Un vistazo a los recursos de Google para la comunidad militar

Como comandante de la California Army National Guard (Guardia Nacional del Ejército de California), generalmente sé de antemano cuándo estaré activo para el servicio militar. Pero este año todo cambió: Entre la respuesta a la COVID-19 y los incendios forestales en California, me tomé una licencia militar de mi trabajo en Google como gerente de programas de integración de hardware varias veces. Estuve en servicio por tres meses para ayudar con la respuesta a la COVID-19, seguido de una activación de incendios forestales durante una semana.

Ayudar a mi comunidad durante estos tiempos difíciles ha sido agotador y satisfactorio a la vez. Cuando entro en servicio con poca anticipación, mi equipo de Google interviene de inmediato para cubrir mi trabajo en mi ausencia. Me siento muy acompañado por mis colegas y el gerente, y reconozco lo afortunado que soy de trabajar en una compañía que respeta y acepta a las personas con cargos militares en servicio activo de medio tiempo como yo, así como a otros veteranos y sus familias. 

No solo siento el apoyo de mis compañeros de Google, sino que también estoy muy orgulloso de que Google apoye financieramente a las personas activas e inactivas en servicio militar con una política de licencia militar generosa. Google les paga a los soldados de la Guardia Nacional y a los reservistas la totalidad de su salario de Google los primeros 30 días calendario de servicio. Luego, Google pagará la diferencia entre el salario de un Googler en licencia por servicio militar y el salario militar para que el reservista o soldado de la Guardia Nacional reciba casi la totalidad de su salario de Google durante el servicio por hasta cinco años.

Mientras honramos a los veteranos el Día de los Veteranos, Google realmente se compromete a apoyar a la comunidad todo el año con programas, capacitaciones y herramientas.

Solo en las últimas semanas, Google anunció losleave benefits for military spouses (beneficios de licencia para cónyuges de militares) yServing Veterans, un nuevo centro de recursos de bienestar de salud mental para los veteranos y sus familias. Además, Google lanzó recientemente unavirtual career series for veterans (serie de carreras virtuales para veteranos) para aquellos interesados en explorar carreras en Google. Si busca un nuevo empleo, escriba “jobs for veterans” (trabajos para veteranos) en la Búsqueda de Google y, luego, ingrese su código de especialidad ocupacional militar o el equivalente para ver qué trabajos pueden requerir las habilidades que aprendió durante su experiencia militar. En la página de inicio de EE. UU. de hoy, verá un doodle especial creado por Jenn Hassin, artista invitada y veterana de la Fuerza Aérea de Texas. El doodle escultural se creó con miles de rollos de papel hechos a mano con los uniformes que cada rama militar donó.   

Google también acompaña desde hace mucho tiempo a las familias de los veteranos y militares que tienen su propia empresa. Las empresas manejadas por veteranos pueden agregar la característica de “Veteran-Led” (Liderada por veteranos) en su Google Business Listing (Ficha de empresa de Google) en la Búsqueda de Google y en Maps en unos pocos pasos sencillos. Como en noviembre no solo se celebra el Día de los Veteranos, sino también la National Veterans Small Business Week (Semana nacional de pequeñas empresas de veteranos), me gustaría mencionar los recursos deGrow with Google for Veterans and Military Families (Crecimiento con Google para veteranos y familiares de militares) desarrollados para veteranos y cónyuges de militares que deseen mejorar sus habilidades profesionales o formar sus empresas.

Grow with Google presentó recientemente un taller virtual para ayudar a las empresas lideradas por veteranos a prosperar y un panel de discusión con Jen Pilcher dePatriot Boot Camp y Charles Cathlin deTruGenomix sobre cómo han desarrollado sus empresas en línea. VisiteGrow with Google On Air para disfrutar la grabación gratuita de este evento. 

Uno de ellos es la lección de la aplicación Primer de Grow with Google llamada “Build Digital Skills to Adapt And Grow Your Veteran-led Business” (Desarrolle habilidades digitales para adaptar y desarrollar su empresa liderada por veteranos). Este tutorial rápido presenta sugerencias sobre cómo gestionar las ventas, las operaciones, las finanzas y otros aspectos de su empresa mediante herramientas fáciles en línea. Puede descargarla aplicación Primer en Google Play Store o Apple App Store para acceder a este contenido en su dispositivo móvil. Simplemente busque “veteranled” (liderada por veteranos) en la aplicación para encontrar esta lección. 

Google no solo centra su apoyo en los miembros militares: Los familiares de militares son igualmente importantes. Muchos de estos esfuerzos están dirigidos porMary Spence, una Directora de Programas de Google y esposa de militar. 

Un recurso que Grow with Google ayudó a crear es laMilSpouse Career Roadmap (hoja de ruta de carreras para cónyuges de militares). En asociación con Hiring our Heroes, esteestudio de investigación financiado por subvenciones encuestó a más de 1,500 cónyuges de militares para crear un centro interactivo. Ofrece una variedad de herramientas y recursos que ayudan a los cónyuges de militares a encontrar y desarrollar carreras compatibles, incluida laGoogle’s remote work search feature (función de búsqueda de trabajo remoto de Google) y recursos de educación y empleo delSpouse Education and Career Opportunities Program (Programa de oportunidades laborales y educativas para cónyuges) del Departamento de Defensa de los Estados Unidos.

Estas son solo algunas de las formas en que los miembros militares como yo y los veteranos y nuestras familias recibimos apoyo como parte de la comunidad de Google. Para conocer mi historia y la de otros empleados de Google en la comunidad militar, visite el canal de YouTube Life at Google que muestra a veteranos de Google.  

Un vistazo a los recursos de Google para la comunidad militar

Como comandante de la California Army National Guard (Guardia Nacional del Ejército de California), generalmente sé de antemano cuándo estaré activo para el servicio militar. Pero este año todo cambió: Entre la respuesta a la COVID-19 y los incendios forestales en California, me tomé una licencia militar de mi trabajo en Google como gerente de programas de integración de hardware varias veces. Estuve en servicio por tres meses para ayudar con la respuesta a la COVID-19, seguido de una activación de incendios forestales durante una semana.

Ayudar a mi comunidad durante estos tiempos difíciles ha sido agotador y satisfactorio a la vez. Cuando entro en servicio con poca anticipación, mi equipo de Google interviene de inmediato para cubrir mi trabajo en mi ausencia. Me siento muy acompañado por mis colegas y el gerente, y reconozco lo afortunado que soy de trabajar en una compañía que respeta y acepta a las personas con cargos militares en servicio activo de medio tiempo como yo, así como a otros veteranos y sus familias. 

No solo siento el apoyo de mis compañeros de Google, sino que también estoy muy orgulloso de que Google apoye financieramente a las personas activas e inactivas en servicio militar con una política de licencia militar generosa. Google les paga a los soldados de la Guardia Nacional y a los reservistas la totalidad de su salario de Google los primeros 30 días calendario de servicio. Luego, Google pagará la diferencia entre el salario de un Googler en licencia por servicio militar y el salario militar para que el reservista o soldado de la Guardia Nacional reciba casi la totalidad de su salario de Google durante el servicio por hasta cinco años.

Mientras honramos a los veteranos el Día de los Veteranos, Google realmente se compromete a apoyar a la comunidad todo el año con programas, capacitaciones y herramientas.

Solo en las últimas semanas, Google anunció losleave benefits for military spouses (beneficios de licencia para cónyuges de militares) yServing Veterans, un nuevo centro de recursos de bienestar de salud mental para los veteranos y sus familias. Además, Google lanzó recientemente unavirtual career series for veterans (serie de carreras virtuales para veteranos) para aquellos interesados en explorar carreras en Google. Si busca un nuevo empleo, escriba “jobs for veterans” (trabajos para veteranos) en la Búsqueda de Google y, luego, ingrese su código de especialidad ocupacional militar o el equivalente para ver qué trabajos pueden requerir las habilidades que aprendió durante su experiencia militar. En la página de inicio de EE. UU. de hoy, verá un doodle especial creado por Jenn Hassin, artista invitada y veterana de la Fuerza Aérea de Texas. El doodle escultural se creó con miles de rollos de papel hechos a mano con los uniformes que cada rama militar donó.   

Google también acompaña desde hace mucho tiempo a las familias de los veteranos y militares que tienen su propia empresa. Las empresas manejadas por veteranos pueden agregar la característica de “Veteran-Led” (Liderada por veteranos) en su Google Business Listing (Ficha de empresa de Google) en la Búsqueda de Google y en Maps en unos pocos pasos sencillos. Como en noviembre no solo se celebra el Día de los Veteranos, sino también la National Veterans Small Business Week (Semana nacional de pequeñas empresas de veteranos), me gustaría mencionar los recursos deGrow with Google for Veterans and Military Families (Crecimiento con Google para veteranos y familiares de militares) desarrollados para veteranos y cónyuges de militares que deseen mejorar sus habilidades profesionales o formar sus empresas.

Grow with Google presentó recientemente un taller virtual para ayudar a las empresas lideradas por veteranos a prosperar y un panel de discusión con Jen Pilcher dePatriot Boot Camp y Charles Cathlin deTruGenomix sobre cómo han desarrollado sus empresas en línea. VisiteGrow with Google On Air para disfrutar la grabación gratuita de este evento. 

Uno de ellos es la lección de la aplicación Primer de Grow with Google llamada “Build Digital Skills to Adapt And Grow Your Veteran-led Business” (Desarrolle habilidades digitales para adaptar y desarrollar su empresa liderada por veteranos). Este tutorial rápido presenta sugerencias sobre cómo gestionar las ventas, las operaciones, las finanzas y otros aspectos de su empresa mediante herramientas fáciles en línea. Puede descargarla aplicación Primer en Google Play Store o Apple App Store para acceder a este contenido en su dispositivo móvil. Simplemente busque “veteranled” (liderada por veteranos) en la aplicación para encontrar esta lección. 

Google no solo centra su apoyo en los miembros militares: Los familiares de militares son igualmente importantes. Muchos de estos esfuerzos están dirigidos porMary Spence, una Directora de Programas de Google y esposa de militar. 

Un recurso que Grow with Google ayudó a crear es laMilSpouse Career Roadmap (hoja de ruta de carreras para cónyuges de militares). En asociación con Hiring our Heroes, esteestudio de investigación financiado por subvenciones encuestó a más de 1,500 cónyuges de militares para crear un centro interactivo. Ofrece una variedad de herramientas y recursos que ayudan a los cónyuges de militares a encontrar y desarrollar carreras compatibles, incluida laGoogle’s remote work search feature (función de búsqueda de trabajo remoto de Google) y recursos de educación y empleo delSpouse Education and Career Opportunities Program (Programa de oportunidades laborales y educativas para cónyuges) del Departamento de Defensa de los Estados Unidos.

Estas son solo algunas de las formas en que los miembros militares como yo y los veteranos y nuestras familias recibimos apoyo como parte de la comunidad de Google. Para conocer mi historia y la de otros empleados de Google en la comunidad militar, visite el canal de YouTube Life at Google que muestra a veteranos de Google.  

Dive into Diwali at home with Google Arts & Culture

Every autumn, millions of people around the world come together for firework displays, feasts, prayer, and festivities in celebration of Diwali -- the festival of lights. Millions of clay lamps illuminate homes and public spaces. Floors are covered with cheerful rangolis to bring good luck. With the food, family and festivities, Diwali is all about the experience of coming together, and the vibrant spectacle of color and light, but the global pandemic changes how we celebrate this year. Google Arts & Culture has created a virtual Diwali experience that everyone can be a part of, wherever you are in the world.


Festive lights in Augmented Reality

To recreate some festival fervor, try out a new Augmented Reality experience. Decorate your space virtually with diyas (lamps), detonate virtual anar (firecrackers), for some explosive, playful fun, and to learn more about these important cultural traditions.

Dive into Diwali from home

Google Arts & Culture has partnered with over 20 cultural heritage organisations to launch Diwali @ Home. Striking images and immersive online stories weave a journey through the festival of lights, its legends and folklore, and dive into the sights, sounds and smells of an iconic festival.


Month of Kartika from the collection of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

Dokra Diya from the collection of Banglanatak

Radha and Krishna Watching Fireworks in the Sky from the collection of National Museum, New Delhi


The color, food, festivities and nostalgia of Diwali are shared through new online exhibitions from partner institutions including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Indian Museum, National Museum and many more.

Interactive art coloring book for family fun

There’s also plenty of hands-on fun for families with interactive coloring books -- in artworks inspired by traditional Indian paintings in a specially developed coloring book! Find it with Google Search, simply by searching for “Diwali” on your phone.

Lady Lighting a Lamp from the collection of Salar Jung Museum, and a page from the interactive Diwali art coloring book

Finally, watch a video conversation between Amish Tripathi, author and Director of The Nehru Centre, and art historian broadcaster and former museum director Neil MacGregor on Diwali and why it’s particularly special this year.

So, with the help of a little Google magic, we hope our Diwali @ Home experience adds to your festive cheer as you celebrate in your own way this year, on the Google Arts & Culture app for iOS and Android.

Posted by Simon Rein, Program Manager, Google Arts & Culture

Dive into Diwali at home with Google Arts & Culture

Every autumn, millions of people around the world come together for firework displays, feasts, prayer, and festivities in celebration of Diwali -- the festival of lights. Millions of clay lamps illuminate homes and public spaces. Floors are covered with cheerful rangolis to bring good luck. With the food, family and festivities, Diwali is all about the experience of coming together, and the vibrant spectacle of color and light, but the global pandemic changes how we celebrate this year. Google Arts & Culture has created a virtual Diwali experience that everyone can be a part of, wherever you are in the world.


Festive lights in Augmented Reality

To recreate some festival fervor, try out a new Augmented Reality experience. Decorate your space virtually with diyas (lamps), detonate virtual anar (firecrackers), for some explosive, playful fun, and to learn more about these important cultural traditions.

Dive into Diwali from home

Google Arts & Culture has partnered with over 20 cultural heritage organisations to launch Diwali @ Home. Striking images and immersive online stories weave a journey through the festival of lights, its legends and folklore, and dive into the sights, sounds and smells of an iconic festival.


Month of Kartika from the collection of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

Dokra Diya from the collection of Banglanatak

Radha and Krishna Watching Fireworks in the Sky from the collection of National Museum, New Delhi


The color, food, festivities and nostalgia of Diwali are shared through new online exhibitions from partner institutions including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Indian Museum, National Museum and many more.

Interactive art coloring book for family fun

There’s also plenty of hands-on fun for families with interactive coloring books -- in artworks inspired by traditional Indian paintings in a specially developed coloring book! Find it with Google Search, simply by searching for “Diwali” on your phone.

Lady Lighting a Lamp from the collection of Salar Jung Museum, and a page from the interactive Diwali art coloring book

Finally, watch a video conversation between Amish Tripathi, author and Director of The Nehru Centre, and art historian broadcaster and former museum director Neil MacGregor on Diwali and why it’s particularly special this year.

So, with the help of a little Google magic, we hope our Diwali @ Home experience adds to your festive cheer as you celebrate in your own way this year, on the Google Arts & Culture app for iOS and Android.

Posted by Simon Rein, Program Manager, Google Arts & Culture

Dive into Diwali at home with Google Arts & Culture

Every autumn, millions of people around the world come together for firework displays, feasts, prayer, and festivities in celebration of Diwali -- the festival of lights. Millions of clay lamps illuminate homes and public spaces. Floors are covered with cheerful rangolis to bring good luck. With the food, family and festivities, Diwali is all about the experience of coming together, and the vibrant spectacle of color and light, but the global pandemic changes how we celebrate this year. Google Arts & Culture has created a virtual Diwali experience that everyone can be a part of, wherever you are in the world.


Festive lights in Augmented Reality

To recreate some festival fervor, try out a new Augmented Reality experience. Decorate your space virtually with diyas (lamps), detonate virtual anar (firecrackers), for some explosive, playful fun, and to learn more about these important cultural traditions.

Dive into Diwali from home

Google Arts & Culture has partnered with over 20 cultural heritage organisations to launch Diwali @ Home. Striking images and immersive online stories weave a journey through the festival of lights, its legends and folklore, and dive into the sights, sounds and smells of an iconic festival.


Month of Kartika from the collection of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

Dokra Diya from the collection of Banglanatak

Radha and Krishna Watching Fireworks in the Sky from the collection of National Museum, New Delhi


The color, food, festivities and nostalgia of Diwali are shared through new online exhibitions from partner institutions including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Indian Museum, National Museum and many more.

Interactive art coloring book for family fun

There’s also plenty of hands-on fun for families with interactive coloring books -- in artworks inspired by traditional Indian paintings in a specially developed coloring book! Find it with Google Search, simply by searching for “Diwali” on your phone.

Lady Lighting a Lamp from the collection of Salar Jung Museum, and a page from the interactive Diwali art coloring book

Finally, watch a video conversation between Amish Tripathi, author and Director of The Nehru Centre, and art historian broadcaster and former museum director Neil MacGregor on Diwali and why it’s particularly special this year.

So, with the help of a little Google magic, we hope our Diwali @ Home experience adds to your festive cheer as you celebrate in your own way this year, on the Google Arts & Culture app for iOS and Android.

Posted by Simon Rein, Program Manager, Google Arts & Culture

A Q&A on coronavirus vaccines

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Karen DeSalvo, Google Health’s chief health officer, has been a trusted source for learning about its impact and implications. She's advised Google teams on everything from how to respond to the pandemic in our own workplaces, to how we can build products and features that help everyone navigate COVID-19, such as the COVID-19 layer in Maps. Recently, we shared an update on how we’re doing just that, as well as helping businesses around the world get back up and running.

With lots of discussion worldwide about COVID-19 vaccines, today we published for our employees an interview with Dr. Karen about this topic. We’re sharing a version of that interview more broadly in case it’s helpful or informative for others to read.

As the former director of the United States’ national vaccine program, Dr. Karen is intimately familiar with the subject of vaccines. In this interview, she tells us more about what happens in a vaccine trial, when we can expect to have access to one and what it takes to vaccinate the entire world’s population in record time—a feat the human race has never before undertaken.

Let’s start with the basics. How are vaccines created? 

It’s a rigorous scientific process. It typically involves starting with a concept in animal models to understand if we can identify proteins on an infectious agent, and then simulating a body’s immune system to create a response. Vaccines move through a series of defined phases to test their safety and efficacy in humans. These trials are very large and involve thousands of subjects, and the results lead to a regulatory process that will differ country to country. Then comes the approval process, and then they’re manufactured and deployed.

It sounds like it could take years for all of that to happen. 

For COVID, some of these steps are happening in parallel rather than serially. We’re already manufacturing vaccines that have not yet finished their clinical trials. If they don’t meet the bar for safety and efficacy, they will be disposed of. Deployment of the first generation of approved vaccines will have some challenges. They will require special cold storage at all times, including in transit and warehousing, at -73 degrees Fahrenheit. This may mean they will only be available at specialized centers that have that kind of freezer system. But over time, it’s expected that they will become easier to deploy and administer.

For those of us who haven’t been following every detail in the news, when can we expect to have a COVID-19 vaccine available?

Based upon the pace of science, we’re anticipating that in the U.S. there will be an approved vaccine this winter, and very near that for other parts of the world. More than 200 vaccines are in development, and more than 40 are in human trials. There are two leading candidates in the U.S.—one of them made by Pfizer, and one by Moderna. Pfizer just released some preliminary data this week; they will still need to go through the formal scientific and regulatory review with final results. Other vaccines people should be paying attention to are the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, based in the U.K., and one made by Johnson & Johnson. But there is a lot of exciting science in this area, and the New York Times keeps a great tracker.

You’ve said before that once a vaccine is available, though, it will not be like flipping a switch. 

It will take years to get the world vaccinated. This has never been done before at the pace we are attempting. There will be different “generations” and types of COVID vaccines as the science evolves. They all come with their own special characteristics and may target special populations. Those which come out early will likely require two doses, and it will take six weeks until you build sufficient immunity. Another important point: The conventional wisdom is that more advanced vaccines are expected to reduce symptoms and spread, but not fully prevent or eliminate disease. The vaccines in the current pipeline are designed to prevent disease rather than prevent infection; it’s more like the influenza vaccine—you might still get it, but it will be a less serious case. This means that in reality, we will all have to integrate vaccines as another layer into our public health hygiene, like masking and social distancing.

Who’s participating in vaccine trials right now? 

People around the world have been enthusiastically signing up to participate. My husband is one of them! When he got a call from our local health care system, he marched himself over there and enrolled in the trial. He’s an ER doctor, and he’ll want to get vaccinated because of his ongoing exposure to COVID patients. The trials are randomized, controlled and double-blind: when he got his shot, the nurse turned her head so she couldn’t see what it looked like, and he couldn’t look, either. You sign up through a website, and if you’re eligible, you get a call. Generally, people have to be 18 or older to participate as a volunteer, but the studies are looking for volunteers of all backgrounds and identities.

It wasn’t too long ago that we learned that a late-stage clinical trial for a vaccine was paused due to an “unexplained illness” in a volunteer. Can you tell us what that means? 

When there is any kind of abnormal event, the trial Data Safety and Monitoring Board gets a chance to pause and make sure it isn’t a consequence of the drug. So, a pause like that one means good news; it shows the scientific process is working. There have now been two phase-three clinical trials that have been paused due to a potential event. Both have resumed. Don’t be surprised if it happens again. But there’s nothing so far that indicates there’s a problem with these vaccines. People enrolled in trials will still have the normal life course of health events. I know firsthand that the scientists who work on this are extraordinarily ethical, highly capable and really hard workers.

Lastly, the question that’s on everyone’s mind: Does any of this give us a clearer sense of when we might be able to get these vaccines ourselves? 

If everything continues to roll out the way we think it will, the general population would begin having access to a COVID vaccine by late spring or early summer 2021. That’s pending the manufacturing, that we have enough supplies like medical glass and dry ice, and that we’ve figured out how to manage the cold chain expectations. We should all be encouraged by the degree of global cooperation, including the focus on ensuring low- and middle-income countries and communities have access.

Related Article

An update on our efforts to help Americans navigate COVID-19

How we’re keeping people safe and getting American businesses back up and running during COVID-19.

Read Article

Custom roles now available in new Groups

Quick launch summary 

Permissions in Google Groups help control who can view, post, and moderate content in your groups, as well as determine who can manage members and other group settings. You can assign a set of permissions to users in your groups using roles—roles available by default include owner, manager, and member. 


With this launch, you can now create a custom role that allows admins to assign a specific set of viewing, posting, and moderation permissions for users within a given group. By adding this to new Groups, we hope to make it quicker and easier to manage group permissions at scale while ensuring all users have the right permissions for your groups. 


Note that custom roles were previously available in classic Groups. All custom roles created in classic Groups will continue to work and be available to use in new Groups as well. 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers 

Resources 

Google’s initiative for more inclusive language in open source projects

Certain terms in open source projects reinforce negative associations and unconscious biases. At Google, we want our language to be inclusive. The Google Open Source Programs Office (OSPO) created and posted a policy for new Google-run projects to remove the terms “slave,” “whitelist,” and “blacklist,” and replace them with more inclusive alternatives, such as “replica,” “allowlist,” and “blocklist.” OSPO required that new projects follow this policy beginning October 2020, and has plans to enforce these changes on more complex, established projects beginning in 2021. 


To ensure this policy was implemented in a timely manner, a small team within OSPO and Developer Relations orchestrated tool and policy updates and an open-source specific fix-it, a virtual event where Google engineers dedicate time to fixing a project. The fix-it focused on existing projects and non-breaking changes, but also served as a reminder that inclusivity is an important part of our daily work. Now that the original fix-it is over, the policy remains and the projects continue.

For more information on why inclusive language matters to us, you can check out Google Developer Documentation Style Guide which contains a section on word-choice with useful, clearer alternatives. Regardless of the phrases used, it is necessary to understand that certain terms reinforce biases and that replacing them is a positive step, both in creating a more welcoming atmosphere for everyone and in being more technically accurate. In short, words matter.


By Erin Balabanian, Open Source Compliance.

Android Enterprise Recommended adds Samsung, more partners

We launched the Android Enterprise Recommendedprogram in 2018 to help customers select, deploy and manage devices with more confidence. Since our initial introduction with seven device manufacturers, we’ve expanded the program to more than 30 global partners, most recently adding devices from leading manufacturers such as Lenovo, OnePlus, Oppo, and Xiaomi. To make Android Enterprise Recommended even more useful, we're welcoming Samsung Galaxy devices into the program.

The Android Enterprise Recommended program has become a critical tool for enterprise customers, helping them easily evaluate and approve devices that meet Google’s requirements for hardware, software and updates. This flexibility and device choice is even more pressing during Covid as businesses support more distributed workers. According to IDC senior research analyst Bryan Bassett, 84 percent of US IT decision makers are planning to invest more in mobility as a result of the current business climate.

We’ve heard from a number of customers like SAP, who appreciate that our validated devices establish a baseline they can rely on for quality and consistency in their mobility programs.

“Android Enterprise Recommended helped SAP to easily find Android devices that meet our security, technology, total cost of ownership approach and provided a range of devices to meet our users' needs,” said Christian Lohde, Enterprise IT Architecture Manager with SAP.

Each year we evolve the program requirements to bring more value to customers. This year, we’re rolling out updates to the requirements for Android 11 that focus on tighter hardware specifications, improved testing and more transparency around device update support. The new requirements will be reflected in the updated Android Enterprise Solutions Directory to help customers identify devices best suited to their needs. The Enterprise Solutions Directory now includes information on: 

  • Last date of security updates from device manufacturers
  • Android release running on a device when validated as Android Enterprise Recommended 
  • Regional availability of devices
  • Critical industry certifications, such as Common Criteria

Also, with our announcement today that Android zero-touch enrollment is now available on all 9.0+ devices, customers have an additional option to deploy Samsung Galaxy devices in addition to Knox Mobile Enrollment.

Samsung has been a key player in the mobile enterprise space for many years, and we’re excited to have them on board as we make it easier for customers transitioning to a mobile workforce. We look forward to recommending Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets to our enterprise customers to provide them with great devices for security, efficiency and productivity.

You can expect to see us working even closer together to help companies achieve their mobility goals. Read more about this in Samsung’s press release here. 

Zero-touch enrollment goes big with expanded availability

Three years ago, we launched Android zero-touch enrollment to make scaled deployment of Android devices seamless and secure. Since then, we’ve partnered with almost 300 global resellers, with another 100 partners poised to add support shortly. And we have customers who are now deploying hundreds of thousands of devices in one go, lighting up secure, managed devices with ease. 

“With zero-touch enrollment, our IT team enrolls and configures devices quickly — they’re ready for use with the right apps right out of the box.” said Chadhi Mraghni, Director of Information Systems for O2 Care Services, which provides healthcare and home support services throughout France. “This process has shaved thousands of hours off of our device setup time when compared to our previous management mode, freeing up our admins to focus on other strategic tasks to support our teams.”

Expanding zero-touch to all 9.0+ devices

We are now building on the momentum of zero-touch by expanding its reach and streamlining the management experience for organizations.

First, we’re making zero-touch available on all Android 9.0+ devices through an update in Google Play Services. With this update, all recent devices — including Samsung devices — will support zero-touch. Customers deploying Samsung devices now have the option to choose between two services: Samsung Knox Mobile Enrollment or zero-touch, depending on their needs and preferences.

Second, we’re making it easier for enterprises to configure their devices by integrating zero-touch into their existing enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution. Organizations can now link their accounts to automatically configure and manage their zero-touch devices from within their EMM console, instead of having to utilize the zero-touch portal. 

This update removes friction from device configuration, since zero-touch now understands which EMM solution a customer is using and applies auto-generated configurations, all from the EMM console they use every day. 

Coming to resellers this year

Zero-touch on all Android 9.0+ devices is rolling out now to resellers and will be supported by all zero-touch resellers by the end of 2020. EMM partners are currently adding the integrated zero-touch experience to their consoles, which is a new advanced feature available in all Android Enterprise Recommended EMMs in 2021. Work with a zero-touch enrollment reseller and your EMM to begin enrolling new and existing devices.

With these updates, we believe zero-touch enrollment becomes an even more powerful tool in the hands of enterprise customers, helping you mobilize with greater speed, simplicity and security. Check out our webinar to learn more about the value of zero-touch and what these new updates can do for your business.