of participants gathered today in Washington, DC as the \u003cspan id\u003d\"p43e\" class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003eGoogle.org - Brookings Institution \u003ca id\u003d\"p43e0\" href\u003d\"http://www.google.org/recharge/dcpluginsconference/index.html\"\u003econference\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e kicked off.  It was exciting to be able to see, in person, the latest electric car technology.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eOutside the hotel we talked to Patrick from GM about their new \u003ca href\u003d\"http://gm-volt.com/\" id\u003d\"jxlo\" title\u003d\"Chevy Volt\"\u003eChevy Volt\u003c/a\u003e.  If you look for it you can also spot the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.a123systems.com/\" id\u003d\"vo2e\" title\u003d\"A123\"\u003eA123\u003c/a\u003e car in the background.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cobject height\u003d\"350\" width\u003d\"425\"\u003e \u003cparam name\u003d\"movie\" value\u003d\"http://www.youtube.com/v/RG2RIo0Smdc\"\u003e  \u003cembed src\u003d\"http://www.youtube.com/v/RG2RIo0Smdc\" type\u003d\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" height\u003d\"350\" width\u003d\"425\"\u003e\u003c/embed\u003e  \u003c/object\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eInside the conference room, I got to check out the latest Tesla. Unfortunately it's a little out of my price range...\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://bp0.blogger.com/_t00ArAMsPec/SFBa-8mX-cI/AAAAAAAAADs/DiDWdXNSX6E/s1600-h/IMG_1540.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;\" src\u003d\"http://bp0.blogger.com/_t00ArAMsPec/SFBa-8mX-cI/AAAAAAAAADs/DiDWdXNSX6E/s400/IMG_1540.jpg\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210764806333135298\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI also met a bunch of people from around the US and the world and asked what brought them to the conference.  Felix Kramer with CalCars who was one of the first to bring electric vehicles to Washington DC many years ago:\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cobject height\u003d\"350\" width\u003d\"425\"\u003e \u003cparam name\u003d\"movie\" value\u003d\"http://www.youtube.com/v/8xCRpZ_uA-M\"\u003e  \u003cembed src\u003d\"http://www.youtube.com/v/8xCRpZ_uA-M\" type\u003d\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" height\u003d\"350\" width\u003d\"425\"\u003e\u003c/embed\u003e  \u003c/object\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAnd Seth from New York and Lars from Sweden were here to check out the crowd and learn about the latest news and technology:\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cobject height\u003d\"350\" width\u003d\"425\"\u003e \u003cparam name\u003d\"movie\" value\u003d\"http://www.youtube.com/v/URNaZw1V-wE\"\u003e  \u003cembed src\u003d\"http://www.youtube.com/v/URNaZw1V-wE\" type\u003d\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" height\u003d\"350\" width\u003d\"425\"\u003e\u003c/embed\u003e  \u003c/object\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cobject height\u003d\"350\" width\u003d\"425\"\u003e \u003cparam name\u003d\"movie\" value\u003d\"http://www.youtube.com/v/y6kG65CY-wM\"\u003e  \u003cembed src\u003d\"http://www.youtube.com/v/y6kG65CY-wM\" type\u003d\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" height\u003d\"350\" width\u003d\"425\"\u003e\u003c/embed\u003e  \u003c/object\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/06/participants-plug-in.html","title":"Participants plug in"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/5252185207530078656/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/5252185207530078656"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/5252185207530078656"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-6178634523072985371"},"published":{"$t":"2008-06-11T15:50:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-06-12T09:07:55.282-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Broad coalition charged up to electrify vehicles"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by David Bercovich, Program Manager, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eOn another day of record-high gas \u003ca href\u003d\"http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i5TtajgUpSm7KY5jf-lCJGHBB-tAD9182VA00\"\u003eprices\u003c/a\u003e, the Google.org/Brookings Institution \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.org/recharge/dcpluginsconference/index.html\"\u003econference\u003c/a\u003e on plug-in vehicles kicked off in Washington, DC today. Electrifying transportation impacts our economy, national security, and environment, and conference sessions overflowed with interested attendees. The lively afternoon session highlighted the broad coalition supporting plug-ins and demonstrated that the technology we need to electrify transportation is here today.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://bp0.blogger.com/_t00ArAMsPec/SFBWidCpZ7I/AAAAAAAAADk/NnNc4JPvEgQ/s1600-h/IMG_1545.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;\" src\u003d\"http://bp0.blogger.com/_t00ArAMsPec/SFBWidCpZ7I/AAAAAAAAADk/NnNc4JPvEgQ/s400/IMG_1545.jpg\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210759918778935218\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Woolsey\"\u003eJim Woolsey\u003c/a\u003e passionately argued that our dependence on oil is a national security emergency and that countries like Japan and Brazil have demonstrated the potential to overhaul an automotive fleet in a short period of time. \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shai_Agassi\"\u003eShai Agassi\u003c/a\u003e described \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.projectbetterplace.com/\"\u003eProject Better Place\u003c/a\u003e and their plans to rapidly deploy electric vehicles in Israel.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eSeveral speakers, including \u003ca href\u003d\"http://et.epri.com/ETinfo.html\"\u003eMark Duvall\u003c/a\u003e from \u003ca href\u003d\"http://my.epri.com/portal/server.pt?\"\u003eEPRI\u003c/a\u003e, referenced the landmark \u003ca href\u003d\"http://my.epri.com/portal/server.pt?open\u003d512\u0026amp;objID\u003d243\u0026amp;PageID\u003d223132\u0026amp;cached\u003dtrue\u0026amp;mode\u003d2\"\u003eEPRI / NRDC study\u003c/a\u003e on the impact of significant deployment of plug-in hybrids, including the finding that our current electric grid could power 73% of our vehicles if we charged them at night. \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.pgecorp.com/aboutus/our_team/PADarbee.shtml\"\u003ePeter Darbee\u003c/a\u003e from PG\u0026amp;E talked about how plug-in vehicles could work with smart electricity meters to increase the efficiency of the grid.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003ePanelsists also highlighted consumer demand for plug-ins.  For example, \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Sexton\"\u003eChelsea Sexton\u003c/a\u003e pointed out the need to anticipate (and invest in) rapid product improvement, reminding participants that we didn’t know we wanted portable video MP3 players to replace our Walkmans until devices like the iPod emerged.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eYou can check out the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.org/recharge/dcpluginsconference/webcast.html\"\u003ewebcast\u003c/a\u003e of tonight’s session with \u003ca href\u003d\"http://alexander.senate.gov/public/\"\u003eSenator Alexander\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.house.gov/dingell/\"\u003eCongressman Dingell\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.fedex.com/us/about/today/bios.html\"\u003eFred Smith\u003c/a\u003e from FedEx starting around 7pm EDT.\u003c/span\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/06/broad-coalition-charged-up-to-electrify.html","title":"Broad coalition charged up to electrify vehicles"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/6178634523072985371/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/6178634523072985371"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/6178634523072985371"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-6075401943714180587"},"published":{"$t":"2008-06-10T20:17:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-06-11T05:27:40.014-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Survey says, \"Plug in, Washington\""},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by \u003c/span\u003eMichael Terrell, Program Manager, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eA new survey commissioned by Google.org shows that three out of four voters support an active government role in promoting plug-in electric cars and trucks. The poll of more than 700 likely voters covered topics ranging from knowledge about plug-ins to opinions on how the government should promote them.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003ePlug-in electric vehicles run like regular hybrid cars, except they have larger batteries, recharge from a standard wall outlet, and can go more miles with less gas. Some plug-ins are purely electric and don’t need gasoline at all.  Given today's \u003ca href\u003d\"http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hdS-oaQyE3BA22UPjEJOCcBmYw2gD916HFQ80\"\u003erecord-high gas prices\u003c/a\u003e and concerns about energy security, plug-ins represent a promising solution for reducing oil dependence, reducing the cost of driving, and fighting global warming.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003ePoll data showed a majority of voters said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports federal efforts to bring plug-ins to the market, and more than 60 percent of voters are willing to spend more money to own a plug-in vehicle.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eOver the next two days, Google.org and the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.brookings.edu/\"\u003eBrookings Institution\u003c/a\u003e are hosting a conference in Washington, DC, \"\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.org/recharge/dcpluginsconference/index.html\"\u003ePlug-in Electric Vehicles 2008: What Role for Washington?\u003c/a\u003e\"  The conference will bring together Members of Congress, auto and utility executives, technologists, and plug-in advocates to spotlight plug-ins, examine their potential, and explore different federal policies to promote them.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eFor more on the survey, check out our \u003ca href\u003d\"http://services.google.com/blog_resources/google_org_pluginpoll.pdf\"\u003esummary of findings\u003c/a\u003e or the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://services.google.com/blog_resources/google_org_plugindata.pdf\"\u003ecomplete survey results\u003c/a\u003e. For more on using public policy to advance plug-ins, see \u003ca href\u003d\"http://services.google.com/blog_resources/google_org_rechargeit_policy.pdf\"\u003eGetting Policymakers to Plug-In\u003c/a\u003e. You can view the conference webcast \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.org/recharge/dcpluginsconference/webcast.html\"\u003ehere\u003c/a\u003e beginning tomorrow."},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/06/survey-says-plug-in-washington.html","title":"Survey says, \"Plug in, Washington\""},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/6075401943714180587/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/6075401943714180587"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/6075401943714180587"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-8070172901415810660"},"published":{"$t":"2008-05-29T15:34:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-05-30T13:51:22.753-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Prioritizing solutions for the world's challenges"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by  Frank Rijsberman, Program Director, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003eBjorn Lomborg likes to tackle “grand challenges.\" In 2004, he organized the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/Default.aspx?ID\u003d788\"\u003eCopenhagen Consensus\u003c/a\u003e to have teams of economists recommend solutions to the world’s greatest problems. Experts were asked to assess what solutions provided the biggest bang for our buck in areas that spanned politics, economics, and the environment. Google.org adviser Lant Pritchett authored \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/Default.aspx?ID\u003d224\"\u003eone of the ten \"challenge papers\" on education\u003c/a\u003e, and I did \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/Default.aspx?ID\u003d228\"\u003eone on water and sanitation\u003c/a\u003e.  The \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.cambridge.org/uk/economics/globalcrises/\"\u003eresults\u003c/a\u003e were controversial not so much because of what was ranked at the top - HIV/AIDS - but because of what was at the bottom - climate change.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eOn Sunday May 25, the Danish Prime Minister opened Copenhagen Consensus 2008, the sequel. Lant Pritchett and I are back too. Lant authored one of two official critiques of the new Education challenge paper. Alix Zwane and I critiqued the ‘08 \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/Default.aspx?ID\u003d966\"\u003eWater and Sanitation Challenge Paper by Dale Whittington and colleagues\u003c/a\u003e. In our contribution we used recent results from \u003ca href\u003d\"http://elsa.berkeley.edu/%7Eemiguel/miguel_sip.pdf\"\u003eresearch\u003c/a\u003e that Alix and colleagues at Harvard and UC Berkeley produced. This work, based on results from field work in Kenya, was funded by one of the first Google.org grants and shows that novel water treatment products (one of which is marketed under the name \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.psi.org/Where_We_Work/kenya.html\"\u003eWaterGuard\u003c/a\u003e) for home use can be cost-effective ways to reduce diarrhea, a major cause of child mortality. In contrast to the research that Alix and I refer to, Whittington's challenge paper is more pessimistic about whether water and sanitation interventions are the best use of scarce resources that are supposed to improve the lives of the poor.  They base this claim mostly on the expense of the technologies they consider (wells, piped water and sewerage).\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIn \u003ca href\u003d\"http://services.google.com/blog_resources/google_water_santitation_perspective.pdf\"\u003eour review\u003c/a\u003e, Alix and I argue that a key reason that water services are not working for the poor is the same reason why other public services are failing the poor: a lack of accountability between providers, policymakers, and consumers that has resulted in bad management and governance. The best technologies in the world can fail in these settings. That is the basic premise of Google.org’s Inform and Empower Initiative. We believe that accountability is linked to information quality and information flows. Citizens and civil society can hold governments accountable if informed accurately of what is being done. Governments can do a better job of improving coverage levels if they know better where need is greatest. The Inform and Empower initiative supports activities that make this information available and actionable.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eTomorrow the panel of 8 economic experts, including 5 Nobel prize winners, will determine its ranking of the Copenhagen Consensus 08 solutions. In the meantime, you can determine your own ranking at \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3993299.ece\"\u003eTimes Online\u003c/a\u003e."},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/05/prioritizing-solutions-for-worlds.html","title":"Prioritizing solutions for the world's challenges"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/8070172901415810660/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/8070172901415810660"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/8070172901415810660"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-4188893191573097644"},"published":{"$t":"2008-05-27T13:38:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-05-27T13:43:42.423-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"RechargeIT goes to Washington, calls for plug-in videos"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by Adam Borelli, Team Coordinator\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eOn June 11th and 12th \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.org\"\u003eGoogle.org\u003c/a\u003e and the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.brookings.edu/\"\u003eBrookings Institution\u003c/a\u003e will host a \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.org/recharge/dcpluginsconference/\"\u003econference on plug-in vehicles\u003c/a\u003e in Washington, D.C.  We'll examine their potential to reduce oil dependence and pollution, and the role that federal policy can play in promoting them.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003ePlanned attendees include top bipartisan elected officials, including Senators Orrin Hatch, John Kerry, and Lamar Alexander, as well as Congressmen John Dingell and Jay Inslee. We'll hear from FedEx CEO Fred Smith and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman. Speakers will include advocates, officials, and automakers from around the world.  We hope you'll \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.brookings.edu/events/2008/0611_plugin_vehicle.aspx\"\u003ejoin us\u003c/a\u003e.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eCan't make it to Washington?  You can still get involved! We've issued a \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.org/recharge/dcpluginsconference/videos.html\"\u003ecall for videos\u003c/a\u003e, so grab a camera and tell us why you want to drive a plug-in.  If you already own one, show us how it works. The videos will be displayed on \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.rechargeit.org/\"\u003eour website\u003c/a\u003e and the best ones will be shown at the conference.  We'll also be \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.org/recharge/dcpluginsconference/\"\u003ewebcasting\u003c/a\u003e the event for those that can't be there in person.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eSee you in Washington!"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/05/rechargeit-goes-to-washington-calls-for.html","title":"RechargeIT goes to Washington, calls for plug-in videos"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/4188893191573097644/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/4188893191573097644"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/4188893191573097644"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Niki Fenwick"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/13881152948934232359"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-1340885412015414865"},"published":{"$t":"2008-05-19T14:02:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-05-19T14:03:55.259-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Dan Reicher on plug-ins"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by Katy Bacon, Google.org Team\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eCheck out this video of Fortune Magazine's Mark Gunther interviewing Dan Reicher.  Dan explains the RechargeIT program, talks about the potential for vehicle to grid technologies, and discusses the future of electric cars.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cembed src\u003d\"http://www.brightcove.tv/playerswf\" bgcolor\u003d\"#FFFFFF\" flashvars\u003d\"initVideoId\u003d1543284106\u0026amp;servicesURL\u003dhttp://www.brightcove.tv\u0026amp;viewerSecureGatewayURL\u003dhttps://www.brightcove.tv\u0026amp;cdnURL\u003dhttp://admin.brightcove.com\u0026amp;autoStart\u003dfalse\" base\u003d\"http://admin.brightcove.com\" name\u003d\"bcPlayer\" allowfullscreen\u003d\"true\" allowscriptaccess\u003d\"always\" seamlesstabbing\u003d\"false\" type\u003d\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" swliveconnect\u003d\"true\" pluginspage\u003d\"http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version\u003dShockwaveFlash\" height\u003d\"412\" width\u003d\"486\"\u003e\u003c/embed\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/05/dan-reicher-on-plug-ins.html","title":"Dan Reicher on plug-ins"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/1340885412015414865/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/1340885412015414865"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/1340885412015414865"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-1909312257437700966"},"published":{"$t":"2008-05-16T16:46:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-05-16T17:48:06.019-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Responding to Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma) and Earthquake in China"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by Larry Brilliant, Executive Director, Google.org\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWe're extremely saddened by the loss of life in both Myanmar (Burma) and China.  In the days since the cyclone in Myanmar (Burma), teams across Google have been \u003ca href\u003d\"http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/helping-victims-of-cyclone-nargis.html\"\u003eworking to contribute\u003c/a\u003e to relief efforts. For disaster relief responders on the ground, the Google Earth and Maps teams created \u003ca href\u003d\"http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2008/05/unosat-layer-of-myanmar-cyclone-data.html\"\u003eGoogle Earth layers of storm track and flood analysis\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href\u003d\"http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2008/05/tracking-path-of-cyclone-nargis.html\"\u003estorm cloud animation\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca href\u003d\"http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2008/05/imagery-for-myanmar-burma.html\"\u003eon-the-ground imagery\u003c/a\u003e. To increase awareness of how people can support relief, the Google Grants team highlighted \u003ca href\u003d\"http://googlegrants.blogspot.com/2008/05/grant-recipients-helping-victims-of.html\"\u003egrantees\u003c/a\u003e working in the region, and there is a public service announcement on Google's advertising content network.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eTo learn more about how to support disaster relief and recovery efforts, visit this \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.com/myanmarcyclone/\"\u003emicrosite\u003c/a\u003e.  To match funds generated by the site, we said we'd donate up to $1 million to disaster relief organizations. Our first round of grants, totaling $600,000, went through today via our donor advised fund at \u003ca href\u003d\"http://tidesfoundation.org/\"\u003eTides Foundation\u003c/a\u003e to:\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.care.org/newsroom/articles/2008/05/20080505_myanmar_cyclone.asp\"\u003eCARE\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/country.cfm?id\u003d2296\"\u003eDoctors Without Borders\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.friendsofwfp.org/site/pp.asp?c\u003d7oIJLSOsGpF\u0026amp;b\u003d245179\"\u003eFriends of the World Food Program; Emergency Telecommunication Centers Project\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.savethechildren.org/emergencies/asia/cyclone-nargis-myanmar-response.html\"\u003eSave the Children\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eResponding to the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.com/search?hl\u003den\u0026amp;q\u003dChina+Earthquake\u0026amp;btnG\u003dGoogle+Search\"\u003etragic earthquake\u003c/a\u003e in China, many teams at Google developed ways to help people get the most useful and current earthquake information.  Examples include public service announcements on Google's Content Network, a \u003ca href\u003d\"http://laiba.tianya.cn/laiba/Community?cmm\u003d281\"\u003etargeted forum\u003c/a\u003e on Google-Tianya, a \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.cn/intl/zh-CN/qinren/cse.html\"\u003esearch product\u003c/a\u003e to help locate missing loved ones, and an \u003ca href\u003d\"http://ditu.google.com/maps/ms?hl\u003dzh-CN\u0026amp;ie\u003dUTF8\u0026amp;oe\u003dUTF8\u0026amp;msa\u003d0\u0026amp;msid\u003d105498083399349668294.00044d0490f73e7f5c173\u0026amp;mid\u003d1210583203\"\u003eearthquake situation map\u003c/a\u003e with real-time detailed information on the different geographies, travel and road conditions to/from the region, and the latest disaster relief news and donation channels and contacts.  In addition, Googlers across the world have organized relief activities such as blood donation and cash drives.  Google.org will donate more than $1.5 million to on-the-ground relief organizations.  Finally, tens of thousands of dollars of employee donations to non-profits have been matched by Google's gift matching program.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eTo learn more about how to support disaster relief and recovery efforts in China, visit this \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.com/chinaearthquake/\"\u003emicrosite\u003c/a\u003e. You can also learn more through \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.cn/\"\u003eGoogle's China homepage\u003c/a\u003e and the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.googlechinablog.com/\"\u003eGoogle China Blog\u003c/a\u003e."},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/05/responding-to-cyclone-nargis-in-myanmar.html","title":"Responding to Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma) and Earthquake in China"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/1909312257437700966/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/1909312257437700966"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/1909312257437700966"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-2342251047331142070"},"published":{"$t":"2008-04-24T12:26:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-04-24T12:34:35.548-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Evaluating the Right to Information"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by Salimah Samji, Program Manager, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003ePeople in developing countries often \u003ca href\u003d\"http://blog.google.org/2008/04/information-and-developing-world.html\"\u003elack information\u003c/a\u003e that is critical for their well-being. For example, in India, the poor often do not know what they are entitled to and what services are available to them. I recently attended an international conference on the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.cartercenter.org/peace/americas/information.html\"\u003eRight to Public Information\u003c/a\u003e at the Carter Center and learned that there are approximately 70 RTI (Right to Information) laws in the world. However surprisingly, little has been done to evaluate whether these laws are accomplishing their stated and unstated objectives.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAccess to meaningful information is critical to Google.org's \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.org/inform.html\"\u003eInform and Empower initiative\u003c/a\u003e in India.  To help us better understand how to make the Right to Information (RTI) more effective in India, we are delighted that \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/moynihan/PersonDetail.asp?personID\u003d856\"\u003eShekhar Singh\u003c/a\u003e who is an active member of the people's movement for the right to information has agreed to conduct a study of the use and implementation of the Act across various stakeholders in India (including public authorities, information commissions, media, judiciary, NGOs and corporate sector). The objective of this study is to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the Act, the constraints preventing effective implementation and the ways in which access to information affects people's lives.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eBy supporting this study, we hope to generate awareness about the Act, explore the possibility of creating tools for Information Commissioners and other government officials to better use the information, and systematize the way RTI requests could made publicly available online or through other channels.  We want to help RTI achieve its full potential and hope that this study will be a first step in that direction.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAn \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.indianexpress.com/story/300445.html\"\u003eeditorial in yesterday's The Indian Express\u003c/a\u003e highlighted the importance the RTI, and the effectiveness of its implementation."},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/04/evaluating-right-to-information.html","title":"Evaluating the Right to Information"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/2342251047331142070/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/2342251047331142070"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/2342251047331142070"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-1949927993168543155"},"published":{"$t":"2008-04-21T23:34:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-04-22T07:30:39.847-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"A green collar economy"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Posted by Shannon Oliver, Associate, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIn the spirit of \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day\"\u003eEarth Day,\u003c/a\u003e I took a look at how the environmental movement can foster job growth. Here's what I found:\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eFirst, what exactly are \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v\u003d8Ap7g2XJ3h8\"\u003egreen jobs\u003c/a\u003e and what can they do to spur the U.S. economy and stop climate change? Simply put, green jobs are jobs that are good for the environment, good for our planet, and pay a living wage. In a recent New York Times article entitled, \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/business/businessspecial2/26collar.html?ref\u003dbusinessspecial2\"\u003eMillions of Jobs of a Different Collar\u003c/a\u003e,  the Sierra Club’s \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Pope\"\u003eCarl Pope\u003c/a\u003e stated, “A green job has to do something useful for people, and it has to be helpful to, or at least not damaging to, the environment.”\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eCan the fight against global warming really create millions of these green jobs across America? With \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Economic-Outlook.html?scp\u003d2\u0026amp;sq\u003deconomy\u0026amp;st\u003dnyt\"\u003eworry about the economy\u003c/a\u003e on the rise, it is certainly a hopeful scenario.  A \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_8989687\"\u003erecent article\u003c/a\u003e in the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune\"\u003eOakland Tribune\u003c/a\u003e suggests that experts envision just such a future: “If global warming is to be slowed, it will take wholesale change in how electricity is generated, how people travel and how they heat and cool their houses. That means installing hundreds of millions of solar panels, building thousands of wind farms and geothermal plants, engineering new ways to derive energy from renewable sources and weatherizing millions of homes. Green companies are rapidly hiring new workers and indications are they will continue.”\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eFor those who want to dig a little deeper into the data, please check out \u003ca href\u003d\"http://64.233.179.110/blog_resources/google_org_earth_day.pdf\"\u003emy longer post\u003c/a\u003e on the potential number of jobs created by a cleaner, greener economy.  And have a happy Earth Day!"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/04/green-collar-economy.html","title":"A green collar economy"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/1949927993168543155/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/1949927993168543155"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/1949927993168543155"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Niki Fenwick"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/13881152948934232359"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-47419321020921527"},"published":{"$t":"2008-04-18T13:32:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-04-18T13:40:26.574-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"New uses for Google Earth"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by \u003c/span\u003eChristiaan Adams, Google Earth \u0026amp; Maps Specialist, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://earth.google.com/\"\u003eGoogle Earth\u003c/a\u003e is a great tool for exploring the world in ways never before possible.  Many of the non-profits and other public-benefit organizations that we work with find it especially useful for showing people the remote places where they work and telling their stories in a very compelling way.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eHave you ever looked at the amazing high-resolution images in Google Earth and wondered when the photo was taken?  Well now you can stop wondering!  Google Earth 4.3 was \u003ca href\u003d\"http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2008/04/introducing-google-earth-43.html\"\u003elaunched this week\u003c/a\u003e, and one of the many new features is the \"imagery acquisition date.\"\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eSimply zoom in on and move your mouse cursor over the high-resolution imagery; the status bar will display the date when the imagery was acquired.  This will be especially useful for organizations concerned about changes in the environment.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://bp2.blogger.com/_t00ArAMsPec/SAkF79v4rlI/AAAAAAAAADc/N9XTPyKaV-c/s1600-h/imagedate.png\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;\" src\u003d\"http://bp2.blogger.com/_t00ArAMsPec/SAkF79v4rlI/AAAAAAAAADc/N9XTPyKaV-c/s400/imagedate.png\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190686573267037778\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eFor anyone interested in learning more about Google Earth, its features, and how to make it useful, Nigel Woof of \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.mapaction.org/\"\u003eMap Action\u003c/a\u003e has written a \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.mapaction.org/images/stories/google_earth_and_its_potential_in_the_humanitarian_sector.pdf\"\u003egreat paper\u003c/a\u003e (1MB PDF) that you should check out.  It looks at Google Earth's differences from and relationship with traditional Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, and how it can be \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.mapaction.org/content/view/169/59/\"\u003eused in humanitarian relief\u003c/a\u003e and other public benefit work."},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/04/new-uses-for-google-earth.html","title":"New uses for Google Earth"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/47419321020921527/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/47419321020921527"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/47419321020921527"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-292024153872007962"},"published":{"$t":"2008-04-11T13:16:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-04-11T13:23:05.788-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Information and the developing world"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by\u003c/span\u003e Aleem Walji, Head of Global Development Initiatives, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cp id\u003d\"aj:2\"\u003eTwo members of our team recently attended an \u003ca title\u003d\"international conference\" href\u003d\"http://www.cartercenter.org/peace/americas/ati_conference/right_to_public_information_conf.html\" id\u003d\"my14\"\u003einternational conference\u003c/a\u003e at the \u003ca title\u003d\"Carter Center\" href\u003d\"http://www.cartercenter.org/homepage.html\" id\u003d\"ewoy\"\u003eCarter Center\u003c/a\u003e on the \u003ca title\u003d\"right to information\" href\u003d\"http://www.cartercenter.org/peace/americas/information.html\" id\u003d\"l-0k\"\u003eright to information\u003c/a\u003e (RTI). I must admit that I didn't have much knowledge in this area and didn't even realize that the US passed the \u003ca title\u003d\"Freedom of Information Act\" href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_%28United_States%29\" id\u003d\"yydg\"\u003eFreedom of Information Act\u003c/a\u003e (FOAI) more than 40 years ago. Today, roughly 70 countries have adopted legislation that theoretically gives their citizens the right to ask for and receive from their governments information on any number of issues, including property records, tax files, and identity files. \u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp id\u003d\"aj:2\"\u003eThis may sound rather vague and unimportant. But in some developing countries access to birth certificates can be critical in getting access to basic public services like immunizations, basic education, and land rec\u003cspan id\u003d\"tnpj\" style\u003d\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003eords (important as collateral when seeking loans). For the poor, this access is particularly important, but finding even simple records of identity can be much harder than you might imagine. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan id\u003d\"g2mk\" style\u003d\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003eThe ability of bureaucrats to control access to what is \"public\" puts them in position to make all kinds of demands\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan id\u003d\"wt0z\" style\u003d\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003e. For example, getting access to a birth certificate (technically a public record) can take months, involve dozens of steps, and include bribes at every stage. Without basic identify documents, the poor are often left without access to essential public services reserved for \"official citizens\".\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp id\u003d\"km5z\"\u003eGovernments increasingly are putting public information online, even in the developing world. However, \"online\" doesn't always mean searchable or crawlable. In other words, you have to know where it is to find it. How would you even know where to look? Participants at the conference were captivated by the idea of making high value, high impact public records like land registries and identify documents available online in a format that is easy to search and find. \u003cspan id\u003d\"cftt\" style\u003d\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);\"\u003e\u003cspan id\u003d\"y03h\" style\u003d\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003eGoogle's experience in \u003ca href\u003d\"http://books.google.com/books\"\u003edigitizing \u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003ca style\u003d\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\" title\u003d\"books\" href\u003d\"http://books.google.com/books\" id\u003d\"u071\"\u003ebooks\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan id\u003d\"i-2j\" style\u003d\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003e and making them available online was cited as the kind of effort that could be useful in helping give people in developing countries access to the public information they need. There is some work already happening at Google on making government records crawlable. \u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp id\u003d\"o8s_\"\u003eThe possibility is exciting. Could poor rural people get access to birth certificates, death certificates or land titles one day through their mobile phones? It's worth thinking about. Even if they have to pay to access them, the cost of getting access to critical data at important times would more than pay for itself. As the penetration of mobile phones in rural areas has shown, people are willing to pay for access to tools and information that give them what they want when they need it most. \u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/04/information-and-developing-world.html","title":"Information and the developing world"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/292024153872007962/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/292024153872007962"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/292024153872007962"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-4998027367765883189"},"published":{"$t":"2008-04-07T08:41:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-04-07T09:05:57.544-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"World Health Organization highlights climate change - health linkage"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by \u003c/span\u003e   Amy Luers, Program Manager, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cp class\u003d\"western\" id\u003d\"jof.\" style\u003d\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003e   \u003cspan id\u003d\"dv9o\" lang\u003d\"en-AU\"\u003eThe \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.who.int/\"\u003eWorld Health Organization\u003c/a\u003e (WHO) has dedicated today, \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.who.int/world-health-day/en/index.html\"\u003eWorld Health Day 2008\u003c/a\u003e, to raising awareness of the health risks of global climate change.  Health belongs in the climate change discussion, and we're glad WHO and its member countries are using today to bring the linkage to the forefront.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.ipcc-wg2.org/\"\u003eClimate’s effects on health are wide reaching\u003c/a\u003e. Climate affects the quality of air we breathe and the quantity and quality of water resources.  It affects the productivity of agriculture, distribution of pests and disease, and the severity and frequency of heatwaves, droughts, floods, and wildfires. As a result, climate change is not just an environmental issue but fundamentally \u003ca href\u003d\"http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2007-2008/\"\u003ea human health and livelihoods issue\u003c/a\u003e.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWe are already experiencing the impacts of climate change across the globe. In fact, a \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.who.int/globalchange/news/fsclimandhealth/en/index.html\"\u003eWHO report\u003c/a\u003e concluded the climate changes since the mid-1970s may have caused about 150,000 deaths in 2000. The impacts of climate change are disproportionately felt in the poorest regions of the world.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv style\u003d\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan id\u003d\"dv9o\" lang\u003d\"en-AU\"\u003e\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://bp2.blogger.com/_t00ArAMsPec/R_pEHNPetlI/AAAAAAAAADQ/dSW_tMqwUWg/s1600-h/CCDeathsMap3.png\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;\" src\u003d\"http://bp2.blogger.com/_t00ArAMsPec/R_pEHNPetlI/AAAAAAAAADQ/dSW_tMqwUWg/s400/CCDeathsMap3.png\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186532811474908754\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan style\u003d\"font-size:85%;\"\u003eChange in \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.who.int/heli/risks/climate/climatechange/en/index.html\"\u003eWHO estimated mortality per year\u003c/a\u003e (per million people) attributable to climate change by the year 2000. This map is based on WHO data for climate-sensitive health outcomes including: cardiovascular diseases, diarrhea, malaria, inland and coastal flooding, and malnutrition. Learn more about the link of \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.who.int/world-health-day/en/\"\u003eclimate and health\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp class\u003d\"western\" id\u003d\"jof.\" style\u003d\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003e\u003cspan id\u003d\"dv9o\" lang\u003d\"en-AU\"\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIf global emissions of heat-trapping gases continue, the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.ipcc.ch/\"\u003eInternational Panel on Climate Change\u003c/a\u003e (IPCC) projects that global temperatures could rise as much as 4°C more by the end of the century with an associated rise in \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.who.int/globalchange/news/fsclimandhealth/en/index.html\"\u003erisks to human health\u003c/a\u003e.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe global community is just beginning to understand the impact that continued climate change is likely to have on the distribution of infectious diseases. Check out \u003ca href\u003d\"http://blog.google.org/2008/04/global-warming-heats-up-infectious.html\"\u003ethe post by our  mapping specialists\u003c/a\u003e where they describe the Google Earth layers they developed with scientists researching the affects climate may have on dengue and malaria transmission.  You can also download these Google Earth layers \u003ca href\u003d\"http://services.google.com/dotorg/kml/worldhealthday2008/GlobalWarmingDisease.kml\"\u003ehere\u003c/a\u003e.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWhile some climate change impacts on public health and the environment are now unavoidable due to our past emissions of greenhouse gases, the severity of the impacts will depend on actions we take today to both reduce future emissions and prepare for the changes ahead.  At Google.org we are working to reduce greenhouse gas emission by developing utility-scale \u003ca href\u003d\"http://google.org/rec.html\"\u003erenewable energy cheaper than coal\u003c/a\u003e and accelerating the commercialization of plug-in vehicles through the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://google.org/recharge/\"\u003eRechargeIT\u003c/a\u003e initiative, while the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://google.org/predict.html\"\u003ePredict and Prevent\u003c/a\u003e initiative team is working to help prepare the world's poor to manage the rising number emerging infectious diseases in our rapidly changing world.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/04/world-health-organization-highlights.html","title":"World Health Organization highlights climate change - health linkage"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/4998027367765883189/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/4998027367765883189"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/4998027367765883189"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-8529264932479566051"},"published":{"$t":"2008-04-07T08:32:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-04-07T08:39:18.269-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Global warming heats up infectious diseases"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by \u003c/span\u003e   Christiaan Adams, Google Earth \u0026amp; Maps Specialist, Google.org, and France Lamy, Program Manager, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWith the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.who.int/\" id\u003d\"ig-7\" title\u003d\"World Health Organization\"\u003eWorld Health Organization\u003c/a\u003e (WHO) and \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.who.int/world-health-day/\" id\u003d\"qy8o\" title\u003d\"World Health Day 2008\"\u003eWorld Health Day 2008\u003c/a\u003e drawing attention to climate change and health today, we wanted to show you some cool animated Google Earth layers that illustrate how infectious diseases may spread as the earth warms.  Warmer climates make good habitats for mosquitoes.  Many diseases, such as dengue fever and malaria, are spread by mosquitoes.  As the planet continues to get warmer due to greenhouse gas emissions, these diseases are projected to spread and add to the other burdens of climate change, especially in the developing world.       \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.com/earth/\" id\u003d\"ftos\" title\u003d\"Google Earth\"\u003eGoogle Earth\u003c/a\u003e (KML) file linked below will show you projections for the changes in transmission of dengue fever around the globe and of malaria in Africa and specifically Zimbabwe.  These layers were created in collaboration with a number of scientists whose studies provided the data, including \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673602099646\" id\u003d\"mjp4\" title\u003d\"Simon Hales\"\u003eSimon Hales\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673603148982\" id\u003d\"qb2e\" title\u003d\"Frank Tanser\"\u003eFrank Tanser\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.springerlink.com/content/p10m402h13279507/\" id\u003d\"mf43\" title\u003d\"Kris Ebi\"\u003eKris Ebi\u003c/a\u003e.  There's also a layer that shows the estimated deaths related to climate change in the year 2000.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003ca onblur\u003d\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href\u003d\"http://bp0.blogger.com/_t00ArAMsPec/R_o-4tPetkI/AAAAAAAAADI/BHoJ6_ODro0/s1600-h/EarthScreen.png\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;\" src\u003d\"http://bp0.blogger.com/_t00ArAMsPec/R_o-4tPetkI/AAAAAAAAADI/BHoJ6_ODro0/s400/EarthScreen.png\" alt\u003d\"\" id\u003d\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186527064808666690\" border\u003d\"0\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eTo view the layers, download this \u003ca href\u003d\"http://services.google.com/dotorg/kml/worldhealthday2008/GlobalWarmingDisease.kml\" id\u003d\"vmre\" title\u003d\"KML file\"\u003eKML file\u003c/a\u003e and open it in Google Earth on your computer.  If you do not have the latest version of Google Earth (4.2) installed, you can download it \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.google.com/earth/\" id\u003d\"y6xb\" title\u003d\"here\"\u003ehere\u003c/a\u003e.    \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eTo see the animations, turn on one layer at a time in the Places panel on the left, by clicking the round button next to the layer name.  Once the layer is on, you can play the animation by clicking the play arrow on the right side of the time slider (at the top of the screen).    \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eClicking the \"start here\" links or layer names will get you to more information and instructions.  Be sure to look at all the layers to see how our warming climate will affect health in ways you might not have expected."},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/04/global-warming-heats-up-infectious.html","title":"Global warming heats up infectious diseases"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/8529264932479566051/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/8529264932479566051"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/8529264932479566051"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-3274917581767390413"},"published":{"$t":"2008-04-03T17:12:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-04-06T10:43:24.201-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Public Heath Heroes"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by Kataneh Sarvian, Coordinator, Google.org\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eLast night the University of California, Berkeley hosted the 12th Annual \u003ca id\u003d\"cl_v\" href\u003d\"http://www.publichealthheroes.org/index.html\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003ePublic Health Heroes Awards Ceremony \u003c/a\u003ein San Francisco. The goal of the Public Health Heroes honor is to broaden awareness and understanding of the public health field by recognizing individuals and organizations for their contributions to promoting and protecting the health of the human population. Past recipients include our own \u003ca title\u003d\"Dr. Larry Brilliant\" href\u003d\"http://publichealthheroes.org/past_heroes/2004/brilliant.html\" id\u003d\"ss14\"\u003eDr. Larry Brilliant\u003c/a\u003e. Dr. Mark Smolinski, Predict and Prevent Initiative Director, started off the night by handing the first award to Nancy Aossey, who accepted the award on behalf of the \u003ca id\u003d\"sqdu\" href\u003d\"http://www.imcworldwide.org/\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003eInternational Medical Corps\u003c/a\u003e.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp id\u003d\"k-tm\"\u003eInternational Medical Corps (IMC) is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs. Mark expressed gratitude to IMC for sharing their wisdom and advice while we were creating \u003ca title\u003d\"InSTEDD\" href\u003d\"http://instedd.org/\" id\u003d\"ldmk\"\u003eInSTEDD\u003c/a\u003e (Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases, and Disasters) in the early days of Google.org. The other heroes recognized were \u003ca title\u003d\"Donald P. Francis\" href\u003d\"http://www.publichealthheroes.org/2008/francis.html\" id\u003d\"t0op\"\u003eDonald P. Francis\u003c/a\u003e, for his leadership in the eradication of smallpox, the discovery of HIV, and the control of Ebola hemorrhagic fever; \u003ca title\u003d\"David A. Kessler\" href\u003d\"http://www.publichealthheroes.org/2008/kessler.html\" id\u003d\"ht_d\"\u003eDavid A. Kessler\u003c/a\u003e, for his leadership and courage in challenging the U.S. tobacco industry; and \u003ca title\u003d\"Barbara Staggers\" href\u003d\"http://www.publichealthheroes.org/2008/staggers.html\" id\u003d\"u:8-\"\u003eBarbara Staggers\u003c/a\u003e for her leadership in promoting adolescent health, particularly among high-risk, urban, and minority youth.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/p\u003eA big thanks and congratulations to this year's dedicated and courageous heroes!"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/04/posted-by-kataneh-sarvian-coordinator.html","title":"Public Heath Heroes"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/3274917581767390413/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/3274917581767390413"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/3274917581767390413"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-5510692318829557284"},"published":{"$t":"2008-04-02T10:31:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-04-02T10:36:43.894-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Happy Birthday Google Grants!"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by Katy Bacon, Google.org Team\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThis week, \u003ca title\u003d\"Google Grants\" href\u003d\"http://www.google.com/grants/\" id\u003d\"n-vw\"\u003eGoogle Grants\u003c/a\u003e marks its fifth year.  The program currently supports more than 4,000 grantees and to date has provided approximately $273.3 million in \u003ca title\u003d\"free AdWords advertising\" href\u003d\"http://www.google.com/grants/tour/1.html\" id\u003d\"rgv:\"\u003efree AdWords advertising\u003c/a\u003e. You can learn more about the \u003ca title\u003d\"history of the program\" href\u003d\"http://googlegrants.blogspot.com/2008/04/google-grants-turns-5.html\" id\u003d\"plrp\"\u003ehistory of the program\u003c/a\u003e on the recently launched \u003ca title\u003d\"Google Grants Blog\" href\u003d\"http://googlegrants.blogspot.com/\" id\u003d\"dp1.\"\u003eGoogle Grants Blog\u003c/a\u003e."},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/04/happy-birthday-google-grants.html","title":"Happy Birthday Google Grants!"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/5510692318829557284/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/5510692318829557284"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/5510692318829557284"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-8808577632496309826"},"published":{"$t":"2008-03-28T11:19:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-03-31T13:17:55.203-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Aspen Institute Award honors CalCars, Google.org grantee"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted by Kirsten Olsen, Program Manager, Google.org\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003ca title\u003d\"CalCars\" href\u003d\"http://www.calcars.org/\" id\u003d\"a8jo\"\u003eCalCars\u003c/a\u003e just received the \u003ca title\u003d\"Aspen Institute's First Annual Energy and Environment Awards\" href\u003d\"http://www.aspeninstitute.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c\u003dhuLWJeMRKpH\u0026amp;b\u003d3818507\u0026amp;ct\u003d5133855\" id\u003d\"e-dt\"\u003eAspen Institute's First Annual Energy and Environment Award\u003c/a\u003e for its prominent role in promoting PHEVs and the electrification of transportation.  The inaugural award is meant to celebrate success and provoke conversations about ways to emulate and expand upon the success stories honored.  We are thrilled about this honor for CalCars and not the least bit surprised that their contribution to the field of plug-ins has been recognized by such a prestigious organization.  CalCars founder \u003ca title\u003d\"Felix Kramer\" href\u003d\"http://www.calcars.org/about.html\" id\u003d\"x15y\"\u003eFelix Kramer\u003c/a\u003e has been instrumental in evangelizing about the benefits of plug-ins and strategically influencing key decision makers about their potential to dramatically reduce carbon emissions.  There is no doubt that CalCars has already made history with their role in promoting this technology and we are proud to be a supporter of the organization.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eCongratulations to Felix and the CalCars team!"},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/03/aspen-institute-award-honors-calcars.html","title":"Aspen Institute Award honors CalCars, Google.org grantee"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/8808577632496309826/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/8808577632496309826"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/8808577632496309826"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Katy Bacon"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/08357714415966943165"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164790564632732056.post-4195244342514653888"},"published":{"$t":"2008-03-26T22:12:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-03-27T04:58:38.835-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The Race is on to Develop Ultra Fuel-Efficient Cars"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"byline-author\"\u003ePosted Niki Fenwick, Google.org\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWith the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.sanfrangasprices.com/retail_price_chart.aspx\"\u003eprice of gas\u003c/a\u003e topping $3.75 this week here in California, drivers will be pleased to learn about the official launch of the \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org/\"\u003eProgressive Automotive X PRIZE\u003c/a\u003e. This is an international competition (with a $10 million purse) designed to inspire a new generation of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles. Teams are already busy designing, building and working to bring to market \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPGe\"\u003e100 MPGe\u003c/a\u003e vehicles that people want to buy, and that meet market needs for price, size, capability, safety and performance – and, most importantly, are clean. NBC \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23723053#23723053\" target\u003d\"_blank\" title\u003d\"blocked::http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23723053#23723053\"\u003eshowcased some concept cars\u003c/a\u003ein their Today Show coverage of the competition and the announcement even garnered a shout-out from \u003ca href\u003d\"http://youtube.com/watch?v\u003dvPIz2XJf1FI\" target\u003d\"_blank\" title\u003d\"blocked::http://youtube.com/watch?v\u003dvPIz2XJf1FI\"\u003ecar enthusiast Jay Leno\u003c/a\u003e."},"link":[{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://blog.google.org/2008/03/race-is-on-to-develop-ultra-fuel.html","title":"The Race is on to Develop Ultra Fuel-Efficient Cars"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/4195244342514653888/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://blog.google.org/feeds/posts/default/4195244342514653888"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4164790564632732056/posts/default/4195244342514653888"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Niki Fenwick"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/13881152948934232359"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}]}]}});