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

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

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 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

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

We know that Australian small businesses are pressed for time - that’s why we launched Smart campaigns, a new Google Ads tool to help businesses create ads in minutes, connect with relevant customers, and get back to what they want to be doing — running their business. This new tool helps businesses do more within their budget, connect with customers in different languages, create multiple ads, and bring people to the most relevant pages on their website.

Get the results you care about 
Nine in ten Australian small business owners who advertise online want customers to call, visit a store, or make a purchase. Google Ads helps to connect businesses with people who are looking for a service or product that their business offers and helps businesses to get results.

Simone Kingston and Margaret Hennessey, owners of DOGUE in Bondi Junction, NSW, started using Google Ads to promote their dog grooming and playtime services. Smart campaigns helped them to connect with the community of dog lovers around their shop, driving calls from ads and ultimately getting people into the store.



Margaret said: “with Google Ads we can easily track the results just by the number of customers who call us or come in to our store”. Check out Simone and Margaret’s story.

Your results are at your fingertips 
70 per cent of Australian small businesses that advertise wish there was an easier way to track the impact of their marketing efforts. With Smart campaigns, businesses can check the dashboard anytime and see how a campaign is working.

And this is just the beginning
Smart campaigns is our latest effort to help small business owners succeed and get the results they want from their ads. Want to learn more about getting your business online? Visit The Digital Garage, our digital skills hub for small businesses.

Posted by Richard Flanagan, Head of Business Marketing, Google Australia

Posted by Gerardo Capiel, Product Management Director, Consumer Payments 

Posted by Anil Sabharwal, VP of Photos and Communications Products, Engineering Site Lead for Australia 

Where can you find The ‘G, Flinders Street and the Yarra Valley all under one roof? At the new Google Melbourne office, of course!

We were delighted to welcome Victorian business partners, community groups and government representatives to celebrate the official opening of the new Google Melbourne office on Collins Street last night.

The Victorian Minister for Small Business; Innovation and the Digital Economy; Trade and Investment, Philip Dalidakis MP, kicked off celebrations with the command “OK Google, open the Google Melbourne office”.



The new office, with more than 100 desks, has work spaces named after local landmarks and uniquely Melbourne features, including a graffiti wall.

From just 4 people when Google Melbourne began a few years ago, we now have more than 50 staff today and space to expand the team. We’re growing because our partners - local businesses and community groups - are growing.



More than 200,000 Victorian businesses use Google to connect with customers in Australia and around the world, and those businesses see almost $4 billion of benefits generated by using Google products and services (alphaBeta).



We look forward to continuing to work with our amazing Melbourne partners and sharing our new office space with them and the local community.

Posted by Sean McDonell, Google Melbourne Site Lead

Last month, we launched the third Australian Google.org Impact Challenge, with $5.5 million available for nonprofits and social enterprises to support projects that use technology to tackle our biggest social challenges.

The 2018 Google.org Impact Challenge aims to help Australian nonprofits and social enterprises that are finding new ways to address some of our most challenging problems - from education and economic opportunity to social inclusion.

Today, I’m pleased to announce the panel of esteemed judges, with a wealth of experience across community investment and innovation, who will help select the 2018 winners. Judges include:

• Professor Alan Finkel AO - Australia's Chief Scientist, entrepreneur, engineer, neuroscientist, philanthropist and educator; 
• Professor Tom Calma AO - Chancellor of the University of Canberra, Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia and Aboriginal elder from the Kungarakan tribal group; 
• Su McCluskey - Commissioner of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and respected Chairman and Director of listed public companies and nonprofit entities; 
• Dr Sarah Pearson - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Chief Innovation Officer; 
• Morris Iemma - District Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission and 40th Premier of NSW; 
• Jacquelline Fuller - Vice President, Google and President of Google.org; and 
• Anil Sabharwal - Vice President of Product, Google. 

These judges will review applications and hear live pitches from ten finalists at an event in November to determine the winners. All Australians will be invited to vote for their favourite idea.
Nonprofits and social enterprises have until 6 July 2018 to apply. Get involved today and help support Australia’s forward thinkers!


Posted by Jason Pellegrino, Managing Director, Google Australia

Last month, we introduced new ways to experience your city with Google Maps—helping you find the best spots to eat, drink, and play based on the things you’re into. Many of these features start rolling out worldwide today. Read on for seven tips on how you can use Google Maps to see your neighbourhood in a whole new light:
1. The redesigned Explore tab gives you quick recommendations for restaurants, bars, and cafes in any area you’re interested in. Whether you’re staying local or planning a trip, you can always find the perfect spot no matter where you are in the world.
2. Find the best burger in town or track the top brunch spots in the city with trending lists from local experts and Google’s algorithms.
3. Indulge your inner foodie on Android by automatically keeping track of your progress against any of the restaurants featured in the trending lists. So if you’re on a mission to try the 10 best tacos in your area and you’ve only tried five, Google Maps will note that for you so you can get to the tacos pronto. ?
4. Know what’s going on. On Android, the new Explore tab now surfaces the top events and activities happening in your area. You can see photos, descriptions, and filter by categories like “good for kids”, “cheap” or “indoor or outdoor” so you can find just the right activity to fit your mood.