Australia Blog
News and notes from Google Down Under
GCP expands to Australia with new Sydney region - open now
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Starting today, developers can choose to run applications and store data in Australia using the new
Google Cloud Platform
(GCP) region in Sydney. This is our first GCP region in Australia and the fourth in Asia Pacific, joining Taiwan, Tokyo and the
recently launched Singapore
.
GCP customers Down Under will see significant reductions in latency when they run their applications in Sydney. Our performance testing shows 80% to 95% reductions in round-trip time (RTT) latency when serving customers from cities in New Zealand and Australia, such as Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, compared to using regions in Singapore or Taiwan.
The
Sydney GCP region
is launching with three zones and several GCP services, and App Engine and Datastore will be available shortly:
Google Cloud
customers benefit from our commitment to large-scale infrastructure investments. With the addition of each new region, developers have more choice on how to run applications closest to their customers. Google’s networking backbone, meanwhile, transforms compute and storage infrastructure into a global-scale computer, giving developers around the world access to the same cloud infrastructure that Google engineers use every day.
In Asia-Pacific, we’re already building another region in
Mumbai
, as well as new network infrastructure to tie them all together, including the SJC cable and
Indigo cable
fiber optic systems.
What customers are saying
Here’s what the new regions means to a few of our customers and partners.
"The regional expansion of Google Cloud Platform to Australia will help enable PwC's rapidly growing need to experiment and innovate and will further extend our work with Google Cloud. It not only provides a reliable and resilient platform that can support our firm's core technology needs, it also makes available to us, GCP's market leading technologies and capabilities to support the unprecedented demand of our diverse and evolving business."
Hilda Clune, Chief Information Officer - PwC Australia
"Monash University has one of the most ambitious digital transformation agendas in tertiary education. We're executing our strategy at pace and needed a platform which would give us the scale, flexibility and functionality to respond rapidly to our development and processing needs. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and in particular App Engine have been a great combination for us and we're very excited at the results we're getting. Having Google Cloud Platform hosted now in Australia is a big bonus."
Trevor Woods, Chief Information Officer, Monash University
"Modern geophysical technologies place a huge demand on supercomputing resources. Woodside utilises Google Cloud as an on-demand solution for our large computing requirements. This has allowed us to push technological boundaries and dramatically reduce turnaround time."
Sean Salter, VP Technology - Woodside Energy Ltd
Next Steps
We want to help you build what’s next for you. If you’re looking for help to understand how to deploy GCP, please contact local partners:
Shine Solutions
,
Servian
,
3WKS
,
Axalon
,
Onigroup
,
PwC
,
Deloitte
,
Glintech
,
Fronde
,
Dialog
or
Megaport
.
For more details on Australia’s first region, please visit our
Sydney region page
where you’ll get access to free resources, whitepapers, an on-demand training video series called ‘Cloud On-Air’ and more. These will help you get started on GCP. Give us a
shout
to request early access to new regions and help us prioritize what we build next.
Posted by Dave Stiver, Product Manager, Google Cloud Platform
Four steps we’re taking today to fight online terror
Monday, June 19, 2017
Editor’s Note: This post appeared as an op-ed in the
Financial Times
earlier today.
Terrorism is an attack on open societies, and addressing the threat posed by violence and hate is a critical challenge for us all. Google and YouTube are committed to being part of the solution. We are working with government, law enforcement and civil society groups to tackle the problem of violent extremism online. There should be no place for terrorist content on our services.
While we and others have worked for years to identify and remove content that violates our policies, the uncomfortable truth is that we, as an industry, must acknowledge that more needs to be done. Now.
We have thousands of people around the world who review and counter abuse of our platforms. Our engineers have developed technology to prevent re-uploads of known terrorist content using image-matching technology. We have invested in systems that use content-based signals to help identify new videos for removal. And we have developed partnerships with expert groups, counter-extremism agencies, and the other technology companies to help inform and strengthen our efforts.
Today, we are pledging to take four additional steps.
First, we are increasing our use of technology to help identify extremist and terrorism-related videos. This can be challenging: a video of a terrorist attack may be informative news reporting if broadcast by the BBC, or glorification of violence if uploaded in a different context by a different user. We have used video analysis models to find and assess more than 50 per cent of the terrorism-related content we have removed over the past six months. We will now devote more engineering resources to apply our most advanced machine learning research to train new “content classifiers” to help us more quickly identify and remove extremist and terrorism-related content.
Second, because technology alone is not a silver bullet, we will greatly increase the number of independent experts in YouTube’s Trusted Flagger programme. Machines can help identify problematic videos, but human experts still play a role in nuanced decisions about the line between violent propaganda and religious or newsworthy speech. While many user flags can be inaccurate, Trusted Flagger reports are accurate over 90 per cent of the time and help us scale our efforts and identify emerging areas of concern. We will expand this programme by adding 50 expert NGOs to the 63 organisations who are already part of the programme, and we will support them with operational grants. This allows us to benefit from the expertise of specialised organisations working on issues like hate speech, self-harm, and terrorism. We will also expand our work with counter-extremist groups to help identify content that may be being used to radicalise and recruit extremists.
Third, we will be taking a tougher stance on videos that do not clearly violate our policies — for example, videos that contain inflammatory religious or supremacist content. In future these will appear behind an interstitial warning and they will not be monetised, recommended or eligible for comments or user endorsements. That means these videos will have less engagement and be harder to find. We think this strikes the right balance between free expression and access to information without promoting extremely offensive viewpoints.
Finally, YouTube will expand its role in counter-radicalisation efforts. Building on our successful Creators for Change programme promoting YouTube voices against hate and radicalisation, we are working with Jigsaw to implement the “Redirect Method” more broadly across Europe. This promising approach harnesses the power of targeted online advertising to reach potential Isis recruits, and redirects them towards anti-terrorist videos that can change their minds about joining. In previous deployments of this system, potential recruits have clicked through on the ads at an unusually high rate, and watched over half a million minutes of video content that debunks terrorist recruiting messages.
We have also recently committed to working with industry colleagues—including Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter—to establish an international forum to share and develop technology and support smaller companies and accelerate our joint efforts to tackle terrorism online. Collectively, these changes will make a difference. And we’ll keep working on the problem until we get the balance right. Extremists and terrorists seek to attack and erode not just our security, but also our values; the very things that make our societies open and free. We must not let them. Together, we can build lasting solutions that address the threats to our security and our freedoms. It is a sweeping and complex challenge. We are committed to playing our part.
Posted by Kent Walker, General Counsel, Google
Google Flights has landed down under
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Pack your bags! Whether you’re traveling from
Wollongong to WA
, or
Tullamarine to Townsville
, Google Flights will give you travel inspiration and surface the best available flight options. Starting today, you can search on Google for flights to a destination by searching for things like “
Flights to Cairns
” or “
Flights to New Zealand
”. Or, you can go directly to google.com.au/flights to quickly and easily compare and book flights in $AUD — from your mobile device, tablet or desktop.
Still daydreaming about your next trip? Try using Explore to get ideas on where to go based on popular destinations. If you want to get away for a holiday next month just choose “July” and a trip duration like “2 weeks” to see the dates with the lowest prices to visit each place.
Once you select your departure and return dates, you’ll be presented with a list of ‘Best flights’; which represents the best tradeoff of convenience and price. Before you select a specific flight, you may see a notification bar with tips on how to find the best price for this route. Tips can include things like recommendations for alternate airports, suggest the cheapest dates to fly, or tell you about an expected price jump based on historic prices for that route.
If you’re not ready to book yet, you can choose to track a flight and receive email notifications when prices are expected to change or when the price actually does increase or decrease significantly.
Whether you’re ticking off your bucket list or taking a quick business trip, our goal is to help you find the best flight with confidence so you can plan, book and take off in a couple of clicks.
Happy travels!
Posted by Nabil Naghdy, Product Manager, Google Flights
Experience the songlines of Uluru with Google Maps Street View and Story Spheres
Thursday, June 8, 2017
In the heart of Australia’s red centre lies the UNESCO World Heritage site
,
U
lu
r
u-Kata Tju
t
a National Park. It is deeply sacred to the A
n
angu people, who have lived there for more than 30,000 years. It’s also home to a wide range of species, 21 mammals, 73 reptiles, 178 birds—and Australia’s most iconic natural landmark,
U
lu
r
u.
Starting today, people across the world
will be able to visit
U
luru-Kata Tjuta National Park on Street View
, walk on the desert sand and enjoy the vibrant hues of the rock—from ochre to rust to wild plum and charcoal.
T
alingu
r
u Nyakunytjaku on
Street View
S
tanding 348 m (1,142 ft) high, and with a total circumference of 9.4 km (5.8 mi), the immense scale, colours and contours of Ulu
r
u stir a sense of reverence. While visually and geologically extraordinary, the
physical features of
Ulu
r
u
hold a deeper meaning for its traditional owners.
For A
n
angu, the
land carries sacred songlines—creation stories about the journeys, battles and adventures of their ancestral beings.
Traditional Owner of
U
lu
r
u-Kata Tju
t
a National Park, Reggie Uluru
All aspects of A
n
angu life are
governed by
Tjukurpa
,the knowledge which guides relationships, values and behaviour. At the core of Tjukurpa law is a deep respect for the land. A
n
angu believe that if they look after the land, it will look after them. These teachings are passed down from generation to generation through stories, songs and inma (ceremony).
‘’Sometimes visitors come here and they see a beautiful place, but they don't understand the Tjukurpa, the culture and the law and the knowledge and the history that this place holds…. It’s the living keeper of our culture, ” says Sammy Wilson, A
n
angu traditional owner of U
lu
r
u-Kata Tju
t
a National Park. “
We want to teach those visitors about the A
n
angu understanding of this place.”
Traditional owner, Sammy WIlson, sharing Tjukurpa stories with Miranda Schooneveldt, Parks Australia
Over the past two years,
we collaborated with A
n
angu Traditional Owners of
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
,
Parks Australia
and the
Northern Territory Government
to capture the park for Street View according to
Tjukurpa law. The Street View journey ventures to the vista of T
alingu
r
u Nyakunytjaku, the
winding trail of the Kuniya Walk, the cool respite of Kapi Mu
t
itjulu (
waterhole) and ancient art at Kulpi
Mu
t
itjulu
(Family Cave). It invites you to zoom in on the curves, crevices and textures of
U
lu
r
u—and gaze up at its glowing gradient of colour.
Lindsey Dixon, of Northern Territory Tourism, captured the Street View content at
U
lu
r
u-Kata Tju
t
a National Park in accordance with Tjukurpa law
Since 2007, Google has mapped
imagery of unique locations across 83 countries, including heritage monuments, touristic sites, museums, national parks and transit locations across the globe.
In the case of Ulu
r
u-Kata Tju
t
a National Park, Tjukurpa warranted a more nuanced approach. For A
n
angu, there is no distinction between the physical and metaphysical, or the animate and inanimate. People, earth, plants and animals are inextricably connected. This means that Ulu
r
u-Kata Tju
t
a National Park could never be truly
represented or understood (virtually or otherwise) without the presence and voices of its people.
We knew we had to bring these cultural and spiritual dimensions to the Street View experience. So we used
the
Story Spheres
platform to add immersive audio stories and songs of A
n
angu traditional owners to the 360° Street View imagery. The result is an interactive, audio-visual guided tour, narrated by Sammy Wilson and with song and music by Traditional Owner and A
n
angu Elder, Reggie Uluru.
The Kun
i
ya Walk
on
Story Spheres
Because Tjukurpa teachings are traditionally handed down through an
ancient oral tradition,
A
n
angu
stories, songs and ceremonies are largely unrecorded. T
he generosity of traditional owners has made a rare and revered piece of culture available to, and archived for, the world.
Traditional owner, Sammy WIlson, sharing Tjukurpa stories with Miranda Schooneveldt, Parks Australia
Together with our partners, we’re privileged to help celebrate and preserve A
n
angu c
ulture through technology. We hope this model will lead to stronger partnerships with indigenous communities across Australia—to share more sacred sites and instill greater value and respect for the land.
Get a behind-the-scenes view of the Google Maps Street View and Story Spheres project in our
video
:
Posted by Jason Pellegrino, Managing Director, Google Australia & New Zealand
The power of video to help #ShareSomeGood
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Video affects us like no other medium. It can heighten our passions, stoke our fears, awaken us to new experiences, make us laugh and cry. It can educate, build understanding and even change the way we see our world.
Last year we launched the
Share Some Good
initiative, bringing together more than 100 creators and activists to the YouTube Pop-up Space in Sydney to inspire them to use their voices to promote tolerance and inclusion.
The talented artists who participated in
Share Some Good
at the premiere of their stories.
We challenged these people to come up with an idea or a story that tackles difficult issues such as hate and extremism, and that seeks to spread a more positive message. Today we’re privileged to share
these 15 Australian stories
with you:
BEND
Ocean 12
Don't Play the Hate Game
Dear Future Me
L-FRESH the Lion and Mirrah: 90-Second Rap Up
Walrus Boy
Politics in the Bush
Captain Fizman
Where Are You From?
Stand By Your Name
Raqib The Ethical Compass
Islamophobia Story
Navigating the Net
Hijab and Curls
United Nations of Australia
We hope you will be as impressed as we were by the diversity of perspectives and the creativity behind each of these stories.
Share Some Good is the Australian chapter of
YouTube Creators for Change
, a global movement that amplifies the voices of YouTube role models who are confronting tough social issues through committing US$1 million in equipment and production grants and the appointment of champions from different areas around the world to work on social impact projects.
From combating hate speech, to countering xenophobia and extremism, to simply making the case for greater tolerance and empathy toward others, these creators are helping generate positive social change with their global fan bases.
YouTube Creators for Change fellow
L-FRESH the Lion
and ambassador
Natalie Tran
We’re thrilled to have Australia’s
Natalie Tran
among the 11 Global YouTube Creators for Change ambassadors, as well as
L-FRESH the Lion
appointed as a Creators for Change fellow.
We partnered with social change agency
Love Frankie
, the
Foundation for Young Australians
, the
Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS)
and
Vice
, which generously offered mentorship, training, and broader support to these creators.
Our goal is to enable a chorus of voices using digital platforms such as YouTube to drown out content that promotes violence, hate, or fear. We hope that Australians share these creative stories are motivated to contribute to this growing community of Australians who are seeking to Share Some Good.
Posted by Samantha Yorke, Public Policy and Government Relations Counsel, Google Australia and New Zealand, who recently watched
Dear Future Me
by emerging YouTube creator
Oliver Levi-Malouf
.
Our next step on the path towards reconciliation
Monday, May 29, 2017
Reconciliation Week in Australia is a time when all of us celebrate and build on the respectful relationships shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians.
We think of proud peoples who for tens of thousands of years have been maintained a deep connection to the land - with an incredible history and proud culture.
This year, Reconciliation Week marks two important milestones: It is 50 years since the
1967 Referendum
and 35 years since the historic
Mabo land rights decision
.
Jason Pellegrino, Google Australia managing director, welcomes employees to the Reconciliation Action Plan launch.
The theme for
Reconciliation Week
in 2017 is ‘Let’s Take the Next Steps’ and today Google is taking a big next step by launching our first ever
Reconciliation Action Plan
.
Last year we promised to create a plan to take practical actions, build respectful relationships and open up new opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We are happy to say that we have done just that, and we’re grateful for the support from the people at
Reconciliation Australia
, who have played an integral part in our reconciliation journey so far.
Gadigal elder Uncle Max performs a traditional smoking ritual.
But it is just the start of that journey, because there continues to be unacceptable gaps between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the rest of Australia. We can’t ignore the past and must face the fact that past policies and European settlement had a devastating impact on Aboriginal communities.
At Google we believe we can best serve Australians by embracing and striving to understand the many diverse, complex and ancient cultures of our vibrant community.
We recognise that we can’t sit idly by in the path towards reconciliation - it must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all of us at Google, regardless of background.
This RAP, developed by a cross-section of passionate Googlers on behalf of their colleagues, articulates our joint vision for reconciliation in Australia and the actions we will take to be better partners with Indigenous Australia.
There are three main goals of the
RAP
:
Relationships
- Partner with, and learn from, Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander communities
Respect
- Raise Google employee awareness of, and respect for, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories and achievements, in order to build an appreciation of life in Australia from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective.
Opportunity
- Provide better access to technology for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and a greater focus on building a pool of future technologists that better reflects Australia’s diversity.
Singer Christine Anu performs her song 'My Island Home' at the ceremony.
Our objective is help build stronger and more respectful ties with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - and help ensure that all Australians can share in the opportunities created through technology.
Posted by Jason Pellegrino, managing director of Google Australia, and Alan Noble, engineering site lead for Google Australia
Digital skills download at the Balmain Bowlo
Friday, May 26, 2017
More than 100 small business owners from Sydney’s inner west gathered at the Balmain Bowling Club this morning to gain new digital skills.
Research
suggests digitally engaged SMBs are more likely to be growing, accessing new markets and hiring staff, which is great news for the local community and national economy.
Today's
Digital Garage
event - supported by the
NSW Business Chamber
,
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
,
Leichhardt and Annandale Business Chamber
, and
Balmain Rozelle Chamber of Commerce
- brought together the local business community, along with local Member of Parliament, Anthony Albanese; Google Australia Managing Director, Jason Pellegrino; and Vice-President of the Balmain Rozelle Chamber, Kate Moriarty.
Member for Grayndler, Hon. Anthony Albanese MP spoke to local businesses about the importance of gaining new digital skills.
“The inner west is home to many great businesses of all sizes. And these business owners are creative - they are responsive to technological change and are determined to succeed,” Mr Albanese said.
“With higher internet uptake in our area than any place in Australia, online presence and accessibility is crucial for our businesses.
“Today’s workshop encourages local business owners and leaders to not only continue to adapt, but also to come together and talk about how we can make the most of digital opportunities.”
Some great small businesses owners also shared their experiences of using digital tools - including local marriage celebrant, Stephen Lee, owner of
Stephen Lee Celebrancy
who uses Google My Business and YouTube to connect with new customers and Deepak Munsami, owner of
The Tattoo Movement
who uses digital advertising to reach clients online.
At Google, we think all Australians should have the opportunity to gain digital skills and we want to make that as easy as possible. That’s why we launched
The Digital Garage
: a free online training platform to help small businesses make the most of the web.
The Digital Garage
will be hitting the road in coming weeks, visiting more locations around New South Wales - check out our
events page
to find out more.
Posted by Richard Flanagan, Head of SMB Marketing, Google Australia
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