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  • Google for Nonprofits launches in Nigeria

    Google for Nonprofits launches in Nigeria

    Google on Wednesday announced the launch of ‘Google for Nonprofits’ in Nigeria.

    Titi Akinsanmi, Google’s Head, Government Affairs and Public Policy, West Africa, said in a statement that ‘Google for Nonprofits’ was aimed at empowering ‘not-for-profit’ organisations by providing them with free premium services.

    Akinsanmi said for organisations that qualify, Google for Nonprofits would give access to a collection of premium apps, the same tools large enterprise corporations used, at no cost.

    She said once approved, qualifying nonprofits can gain access to programmes such as Google Ad Grants, G-Suite for Nonprofits, YouTube’s Nonprofit programme, and more.

    According to her, this will assist non-profit organisations to work more quickly and efficiently to reach a wider audience, spur more supporters to take action and tell their story in a more compelling way.

    ”Nonprofits can qualify for a grant of up to $10,000 a month that is available for six months through Oct. 2020 to spend on text-based ads, among other offerings.

    ”For a NPO to be eligible for the Google for Nonprofits programme, it must be a registered non-profit charitable organisation in Nigeria and verified by TechSoup Nigeria.

    ”It must also meet eligibility criteria listed on the Google for Nonprofits page- https://www.google.com/nonprofits/eligibility/.

    ”Nonprofits face unique challenges when making decisions about what technology to acquire, amid competing demands for funding and resources,” Akinsanmi said.

    According to her, the company’s overall goal is to provide access to tools and technology quickly and effectively, so that these organisations can focus their efforts and resources directly toward achieving their goals.

    She added that google had also announced its philanthropic arm, Google.org, which would be giving a grant to `Teach for Nigeria’.

    Teach for Nigeria is a non-profit organisation focused on support for students in underserved communities in the country, while the Coronavirus school closures persist.

    She said that the grant would fund a two-year- teacher fellowship programme, to ensure more students in underserved communities got access to quality education, delivered by well-trained teaching staff.

    Akinsanmi said it would also fund an education intervention programme to help children in underserved areas get education through alternative means like TV, radio and on-the-street public communications.

    According to her, Google training resources and programmes for upskilling teachers working in target communities will be deployed and Google Digital Skills training curriculum and resources will be leveraged for the programme.

    Akinsanmi said google also aimed at providing support and create partnerships that would ensure children from underserved communities were able to access the required level of education during these times.

    Folawe Omikunle, Chief Executive Officer, `Teach for Nigeria’, said the organisation was working toward developing platforms that allowed Nigeria’s educational system to support all children to thrive and create a better future for themselves and their communities.

    According to her, now more than ever, stakeholders must do whatever can be done to ensure that quality and relevant learning is happening for all children, regardless of where they are on the map.

    Omikunle noted that the organisation was excited and confident that this collaboration with Google would move it a step closer to achieving their goals in these times.

    Google’s mission is to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful through its products and platforms.

  • New COVID-19 exposure tool appears on smartphones without users notice

    New COVID-19 exposure tool appears on smartphones without users notice

    A new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) exposure notifications tool has appeared on smartphones without users having to personally install it.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the new COVID-19 exposure notifications tool showed up on the settings of both iOS and Android smartphones as part of an update of the operating systems.

    The update released by Google and Apple on Friday caused some confusion, with people querying the new addition to their handsets on social media.

    On iPhones, the new COVID-19 exposure notifications tool is located in settings, via the privacy menu and then the health section.

    On Android phones, the new tool is located in the Google section of the Settings menu of your smartphone, where you will find ‘Services & preferences’.

    How the new COVID-19 exposure notifications tool works

    To help understand whether you have been exposed to someone who reports having COVID-19, you can turn on Exposure Notifications, but if you change your mind, you can turn it off as well.

    To use the tool, you would be required to download a public health authority’s app. If you have COVID-19, you share that info with the app to help alert the people you have been in contact with.

    If you have been exposed to someone who has shared they have COVID-19, the app will notify you and give you further instructions.

    After downloading the public health authority’s app, turn on your phone’s Bluetooth, and also turn on your phone’s Location setting. The tool uses this to scan for Bluetooth signals. It does not collect or track your location.

    When you turn on Exposure Notifications within an app from the public health authority, your phone shares random IDs with other nearby phones that also have turned on the Exposure Notifications tool.

    Throughout the day, your phone and the phones around you exchange random IDs. When your phone detects a random ID from another device, it records and stores the ID.

    If someone reports having COVID-19 and their ID is stored on your phone, the app will notify you of next steps to take.

    If the app learns that you have come in contact with someone who reports themselves as having COVID-19, the system shares with the app the day the contact happened, how long the contact lasted, and the Bluetooth signal strength of that contact.

    If you have COVID-19, in the public health app, you may report yourself as having COVID-19. The app may ask you to share your random IDs. This helps the public health authority to notify others.

    The app may then check if your random IDs are stored on other people’s devices. It may alert others who came in contact with you. Those other people won’t know your identity. You decide if and when to share your data.

    All of the Exposure Notification matching happens on your device, which means only you and your app know if you report having COVID-19 or been exposed to someone who has reported having COVID-19.

    Your identity is never shared with other users, Apple, or Google.

    When you download a public health authority app, you can opt in to use Exposure Notifications.

    If you have COVID-19, you can choose to share your random IDs with the app. To help prevent tracking, your phone’s random ID changes every 10-20 minutes. Your phone only stores random IDs from the last 14 days.

    The public health authority app is not allowed to use your phone’s location or track your location in the background. Only official public health authority apps can use the system.

    You can turn off Exposure Notifications in your Android phone’s Settings, or uninstall the public health app.

    Important: By turning off this feature, you won’t be notified if you’ve been exposed to COVID-19.

    You can delete the random IDs stored on your device before they are automatically deleted after 14 days. You can’t delete your random IDs that are stored on other people’s devices or that you shared with an app.

    Important: By deleting this data, you won’t be notified if you have been exposed to COVID-19.

  • Google highlights YouTube channels for e-learning

    Google on Friday, highlighted five YouTube channels for e-learning with schools in Nigeria closed, due to the COVID 19 pandemic.

    Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Communication Officer Google, West Africa, said in a statement that e-learning had become the new normal.

    Kola-Ogunlade said that this had left many parents stressed as they had to juggle their own work and activities while serving as home teachers for their children.

    He said to help parents out and give them the much-needed break, Google had compiled a list of five YouTube channels to help parents teach their children and keep them occupied.

    “BinoandFino is a cartoon series about a brother and sister, duo named Bino and Fino who live with their family in Nigeria.

    “The channel reveals exciting adventures that help children discover and learn about Africa and the rest of the world.

    “The content is wide-ranging; so viewers can learn about things such as water creating electricity, the flags of some African countries or even how important it is to eat healthy fruit,” he said.

    According to him, Ogun Digi Class Channel is an Ogun State Government initiative with contents appealing to both primary and secondary school students.

    He said that children could learn English, Mathematics, Basic Science, Computer Science, Arts and Commercial subjects.

    Kola-Ogunlade said it was the first of its kind in Nigeria to feature experienced educators from Ogun State sharing their knowledge on different subjects.

    He said that another was Akili and Me, an edutainment channel on fun educational preschool learning videos from across the African continent.

    Kola-Ogunlade said that students joined Akili, Happy Hippo, Little Lion and Bush Baby to learn letters, numbers, art, reading, vocabulary skills and more.

    According to him, the channel, which is dedicated to toddlers during the COVID-19 pandemic, has over 260, 000 subscribers and also features videos geared toward helping toddlers get a grip on their emotions.

    He said that Simone’s Oasis channel is owned by Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie and it was created out of her experience, entertaining her own children – Ugo, a boy and Sim Sim, a girl.

    Kola-Ogunlade said drawing on what she learned from raising a special-needs child living with Down syndrome, she shared content to help others on their journey.

    According to him, some of the entertaining sing-along-videos on the channel include, nursery rhyme mashups, Incy Wincy Spider, Nigeria 36 states, and Eko Bridge.

    The communication officer said the fifth channel SokidzTV – is owned by Sceneonetv and it offered a variety of songs and nursery rhymes in English and Yoruba.

    He said children could also learn about numbers, the alphabet, colours and other topics that helped with mental development.

    “As parents adapt and become teachers to children at home, these YouTube channels help by relieving some of the stresses associated with home learning,’’ Kola-Ogunlade said.

    YouTube is Google’s company and had become the world’s popular online video community.

  • Maps: Google announces another addition

    Maps: Google announces another addition

    Google on Friday, announced a new addition in Google Maps ‘Plus Codes’ to help locate difficult or no fixed address.

    Mr Kola-Ogunlade, Communication Officer, Google, West Africa, said in a statement that the Plus Codes helps to locate people without a fixed address or difficult locations in rural areas to be located in emergency

    Kola-Ogunlade said while most people take having a fixed, physical address for granted, 2 billion people across the globe either do not have an address, or have an address that was hard to locate.

    He said that this made it difficult for people to find them, particularly in an emergency.

    According to him, this is the reason Google has developed Plus Codes, and is rolling them out for Google Maps on Android.

    ‘’Plus Codes can be especially helpful for people and organisations in emergency and crisis response scenarios.

    ‘’If you have ever been in an emergency, you know that being able to share your location for help to easily find you is critical.

    ‘’Yet,in many places in the world, organisations struggle with this challenge on a daily basis.

    ‘’Digital addressing through Plus Codes means that everywhere now has an easily identifiable location, saving time and getting resources there when it really matters,’’ he said.

    Açcording to him, not having an address should no longer be a barrier to easily sharing location with service providers from online retailers to emergency services.

    He said that the Plus Codes would guide people to one when you most need them.

    Kola-Ogunlade said Plus Codes were simple, easy to use digital addresses derived from latitude and longitude coordinates.

    He said it could be used to uniquely identify any location, from a rural home in a remote area, to a hidden shop on a nameless street.

    “ To share location, simply tap the blue dot in Google Maps that represents your location, and get a Plus Code, which could be shared the same way a phone number is shared,” the Communication Officer said.

    He said a Plus Code was a simple alphanumeric code which can be combined with a locality, and looked like a regular address, but with a short code where a street name or number would be.

    ”Beyond using the blue dot, one could also find the Plus Code for a location.

    He said that Plus Codes were searchable on Google Maps and even Google Search, meaning everywhere on the planet can now be uniquely identified.

    The digital addresses were free to use, available offline, and could be printed on paper, posters and signs.

    The technology to generate Plus Codes is also an open source, which means anyone can see how it works and develop their own applications for any use case.

  • Google Community Mobility Report reveals response to lockdown in Nigeria

    Google Community Mobility Report reveals response to lockdown in Nigeria

    Google on Monday said that Data from its newly-released Corona Virus (Covid-19) Community Mobility Reports showed that traffic to transit, retail and recreation locations in Nigeria reduced in the wake of the lockdown.

    Jen Fitzpatrick, Google’s Senior Vice-President, Geo, said that traffic to transit locations, reduced by 34 pee cent and to retail and recreation locations by 39 per cent compared to baseline levels measured in January and February.

    Fitzpatrick said that the report, which showed data from March 29, revealed how citizens were visiting transit stations, work places, retail and recreation centers, parks, grocery stores and residentials in Nigeria.

    “We think these reports could support decisions about how to manage the COVID-19 pandemic while adhering to the stringent privacy protocols and policies.

    “Google has invested in this tool so that everyone could make use of it to quickly and easily understand relevant information to the community response to social distancing.

    “It is making any information shared tailored specifically to specific purpose.

    “Just like how people can use Google Maps to identify when a local business tends to be the most crowded, we’re using the same aggregated, anonymized data to provide high-level insights into what has changed.

    “Ultimately, understanding not only whether people are traveling, but also trends in destinations, can help officials design guidance to protect public health and essential needs of communities.

    ”And we will continue to evaluate these reports as we get feedback from public health officials, civil society groups, local governments and the community at large during these unprecedented times,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

    The Vice-President said that Google has been working on many ways to help respond to COVID-19, from providing authoritative info via Search, to supporting production of ventilators and personal protective equipment such as face-masks.

    She said that with no vaccine or proven treatment, social distancing is the primary way to flatten the curve.

    According to her, reports show that a third of the world’s population are under some kind of social distancing measures; through these reports, Google is providing insights into whether the guidance on social distancing is working.

    Fitzpatrick said in addition to the Community Mobility Reports, Google was collaborating with selected epidemiologists working on COVID-19 with updates to an existing aggregate, anonymized dataset that could be used to better understand and forecast the pandemic.

    She said that Google’s first ever COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports provided national trends for 131 countries, and are available to download in PDF format on the site.

    Each country report charts the percentage increase or decrease of movement across different high-level categories of places – such as retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential.

    The Federal Government of Nigeria had on March 29 issued a stay home order in Lagos, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Ogun to help curb the spread of Covid 19 in the country.

  • Google announces $6.5M funding to help fight coronavirus misinformation

    Google on Thursday said it was providing 6.5 million dollars in funding to fact-checkers and nonprofits organisation fighting misinformation around Corona Virus (COVID 19) around the world.

    Alexios Mantzarlis, News and Information Credibility Lead, Google News Initiative (GNI) News Lab said it was in an effort to help address the challenge of the ongoing spread of misinformation related to the coronavirus pandemic,

    He saud that through its GNI Google was providing the funds to support media outlets and fact-checkers working to combat misinformation around the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

    Mantzarlis said that Google would be supporting Africa Check in Nigeria, and Data Leads in partnership with BOOM Live in India to leverage data from Question Hub.

    According to him, this will be complemented by an effort to train 1,000 journalists across India and Nigeria to spot health misinformation.

    ”Google’s online resources were being updated to support the vital work journalists were doing and the GNI Training Centre had tools for data journalism and verification in 16 languages.

    ”With a global team of Teaching Fellows delivering workshops entirely online in 10 languages.

    ”Health authorities have warned that an overabundance of information can make it harder for people to obtain reliable guidance about the coronavirus pandemic.

    ”Helping the world make sense of this information requires a broad response involving scientists, journalists, public figures, technology platforms and many others,” he said in a statement.

    According to him, some other media outlets and nonprofits around the world which will receive support through the Google News Initiative (GNI) include First Draft, a nonprofit that is providing an online resource hub.

    He said others were Full Fact and Maldita.es, which would coordinate efforts in Europe focused on countries with the most cases, CORRECTIV in Germany, LatamChequea, coordinated by Chequeado, in the Spanish-speaking world and Latin America.

    Mantzarlis said that the collaborative verification project Comprova in Brazil, SciLine, based at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Australian Science Media Centre, creators of Scimex.org among others.

    According to him, we also want to do more to highlight fact-check articles that address potentially harmful health misinformation more prominently to our users.

    He said that Google was also aexperimenting with how best to include a dedicated fact check section in the COVID-19 Google News experience.

    Mantzarlis said that already, Google had made Google Trends data readily available in localized pages with embeddable visualizations.

    He said that reporters across the globe needed to understand and explain how the world was searching for the virus.

    Also Local Google Trends data is available for journalists, health organizations and local authorities to help them understand people’s information needs around the world.

    Mantzarlis said tgat Fact-checkers and health authorities also need8 help to identify topics that people were searching for and where there might be a gap in the availability of good information online.

    He however said that unanswered user questions could provide useful insights to fact-checkers and health authorities about content they may want to produce.

    Over 174 cases have been reported in Nigeria while the current global cases from World Health Organisations (WHO) is 930,000 Iand over 47,000 deaths.

  • Coronavirus: Facebook, Google direct staff to work from home

    Coronavirus: Facebook, Google direct staff to work from home

    The managements of Facebook Inc and Google have urged their San Francisco Bay area employees to work from home to minimize the risk of spreading Covid-19.

    Earlier, Facebook had announced that its Seattle office be shut down after one of its contractors got infected.

    Facebook said it is “strongly recommending that all Bay area employees and contingent staff work from home starting Friday.”

    According to the statement, employees and contractors involved in the site’s safety and security will continue to work on-site, while all the Bay Area events will remain canceled.

    According to Facebook’s spokesperson, Anthony Harrison, the decision is “based on the guidance from Santa Clara County on Thursday”.

  • Google announces $1 million pan African grant, launches Internet Awesome

    Google on Tuesday announced the launch of a $1 million pan-African Google.org fund to support innovative ideas around privacy, trust and the safety of families online across sub-Saharan Africa.

    Seember Nyager, Policy and Government Relations Manager, Google Nigeria, said at the 16th annual Safer Internet Day (SID) “that Google was committed to a safe internet for children, as well as the empowerment of organisations who shared the commitment.

    “The fund will be administered by a third-party partner on behalf of Google.org, and we will be sharing details on application criteria and deadlines soon.

    “Google would look to support initiatives across Africa and be administered by a trusted partner.

    “Details of how to apply, deadlines and criteria will be made available in due course.”

    According to her, beyond our own products, we also want to help kids learn how to be safer, more confident explorers of the online world.

    “Today, we join the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to hold SID events in 36 states towards empowering teachers, parents and younger children to better understand and navigate the Web with confidence.

    “Google also announced ‘Be Internet Awesome’, in Nigeria, Abuja, Netherlands, South Africa today, and earlier in Kenya, which is a landmark child online safety programme,’’ she said.

    Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, Head of Brand and Reputation, Africa at Google, said that Internet Awesome seeks to help minors explore the internet safely and confidently.

    She said that Google was excited to strengthen the work being done with parents and children in the field of online safety in Nigeria.

    She said in addition to Family Link, which allowed parents to help their families develop healthy digital habits, Google also launched Password Checkup exactly one year ago to empower users to check and strengthen online security settings for their Google Accounts.

    “Be Internet Awesome teaches kids important skills for surfing the internet, like how to recognise potential online scams, using the internet securely and safeguarding valuable information.

    “(It teaches) how to identify and refrain from cyberbullying, as well as what to do when encountering questionable content on the internet.’’

    Nkemdilim Ilo, CEO, Public Private Development Centre, (PPDC) said that SID brings schools, parents, teachers and industry together to make sure children have the power, information and resilience they need to make safe and informed choices online.

    She said that this year, PPDC was particularly pleased with the support of Google and the Government.

    According to her, we have been able to infuse online safety courses into the Nigerian school curriculum.

    “This will teach children the practical and emotional skills they need as they navigate their way through the digital world.”

    Dr Garba Abari, D-G, NOA said that “SID provides a great opportunity to promote internet safety across a range of audience and it’s an event which the agency strongly support.’’

    Abari, represented by Mette Edokobi, said that the agency was really glad to collaborate with Google and our reliable partners, PPDC, to launch “The Digital Parenting Initiative.

    He said it was a programme aimed at educating guardians, teachers and families on online tools that bring families together to learn, have fun and be safe online.

    According to him, we are excited to strengthen the work we have been doing with parents and children in the field of online safety in Nigeria.

    SID was organised by the Public and Private Development Centre, National Orientation Agency in partnership with Google.

  • Google Doodle honours Amaka Igwe on 57th posthumous birthday

    Google Doodle honours Amaka Igwe on 57th posthumous birthday

    Late veteran Nollywood filmmaker, Amaka Igwe, has been honoured with a Google Doodle on her 57th posthumous birthday.

    A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google’s homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements and notable historical figures.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the doodle went live on Thursday as an honour of late Igwe’s contributions to Nollywood.

    She was a Nigerian filmmaker and broadcasting executive. Igwe was the owner of Top Radio 90.9 Lagos and Amaka Igwe Studios.

    She was recognised as one of the second generation filmmakers who helped begin the video film era of Nigerian cinema.

    She remained a prominent figure in the industry until her death in 2014.

    Igwe hit national limelight as the writer and producer of award-winning TV soap ‘Checkmate’ and its offshoot ‘Fuji House of Commotion’.

    Her Nollywood projects include ‘Rattle snake’ and ‘Violated’, which set Amaka Igwe Studios apart in the Video film era of Nigerian cinema.

  • France fines Google 150 million euros

    France fines Google 150 million euros

    France’s Competition Authority, on Friday fined U.S. tech giant Google 150 million euros ($167 million) for using unclear rules related to advertising.

    According to the French regulator, Google has abused its dominant position in the search advertising market by adopting opaque and difficult to understand operating rules for its advertising platform Google Ads, by applying them in an unfair/random manner.

    The French Competition Authority, therefore, imposed a penalty of 150 million euros and demands Google that clarify the operating rules for Google Ads, as well as the procedure for suspending the accounts.

    In September, Google agreed to pay 965 million euros ($1.068 billion) to settle disputes with the French tax authorities that began four years ago.