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This week kicked off the HLTH Conference in Las Vegas where thousands of healthcare leaders, care providers, patients and other people in the industry — like our teams at Google — are coming together to discuss how to create a healthier world.
At Google, we believe that technology — especially AI and analytics — can unlock a better future for health globally. Our teams from Search, YouTube, Android, Google Cloud and more are using technology to provide health information and insights for consumers, caregivers and communities. Here’s a look at some of our latest updates.
For many, the front door to healthcare is their smartphone. Millions of people turn to Google Search and YouTube for authoritative information or use apps and connected devices, like Fitbit, to help stay on top of health and wellness goals.
To give Android users a new way to get more from their health and wellness data, we introduced Health Connect earlier this year at Google I/O. Through our Early Access Program, more than 10 health, fitness and wellness apps including MyFitnessPal, Oura and Peloton have already integrated with the platform to help people manage everything from workouts to diet to sleep and more. We are now opening up to more developers with Health Connect (Beta) to give people a single place to manage access to data across their health and fitness apps. In the coming months, we will continue to create an even richer ecosystem of apps and features.
We’ve also made strides on our other platforms, Search and YouTube. In 2021, health videos on YouTube were viewed more than 12 billion times in the U.S. YouTube’s authoritative health content and features are now available in 7 countries, and YouTube recently opened up its features to a wider group of health experts in the U.S. to encompass authoritative services that extend beyond educational institutions and health organizations.
On Search, there’s more ways for people to turn health information into action. After piloting a feature earlier this year that shows available healthcare appointments for primary care, we’re continuing to explore new ways to expand appointments to other specialities and verticals through new and existing partnerships.
This work is made possible by all our partners who provide the health information, insights and experiences that empower consumers in their health.
Healthcare is one of the largest and most complex industries that is turning towards technology to help organizations run more effectively — which in turn helps people live healthier lives.
When organizations commit to digital transformation, it can be a long and overwhelming process, but that doesn’t mean it has to take years to see benefits for developers, clinicians and patients.
Google Cloud came together with several of our customers and partners — including Hackensack Meridian Health, Lifepoint Health and Mayo Clinic — to find a way to encourage rapid reinvention. As a result, we built Google Cloud’s new Healthcare Data Engine (HDE) accelerators to help organizations reinvent quickly and enable the data interoperability that saves lives. The first three HDE accelerators, available in early 2023, will address common use cases around health equity, patient flow, and value-based care.
The transformation of healthcare requires an open and collaborative approach to be successful. For example, Electronic Health Records (EHR) are a critical part of this ecosystem and we see many ways to work with EHR companies for the benefit of healthcare organizations. Today marks a critical development in this journey. At HLTH we announced an agreement that will allow healthcare organizations to run Epic — an EHR system — on Google Cloud. Hackensack Meridian Health plans to move its Epic workloads to Google Cloud, with the aim to drive greater innovation, efficiencies and security.
And with our solution Care Studio, we’ve been working with MEDITECH to bring our advanced search, summarization and sense-making capabilities to their EHR, MEDITECH Expanse. We are now extending this integrated solution to our first two partners, Mile Bluff Medical Center and DCH Health System, to give their health teams a more complete view of their patients and easily find salient information to provide better care. This includes organizing patient records from different sources into a longitudinal view, bringing our advanced search functionality to clinicians directly in their EHR so they can easily and quickly access critical information all in one place.
Fitbit Health Solutions is bringing our technology to healthcare partners, incorporating Fitbit devices, services and insights into programs focused on managing chronic conditions like diabetes. A study from the All of Us research program found that increasing your daily step count by 1000 steps could cut the risk of type 2 diabetes by more than 25%. This kind of insight is key to promoting lifestyle changes for people, and why we are partnering with Babylon Health to support their high-risk members managing chronic conditions.
Underpinning all our work is a deep commitment to make sure that we do not leave anyone behind. Technology has the power to eliminate health disparities and democratize access to healthcare. But we need to be intentional in our efforts to live up to our goal of improving the health of billions of people by building for everyone, everywhere.
Posted by Anthony Chavez, VP Product Management
In February we announced the Privacy Sandbox on Android, with the goal of bringing new, more private advertising solutions to mobile.
Over the course of 2022, we've published design proposals and released a number of Developer Previews. We appreciate all of the feedback we've received which has helped us refine and improve these proposals.
Beginning early next year we plan to rollout the initial Privacy Sandbox Beta to Android 13 mobile devices, so that developers can take the next steps in testing these new solutions. We'll start with a small percentage of devices and increase over time. Note that Developer Previews will continue to be released and this is where we’ll first deliver the latest features for early feedback before being released on production devices.
Today, we're sharing more details about the Privacy Sandbox Beta so that developers can get prepared.
The Privacy Sandbox Beta will be available for ad tech and app developers who wish to test the ads-related APIs as part of their solutions.
During the initial rollout stages, enrolled developers will also need to join the early testers program. This program will allow developers to test the APIs on a limited number of their own Android 13 devices for internal apps and requested published apps.
For the SDK Runtime, we’ll have a closed beta for developers to test Runtime-enabled SDK distribution to select apps. Because of the coordination required to test the SDK Runtime on production devices, we expect this beta to involve a limited number of partners who can dedicate resources to support this testing. If you’re interested in participating, please register your interest.
To utilize the Beta release, developers will need to compile their solutions with an API level 33 SDK extension update that is coming soon.
We’ve heard from many advertisers and publishers about the role they can play in testing these new technologies. For companies that rely on third party solutions for ad serving or ad measurement, we recommend working with your providers to understand their testing roadmaps and how you can participate in early testing of Privacy Sandbox.
We want to thank everyone who has engaged on the Android Privacy Sandbox, and look forward to continued feedback as we enter this next phase of testing."
Posted by Anthony Chavez, VP Product ManagementIn February we announced the Privacy Sandbox on Android, with the goal of bringing new, more private advertising solutions to mobile.
Over the course of 2022, we've published design proposals and released a number of Developer Previews. We appreciate all of the feedback we've received which has helped us refine and improve these proposals.
Beginning early next year we plan to rollout the initial Privacy Sandbox Beta to Android 13 mobile devices, so that developers can take the next steps in testing these new solutions. We'll start with a small percentage of devices and increase over time. Note that Developer Previews will continue to be released and this is where we’ll first deliver the latest features for early feedback before being released on production devices.
Today, we're sharing more details about the Privacy Sandbox Beta so that developers can get prepared.
The Privacy Sandbox Beta will be available for ad tech and app developers who wish to test the ads-related APIs as part of their solutions.
During the initial rollout stages, enrolled developers will also need to join the early testers program. This program will allow developers to test the APIs on a limited number of their own Android 13 devices for internal apps and requested published apps.
For the SDK Runtime, we’ll have a closed beta for developers to test Runtime-enabled SDK distribution to select apps. Because of the coordination required to test the SDK Runtime on production devices, we expect this beta to involve a limited number of partners who can dedicate resources to support this testing. If you’re interested in participating, please register your interest.
To utilize the Beta release, developers will need to compile their solutions with an API level 33 SDK extension update that is coming soon.
We’ve heard from many advertisers and publishers about the role they can play in testing these new technologies. For companies that rely on third party solutions for ad serving or ad measurement, we recommend working with your providers to understand their testing roadmaps and how you can participate in early testing of Privacy Sandbox.
We want to thank everyone who has engaged on the Android Privacy Sandbox, and look forward to continued feedback as we enter this next phase of testing."
Posted by Anthony Chavez, VP Product ManagementIn February we announced the Privacy Sandbox on Android, with the goal of bringing new, more private advertising solutions to mobile.
Over the course of 2022, we've published design proposals and released a number of Developer Previews. We appreciate all of the feedback we've received which has helped us refine and improve these proposals.
Beginning early next year we plan to rollout the initial Privacy Sandbox Beta to Android 13 mobile devices, so that developers can take the next steps in testing these new solutions. We'll start with a small percentage of devices and increase over time. Note that Developer Previews will continue to be released and this is where we’ll first deliver the latest features for early feedback before being released on production devices.
Today, we're sharing more details about the Privacy Sandbox Beta so that developers can get prepared.
The Privacy Sandbox Beta will be available for ad tech and app developers who wish to test the ads-related APIs as part of their solutions.
During the initial rollout stages, enrolled developers will also need to join the early testers program. This program will allow developers to test the APIs on a limited number of their own Android 13 devices for internal apps and requested published apps.
For the SDK Runtime, we’ll have a closed beta for developers to test Runtime-enabled SDK distribution to select apps. Because of the coordination required to test the SDK Runtime on production devices, we expect this beta to involve a limited number of partners who can dedicate resources to support this testing. If you’re interested in participating, please register your interest.
To utilize the Beta release, developers will need to compile their solutions with an API level 33 SDK extension update that is coming soon.
We’ve heard from many advertisers and publishers about the role they can play in testing these new technologies. For companies that rely on third party solutions for ad serving or ad measurement, we recommend working with your providers to understand their testing roadmaps and how you can participate in early testing of Privacy Sandbox.
We want to thank everyone who has engaged on the Android Privacy Sandbox, and look forward to continued feedback as we enter this next phase of testing."
Today, we're featuring a guest blog post from Tom Esselman, Director of one of our amazing Kansas City community partners, PCs for People. Google Fiber works with this organization in several of our cities and have recently launched a new project in KC to help get more people online.
PCs for People Kansas City works to make digital equity a reality by getting low-cost quality computers, internet and digital literacy training into the homes of individuals, families and nonprofits with low income. Google Fiber works with this dedicated organization to help more Kansas Citians access quality internet in their homes.
One of the biggest things the pandemic made even more imperative is that access to the internet and functioning devices is critical to success. Without digital access, it’s nearly impossible for people to work remotely, apply for jobs or virtually meet a healthcare provider. For children, lack of internet and device access means they could be left behind in school.
Dating back to 2008, and to play a small part in helping close the digital divide across the country, we created PCs for People, which focuses on providing equitable access to functioning devices. We do this through refurbishing previously used (typically only two to three years old) computers and devices donated by large organizations and individuals. Then, these refurbished devices are sold at deeply discounted prices to individuals who otherwise would not have access to this technology.
Of course, we knew that having a device only gets you so far if you don’t have access to fast, reliable internet — an issue facing more than 163 million individuals across the U.S., according to Pew Charitable Trusts. In Kansas City, we were thrilled to work with Google Fiber to provide Kansas Citians with access to reliable internet.
Most recently, our collaboration with Google Fiber has facilitated bringing fiber internet to four affordable housing communities in Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo. Through this project, residents get access to high-speed fiber internet for $15 per month. Now, three of these communities - Pemberton Park, Linwood Gardens and Posada Del Sol - are fully online, and we’ve already seen incredible results for those residents.
“I got my first computer from PCs for People,” said Rose Stigger, Pemberton Park for GrandFamilies manager and resident. “I was the first resident at Pemberton Park, brought up my granddaughters here, and now as I raise my great-grandson here I was the first resident to receive this high speed internet.”
As we continue to expand access to more communities, we’ve learned that building trust with residents is critical to ensuring people make use of this access. In addition to providing quality devices and reliable internet, PCs for People offers digital literacy training to ensure folks make the most of this technology. These services will save residents money, allowing them to allocate those funds to other important needs.
“Up until a few months ago, I didn’t have internet at home,” said Rose. “This internet not only helps my grandson with projects that will surely come up for school but also makes my life easier, too.”
Posted by Tom Esselman, Director, PCs for People Kansas City
Technology has an unmistakable impact on society — the way we work, learn and play have all changed significantly over the past decade. As SVP of Technology and Society, part of my work at Google is connecting people and ideas to help shape the future of our most ambitious technology and its impact on society, and to do it responsibly.
An important part of that is talking to and learning from experts in a variety of fields and disciplines. Recently I sat down with a brilliant friend, New York Times columnist and author Thomas L. Friedman, to compare notes and discuss some big questions on our minds.
Thomas Friedman and James Manyika in conversation at Google’s Bay View campus.
We had a lot to cover, as it had been a couple of years since our last such in-person conversation due to the pandemic. Much of our discussion focused on AI and how it affects society, but we also discussed what Tom has been observing, how we as a society shape technology, and why we think this moment in time is an inflection point akin to the printing press or the industrial revolution.
To close our conversation, I asked Tom what keeps him optimistic about the future. His answer reinforces my belief that getting technology right is a collective responsibility involving the whole of society — from open, honest conversations like this to better understand the opportunities and challenges, to defining policy, and responsibly creating new and societally-beneficial applications.
I always learn something new when I have these conversations with Tom, and I’m excited to share more insights and dialogues on YouTube soon.
Visit YouTubeto see more of James’ conversation with Thomas Friedman.
