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.'"

Comments

Yeah

[malus]

And this is why I'm going back to college so Google will consider me a viable employee. I *want* to work for this company.

Re:Helping the poor doesnt work

[Anonymous Coward]

Strangely, trying to wipe them out doesn't work either.

Re:Infrastructure

[PhraudulentOne]

Note to Google: Put a bunch of These: http://web.archive.org/web/20030418044709/http://w ww.boeing.com/assocproducts/energy/powertower.html all over the place. Stop the world from relying on Oil for electricity. Cheap to maintain, cheap to build.

Just my two cents.

Re:Helping the poor doesnt work

[ZephyrXero]

That's because people try to help them in the wrong ways....help educate them, help get them jobs, help them to be selfsustainable, and if not leave them to Darwin. Current wellfare systems don't work, I'm not saying don't help people...but don't baby them for the rest of their life. If we help the cause rather than the effect we'll do much greater good.

Education on human rights, liberalism & capita

[duncan bayne]

There's only one thing that's going to reduce poverty and suffering in third-world countries: classical liberalism.

If Google (or any philanthropist) wants to really help a poor country, persuading them to depose their theocratic / despotic / fascist / socialist / puppet Governments and replace them with a constitutionally-bound Republic would be a good start.

Of course, that'd involve many people, a deep understanding of the culture of said country, and a long, tiresome struggle to educate the people - not to mention the high likelihood of violent opposition from the existing powermongers.

So most people don't bother, they don't choose to analyse the causes of poverty, and instead buy the people of those countries millions of dollars worth of rice and medicine, thereby adding welfare dependency to their list of problems, and propping up the aforementioned evil Governments.

Sigh.

you guys know the novel "one trillion dollar"

[Anonymous Coward]

by german author "andreas eschbach" (original title: eine billion dollar) (one trillion in the us equals "eine billion" in german)

check the storyline at

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/reference/eine_bi llion_dollar

interesting plot about what would happen if you had a fortune of one trillion dollar in cash and what good you would do for mankind and your planet.

Charity as a means of marketing

[aschoff_nodule]

I think big companies like Microsoft (Melinda Gates Foundation) and Google have started to think that charity may be a means of marketing and would in a long term help to make some bucks out of it. I guess that works by
1) Constantly staying in headlines, by those charitable activities
2) The countries which these companies will impact, are the places who potentially have a large consumer market which is still not tapped.
3) They will work hand in hand with policy makers, etc. in those countries - and would be in a better position to influence them in their favor.

Re:Brilliant

[corbettw]

He was also my boss, once upon a time. Well, my boss's boss's boss, but still. For what it's worth, the few times I was in a meeting with him, he impressed me with his ability to make a decision quickly and make things happen. I didn't always agree with his reasoning, but at least when he wanted something done, it got done.

Expand Summer of Code... 800 students?

[billybob2]

I'd love to see Google continue and expand its Summer of Code program, which last summer funded 400 students worldwide to work on the Free and Open Source projects of their choice. Each student was rewarded $4,500 and the project they were improving received $500 to cover the mentors' time and expenses.

By enabling students to contribute to Free Software at an early age, Google would not only be doing society a favor, but it would also introduce those students to the concept of working with a large group of talented, motivated contributors coming from vastly different backgrounds.

Re:Expand Summer of Code... 800 students?

[chrisd]

Thanks! :-)

Re:Expand Summer of Code... 800 students?

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you and Google for giving us CS college students the chance to benefit our community without having to worry about paying for food and housing over the summer. The $4,500 I received from the Summer of Code allowed me to dedicate 100% of my time on a project I enjoyed, in the comfort of my own home.

During the school year I have to juggle classes and a day job (I'm a part-time sales assistant at a local electronics store), so I'm only able to code for a few hours at night after I get home. This means that everytime I sit in front of the computer I have to remember where I left off, which takes a while. During the summer, however, I became an order of magnitudes more productive because I could dedicate larger, consecutive chunks of time solely toward solving a particular problem.

So all in all, Google's generous contribution is much appreciated by the participants of last year's Summer of Code, and I'm sure other college students are just as excited as I am about having the opportunity to do this again in a few months.

The solution to global poverty is simple.

[whatthef*ck]

It's called "capitalism."

I like this idea! MOD UP!

[elucido]

I think your idea is the best yet. If Google wants to help they should use the summer of code, and contribute in areas they actually know something about. I think it would help MANY MANY people in MANY countries if Google actually decided to give $4500 for code. Also, $4500 means a lot to someone in the third world.

I don't think 1 billion should be spent on code, but if $100 million were spent on code, with a specific focus on the third world, I think this would do more for society, creating jobs, and creating talent than would just bringing charity.

Re:What is the point?

[distributed]

Has anyone read the rececnt edition of TIME on google...
I remember one of eric or sergey or larry commenting that they wanted to make philanthropy a business !!
So look at this as an investment.