Australia Blog
News and notes from Google Down Under
National Homelessness Week 2018: Using Ask Izzy to help understand and address homelessness in Australia
Friday, August 10, 2018
Guest blog from David Spriggs, CEO of Infoxchange for
Homelessness Week 2018
It’s a devastating reality that thousands of Australians don’t have anywhere to sleep tonight. The latest census recorded a
14 per cent
increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness over the past five years.
For people experiencing homelessness, finding the services and support they need is a daily struggle. In 2016, we launched
Ask Izzy
– the mobile site developed at Infoxchange in partnership with
Google.org
, realestate.com.au and News Corp Australia that connects people in need with services such as housing, food, support and counselling and more.
In the last 12 months there have been more than 680,000 searches for help on
Ask Izzy
, and more than 1 million since the site was
launched
by Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull in 2016.
Most of these searches are for food and housing. The average daily demand for food-related services on
Ask Izzy
has tripled over the past year, reflecting cost of living pressures on Australians as they struggle to feed themselves and their family.
Ask Izzy’s top 10 categories nationwide
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Using data for positive social change
These searches on
Ask Izzy
provide an unprecedented view of the demand for services across Australia. We want to use this data to help inform service delivery and decision making - that’s why we’ve developed the new
Ask Izzy Open Data Platform
, with support from Google, to make this information available to policymakers and service providers.
Using data from Ask Izzy, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the platform will be able to show us exactly where and what the demand is for services such as housing, food, health and more across Australia.
The Ask Izzy Open Data Platform is currently in the beta testing phase and will be available more widely later this month.
If service providers and policymakers can see exactly what help people need, and where they need it, they can better plan and make decisions around how homelessness and support services are delivered.
We hope this will help people who are struggling throughout Australia to get better support to meet their needs.
The Ask Izzy Open Data Platform will be available later this month – if you’re interested in finding out more or seeing a preview, please
get in touch
.
What can you do to help?
We know that almost 80 percent of people who are homeless own a smartphone but often they don’t have anywhere to charge it. Find out how you can
help solve this problem
and learn more about Ask Izzy
here
.
Posted by David Spriggs, CEO of Infoxchange
Android 9 Pie: Powered by AI for a smarter, simpler experience that adapts to you
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Cross-posted from the
global Keyword blog
The latest release of Android is here! And it comes with a heaping helping of artificial intelligence baked in to make your phone smarter, simpler and more tailored to you. Today we’re officially introducing Android 9 Pie.
We’ve built Android 9 to learn from you—and work better for you—the more you use it. From predicting your next task so you can jump right into the action you want to take, to prioritizing battery power for the apps you use most, to helping you disconnect from your phone at the end of the day, Android 9 adapts to your life and the ways you like to use your phone.
Tailored to you Now easy as pie
Android 9 aims to make your phone even smarter by learning from you and adapting to your usage patterns. That’s why Android 9 comes with features like Adaptive Battery, which learns the apps you use most and prioritizes battery for them, and Adaptive Brightness, which learns how you like to set the brightness in different settings, and does it for you.
Android 9 also helps you get things done faster with App Actions, which predicts what you’ll want to do next based on your context and displays that action right on your phone. Say it’s Tuesday morning and you’re preparing for your commute: you’ll be suggested actions like navigating to work on Google Maps or resuming an audiobook with Google Play Books. And when you put in headphones after work, you may see options to call your mum or start your favorite Spotify playlist.
Later this fall, we’ll also roll out Slices (pie...slices...get it?!) which shows relevant information from your favorite apps when you need it. If you start typing “Lyft” into Google Search, you’ll see a “slice” of the Lyft app, showing prices for your ride home and the ETA for a driver so you can take action more quickly and easily.
Now easy as pie
Making your phone smarter and more adaptive is important, but we also want Android to be easier to use and more approachable. In Android 9, we’ve introduced a new system navigation featuring a single home button. This is especially helpful as phones grow taller and it’s more difficult to get things done on your phone with one hand. With a single, clean home button, you can swipe up to see a newly designed Overview, the spot where at a glance you have full-screen previews of your recently used apps. Swipe up from anywhere to see full-screen previews of recently used apps and simply tap to jump back into one of them. If you find yourself constantly switching between apps on your Pixel, we’ve got good news for you: Smart Text Selection (which recognizes the meaning of the text you’re selecting and suggests relevant actions) now works on the Overview of your recent apps, making it easier to perform the action you want. You can enable this new system navigation in Settings once you’ve received your update to Android 9 (learn more in the
help center
).
Changing how you navigate your phone is a big deal, but small changes can make a big difference too. Android P also brings a redesigned Quick Settings, a better way to take and edit screenshots (say goodbye to the vulcan grip that was required before), simplified volume controls, an easier way to manage notifications and more. You’ll notice small changes like these across the platform, to help make the things you do all the time easier than ever.
Find the balance that’s right for your life
While much of the time we spend on our phones is useful, many of us wish we could disconnect more easily and free up time for other things. In fact, over 70 percent of people we talked to in our research said they want more help with this. So we’ve been working to add key capabilities right into Android to help people achieve the balance with technology they’re looking for.
At Google I/O in May, we previewed some of these digital wellbeing features for Android, including a new
Dashboard
that helps you understand how you’re spending time on your device; an
App Timer
that lets you set time limits on apps and grays out the icon on your home screen when the time is up; the new
Do Not Disturb,
which silences all the visual interruptions that pop up on your screen; and
Wind Down
, which switches on
Night Light
and
Do Not Disturb
and fades the screen to grayscale before bedtime.
Digital Wellbeing will officially launch on Pixel phones this fall, with Android One and other devices coming later this year. But these features are available in beta now for Pixel phones running Android 9. To try them out:
Make sure you’re running Android 9 Pie on your device. (
Learn how to check which version of Android you have.
)
Sign up
for the beta with the email address you use with Google Play.
Accept your invitation to become a beta tester by clicking the link in your welcome email.
Once you’ve accepted your invitation, Digital Wellbeing will appear in your phone’s Settings app. It may take up to 24 hours for Digital Wellbeing to appear on your device.
Security and privacy baked in
Improving security is always important in each of our platform releases. In addition to
continuously hardening the platform
, and an improved security model for
biometrics
, Android 9 enables industry-leading hardware security capabilities to allow protecting sensitive data like credit card information using a secure, dedicated chip. Android 9 also brings important privacy improvements, such as
TLS by default
and
DNS over TLS
to help protect all web communications and keep them private.
Coming to a device near you
Starting today, an over-the-air update to Android 9 will begin rolling out to Pixel phones. And
devices
that participated in the Beta program from Sony Mobile, Xiaomi, HMD Global, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus and Essential, as well as all qualifying Android One devices, will receive this update by the end of this fall. We’re also working with a number of other partners to launch or upgrade devices to Android 9 this year.
Learn more about Android 9 Pie at android.com/9.
Posted by Sameer Samat, VP of Product Management, Android and Google Play
Google Home Max is here, Australia
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Music fans, time to turn up the volume! Our biggest and best sounding Google Home, the Google Home Max, will be available in Australia on August 9.
Built for premium sound
Thanks to premium hardware, including two 4.5-inch high-excursion woofers, Max delivers deep, powerful bass. And it’s loud…really loud, so you can fill even the largest room in your home with your favourite music. In fact, Max is 20 times more powerful than Google Home!
Redefine how you listen to music with Smart Sound
Powered by Google AI,
Smart Sound
means Max can automatically adapt itself to you and your environment. Once you’ve set up Max (connecting to your compatible device and Wifi), it will automatically tune itself based on where you’ve placed it in the room. Without lifting a finger, your music will sound just as it was intended when it left the production studio. And all of this is done dynamically, so if you decide to move Max to the other side of the room, it will adapt within seconds. There’s no extra setup or testing required.
Your personal DJ, 24/7
With the Google Assistant built in, Google Home Max is always ready to start your favourite song, pause or turn it up, all with just your voice. Can’t quite remember the name of that favourite summer jam? Your Assistant can find it with just a few small details.
Google Home Max works with YouTube Music, Spotify, TuneIn and Deezer –
and Chromecast is built in, meaning you can cast from your phone with many more services. For all of your other music and devices, Max has support for both Bluetooth® and aux-in, so plug in your record player and dust off your vinyl.
Control your smart home
Make Max the centre of your smart home. Google Home Max works with more than 5,000 devices worldwide, and 100+ home automation devices from more than 50 brands here in Australia—including Nest, Belkin TP-Link and Philips Hue and more. Plus, with Multiple Actions available on Google Home Max you can get more done at the same time. If you have a compatible smart plug and bulbs, try saying, “Hey Google, dim the lights, play a summer time playlist.”
Google Home Max is available starting August 9 for RRP $549 from JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, David Jones, The Good Guys, Officeworks and The Google Store. Turn the volume up, Australia!
Posted by Chris Chan, Product Manager, Google Home
Empowering female founders in tech: The future is inclusive
Monday, July 30, 2018
Editor’s note: Nicola Hazell is one of Australia's leading voices on gender equality and social innovation. She is the Chief Innovation Officer and creator of the award-winning
SheStarts
program at Australia’s largest startup accelerator
BlueChilli
. Since SheStarts launched in 2016, the program has reached hundreds of women across Australia and invested in two cohorts of incredible female founders who lead businesses in a range of industries, including smart cities, finance and health.
Today, our SheStarts community becomes part of the Google for Entrepreneurs’ global partner network, a community supporting startups that includes dozens of co-working spaces and programs across 140 countries. Through this partnership, Google for Entrepreneurs will empower SheStarts founders with the best of Google's resources—which includes executive mentoring, as well as programming and technical support to help to kickstart their entrepreneurial journey and lead successful, global-minded tech startups.
It’s an honour to have Senator the Honourable Michaelia Cash, Australia’s Minister for Jobs and Innovation, join us today for our Google for Entrepreneurs partnership launch at
Fishburners
— Australia’s largest non-profit dedicated to supporting startups, and a fellow partner in the Googlefor Entrepreneurs network—to celebrate this important milestone for women and all entrepreneurs alike.
Nicola Hazell from SheStarts at BlueChilli, announcing the first cohort of female founders selected for the accelerator in 2016.
We are living in an era when technology provides the vehicle to create lasting change at a global scale. But the possibilities of technology and innovation will never be truly realised if we're missing out on the ideas and creativity of half the population. This is why SheStarts exists—to ensure women have the opportunity to unleash their talent and passion on the world, and to demonstrate that you don’t have to be a man in a hoodie and sneakers to make a big impact in the startup economy.
SheStarts provides founders with access to capital, engineering talent, world-class training and a global network of mentors and advisors backing them to succeed. The program supports founders as they take their startups from idea to launch, working with them to build and test their technology, to land major national and international partnerships, and grow their companies as they secure millions of dollars in investment. These emerging leaders have now attracted great teams into their businesses—creating exciting new jobs within Australia’s economy and redefining what it means to be a tech entrepreneur.
Members of the inaugural SheStarts cohort during their visit to Google’s office in Mountain View in 2017.
As Australia's only corporate and venture-backed accelerator designed specifically for female-led startups, our goal is to significantly grow the number of women leaders in the tech industry. We work in close collaboration with organisations across the ecosystem—including the wonderful coworking community at Fishburners, led by an empowering and passionate female CEO, Pandora Shelley—as we build support for female founders, together.
We’re making progress, but there is still much work to do. According to the most recent
Startup Muster Report
, women represent only one in four startup founders in Australia. What's more, access to investment remains a huge barrier for female founders, with less than 5 percent of venture capital going to female-led startups. With the support of SheStarts, startups like
BindiMaps
(an indoor navigation app for the visually impaired),
Neighbourlytics
(a social analytics platform for neighbourhoods, pioneering the use of social data in cities) and
Longevity App
(a micro-savings app that boosts a user’s retirement savings every time they spend) are flourishing—and changing the industry’s gender ratio in the process.
Backing female-led startups is an investment in a better future and the growing global support for our founders in SheStarts demonstrates this. In May this year, the
World Bank announced
that globally, countries are losing $160 trillion in wealth because of the earnings gap between men and women over their lifetime. Meanwhile,
international research
continues to make the case for women in tech leadership, finding that female-led tech companies are more capital-efficient, achieve higher return on investment and bring in
higher revenue
than male-owned tech companies. Gender equality is not just a nice-to-have, it's a global economic imperative.
Members of the inaugural SheStarts cohort during their delegation to San Francisco in 2017.
Through our partnership with Google for Entrepreneurs, SheStarts’ founders in Australia will have the opportunity to connect with experts, investors, and women across the world, shedding light on a new wave of leadership that is redefining what it means to be a tech entrepreneur. We couldn’t be more excited to embark on this journey together with Google.
Posted by Name, Team
Announcing the 2018 PhD fellowships to support cutting edge computer science research in Australia
Sunday, July 29, 2018
The
Google PhD Fellowship program
supports PhD students in computer science and related fields, and is part of our commitment to building strong relationships with the global academic community. In our
most recent round
four PhD students in Australia have been recognised for their outstanding efforts.
Xiang Zhang, Google Phd Fellowship in HCI (University of New South Wales)
- Research Proposal Title: Context-aware Human Intent Inference for Improving Human Machine Cooperation
Xiang's research is aimed at overcoming the research hurdles and stretching the horizons of interactive intelligent systems and brain-computer interface by developing novel learning paradigm. The goal of his research is to create a body of work both theoretically well-founded and readily applicable to real-world problems in the area of human-computer interactions bridging the gap between theory and practice. He is inspired by the fascinating fact that human mind can directly affect the physical reality and has developed a brain typing system and a mind-controlled assistant robot which could provide a better life for people with disabilities.
Siqi Wu, Google PhD Fellowship in HCI (Australian National University)
- Research Proposal Title: How is Attention Allocated? A Data-driven Study of Popularity and Engagement in Online Videos
Siqi’s interest in understanding online behaviours originated from his own daily activities on web. He always wonders how things become popular and how people influence each other on the Internet. Coming to the Computational Media lab at ANU, study in the interdisciplinary field of Computational Social Science sparked his interest both in empirical measurement and theoretical modeling, which Siqi hopes his work will lead to advances in online systems.
Niels van Berkel, Google PhD Fellowship in HCI (The University of Melbourne)
-
Research Proposal Title: Data Quality and Quantity in Mobile Self-Report Studies
Niels’s research examines how to assess and increase the quality of human-contributed data collected through their personal smartphones. His fascination for the societal impact of digital technology led him to pursue studies in human-computer interaction. Niels hopes that his research can strengthen the role of smartphones as valuable scientific instruments, and ultimately increase our understanding of human behaviour.
Stephen Mallon, Google PhD Fellowship in Networking (The University of Sydney)
-
Research Proposal Title: DLibOS Achieving performance and protection for IO bound applications on multi-core and many-core architectures
Stephen has always been naturally drawn to trying to understand how things work, he was inspired to pursue computer systems research after taking an undergraduate informatics course. His research focuses on how to improve the performance and efficiency of network applications by better leveraging the capabilities of underlying hardware. His overarching goal is that his research will impact and influence the design and architecture of real-world networking systems.
By supporting these four Australian Fellows we recognise their significant academic achievements and hope that they will go on to be leaders in their respective fields. We look forward to building even stronger links between industry and academia to help push important research forward in Australia.
Sally-Ann Williams, Google Engineering Community & Outreach Manager
The Digital Garage says G’day WA!
Thursday, July 19, 2018
More than 1000 small businesses and individuals joined Google’s
pop-up event
in Perth this week, our biggest one yet, to learn new digital skills.
Businesses took part in the
Digital Garage
training to learn more about how their business can be found online and how they can use digital tools to grow.
Western Australian Premier, Hon Mark McGowan MLA spoke to small business owners at the event this morning and highlighted the digital opportunity for local businesses.
The Premier with local business
Sue Lewis Chocolatier
and Google's Richard Flanagan
The Premier said businesses had much to gain from getting online and embracing the power of digital tools. He spoke about his family’s small business and how the way people look to connect with businesses has changed over the years.
The Premier with Google's Jesse Suskin
More than 93,000 businesses in WA use Google to connect with customers in Australia and around the world.
Businesses thrive when they embrace technology.
Deloitte
research found small businesses that make the most of the web are 1.5 times more likely to be growing revenue and 8 times more likely to be creating jobs.
But not all businesses are making the most of the web. More than 90% of small businesses are not taking full advantage of today’s digital tools - and that’s where the Digital Garage can help!
We also know that some Australians don’t feel like they have the skills they need to succeed in today’s digital economy.
That’s why Google.org and Infoxchange launched the
Digital Springboard
in Perth this week, a free skills training initiative to help Australians gain new digital skills and prepare for the future - find out more
here
.
The Perth pop-up is the latest stop in our national roadshow, training small businesses right across the country from Dubbo to Darwin and many places in between.
To find an event near you or to learn more about getting your business online check out
The Digital Garage.
Posted by John Ball, Director of Small Business, Google Australia
Launching The Digital Springboard in Perth
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Technology can connect people and create opportunities. But it can also create significant, rapid changes, with the risk of leaving some without the right tools or skills to thrive.
We know that some Australians don’t feel like they have the skills they need to succeed in today’s digital economy. That’s why
Google.org
and
InfoXchange
are launching the
Digital Springboard
, a free skills training initiative to help Australians gain new digital skills and prepare for the future.
Digital Springboard
aims to help people get the skills they need, whether that’s learning how to get started online or how to write a CV, right through to social media strategy for business or learning to code.
Students from the
Clontarf Foundation
attended the first session in Perth today to learn about writing CVs and digital skills for job applications.
The Clontarf Foundation’s General Manager for Employment, Marcus Harrold said “The workshops and subsequent skills that our students have acquired will only further enhance their employment prospects and preparedness for the future. The world is moving extremely fast, so it is vital that we allow all our students access to the most up-to-date technology”.
Speaking at a training event in Perth today, Jess Perrin from Infoxchange said the initiative is a response to the digital skills gap that prevents many Australians from realising the full benefit of the digital economy.
“Many of the people who have the most to gain from the social, educational and financial benefits of being online are missing out. Digital Springboard
will offer a chance to improve the digital skills of diverse and marginalised communities, while also supporting transitions to work and career growth.”
Working with local delivery partners, including The Australian Red Cross, The Clontarf Foundation, WISE Employment and Australian Neighbourhood Houses and Centres Association, we will support in-person training sessions for individuals looking to improve their digital capability across Australia.
Digital Springboard
will give participants nationwide the chance to become more confident using digital technologies.
To find a course near you or to learn more, visit the
Digital Springboard
.
Posted by Richard Flanagan, Head of Brand and Business Marketing, Google Australia
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