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Google.org to Spend an Initial $1.1 Billion
conq writes "Google.org, the charitable branch of Google, has hired on Dr. Larry Brilliant to create a strategy for making a 'social impact.' According to the article: 'The network will focus its charitable endeavors on global poverty, energy, and the environment.' Brilliant outlines his goal: 'In 10 years, I'd like people to say Google changed the world less for its search engine than for the way in which it changed philanthropy to make the world a better place.'"
For those of you who don't know who Brilliant is, he has just the eclectic background that makes him a natural fit for Google's philanthropic thrust. He is a physican and epidemiologist who has also been heralded as a tech visionary. He spent a decade studying religion in at a Himalayan monastery in India, followed by a stint as a diplomat with the U.N. He helped lead a World Health Organization program to eradicate smallpox and later founded the Berkeley (Calif.)-based Seva Foundation, an international health nonprofit group credited with restoring sight to more than 2 million blind people.
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If they want to make a difference, how about investing money into good civics lessons in the countries wracked by violence. Teach them peaceful resolution of differences, undermine their tribal identities to create a unified national identity and teach them the value of working together in a way respectful of basic civil rights.
Oddly enough, that was one of the original ideas behind the UN. Until it became wracked with sectarian conflict between different tribes, er, nations.
As for helping poor countries establish stable democracies, the Cato Institute had a study several years ago positing that property rights, more than any other single variable, were the key to long term stability and prosperity. Interesting reading, if you can find it.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
It's obvious from many replies that very few are familiar with what Google.org has already done. Mainly they've worked with non-profits who do very much what you folks suggest. They've been posting about it in the Google Blog and it reads like a book of how to do philanthropy in a sustainable, sensible, and empowering manner.
s its-google.html). Another partner does produces subtitled television from local content as a means to increase literacy in India (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/same-langu age-subtitling.html). Others are detailed on Google.org itself. One such example is TechnoServe which is promoting business developement in Ghana (http://www.technoserve.org/). And they're not just throwing money at the problem, they're donating Google services (AdSense) and plan on supplying logistical and technical aid as well.
For instance, one of their partners is the Acumen Fund which invests in local start-ups making goods and services for the developing world (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/acumen-vi
In short, all the whiny comments about what the developing world needs (parent post isn't one of them, but nearing that way) are pretty well misplaced. Google has shown a good degree of competence in their technical endeavours, that seems to be translating wonderfully to their philanthropic wing.