Announcing HIBA: Host Identity Based Authorization for SSH

How do you manage SSH access to a fleet of hosts? While OpenSSH provides many methods from a simple password to the use of certificates, each of these on its own still presents challenges.

Let's start by clarifying the difference between Authentication and Authorization. The former is a way to prove you are the entity you claim to be. This is usually achieved by providing the secret password associated with your account or by signing a challenge proving you own the private key corresponding to a public key. Authorization is a way to decide whether an entity is allowed or not to access a resource—usually performed after Authentication happens.

Request ⇒ Authenticate ⇒ Authorize ⇒ Result

Authorization with OpenSSH is typically done using one of the following:
  • The principal knows the password of the target role account on the host.
  • The principal's public key is present in the authorized_keys of the target role account on the host.
  • The principal's username is present in the authorized_users of the target role account on the host.
Transposing this into a real life example: the bouncer of the Foo bar asks for your ID and checks if the photo matches your face (authentication), then decides, based on whether your name is on the guest list, if you are allowed in or not (authorization).

All these methods require accessing the target host in order to update authorizations (the guest list) by either updating the password, or adding/removing authorized_(keys|users).

Note: OpenSSH's use of certificates provides an extra layer of authorization by requiring a Certificate Authority (CA) to trust the incoming public key. Short lived certificates provide a flexible on/off switch for globally authorizing an entity access to the targeted hosts, but they still don't solve the problem of per hosts authorization policies.

Introducing Hiba image
Introducing HIBA

HIBA is a layer on top of OpenSSH that aims at solving this problem:
  • Centralized policy for controlling per host authorization.
  • Hermetic authorization mechanism making it suitable for deep embedded applications or emergency situations.
Going back to our previous nightclub example: the certificate is your ID, and the signed challenge is your photo/face matching. HIBA would be the bouncer, except its decision is not based on a guest list, but rather on you presenting a valid access ticket.

HIBA achieves this by relying on OpenSSH and the certificate infrastructure.
  • Authorization decisions are made centrally by the CA.
  • Authorization is stored as a certificate extension signed by the CA.
  • Hosts trust the CA thanks to TrustedUserCAKeys sshd configuration option.
  • Hosts enforce the authorization policy presented with the certificate by relying on HIBA via the AuthorizedPrincipalsCommand sshd configuration option.

In more details

HIBA defines two extensions to SSH certificates:
  • The HIBA identity, attached to host certificates, lists properties defining this host. They will be used as criteria for granting access.
  • The HIBA grant, attached to user certificates, lists constraints that a host must match for access to be granted.
On the host side, the hiba-chk helper is responsible for decoding extensions from both the host and user certificates and deciding whether or not to grant access.

On the CA side, the HIBA policy defines a set of grants and a list of users allowed to request them. Users can now ask the CA for HIBA grants to be attached to their certificates. The CA will confirm eligibility based on the policy and sign the certificate after adding the requested HIBA grants.

The HIBA extension scheme is flexible by nature, and any type of constraint can be assigned to grants as long as they are also defined in the identity. The exact specifications can be found in the PROTOCOL.authorizations file. HIBA only defines a handful of reserved constraints that are described in the PROTOCOL.extensions file.

The HIBA source code implements hiba-chk for processing authorizations as well as a library (libhiba) and a CLI (hiba-gen) for generating HIBA extensions. It also provides a simple shell based CA implementation hiba-ca.sh.

Practical example

Hosts identities

Host identities example

Grants

Grants example

In this example:
  • A user with an Employee SEA grant can access any foo.bar hosts located in Seattle.
  • A user with the Guests grant can access foo.bar hosts everywhere, but only if they are Dance floor, while Celebrities can access both VIP lounge and Dance floor hosts.
  • The owner grant gives unrestricted access to any foo.bar hosts.
By Tristan Lelong – Site Reliability Enthusiast, Technical Infrastructure

New designs for Chrome and Chrome OS, by Latino artists

As we celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, we pay tribute to the generations of Latinos who have positively influenced and enriched society, arts, culture and science in the United States.

As a proud Latina, I have seen first hand how our diversity is our strength. We use various terms to define ourselves (Hispanic, Latinx, Latino, Black, Mexican, Salvadoran, Puerto Rican, Brazilian, and more), yet we still can come together as one resilient community.

This year Chrome partnered with Latino artists to create a collection of themes that celebrate our heritage. You can use them to customize your Chrome browser and Chromebook wallpapers. The work reflects a variety of meaningful subjects, from family to the subtle ways we all stay connected. This collection continues our work commissioning contemporary artists to visually show how people use Chrome and Chromebooks to get things done, explore, find and connect. 

Meet the commissioned artists, and browse the 20 new backgrounds in the collection on the Chrome Web Store or in your Chromebook wallpaper gallery.

  • Chrome browser background depicting three people looking into the distance, with clouds behind them

    “Ni de aqui, ni de alla” - Arturo Torres


    “One of the struggles that comes from being a Mexican-American is that you don’t truly feel like you belong to either side. We aren’t Mexican enough for Mexicans and not American enough for Americans. We feel like we have to work twice as hard to please both parties. This is a reminder that we still belong and we can still celebrate both sides. We’re just as beautiful as our motherland.” -Arturo Torres is a New York Times bestselling illustrator, currently residing in Dallas, Texas. His works are a blend of vibrant photorealism in a whimsical comic-book style that makes up a distinctive hand-drawn look.


  • Chrome browser background depicting a bird holding a flower, standing next to 3 flowers

    “Paloma Mensajera” - Cecilia Ruiz


    “‘Paloma Mensajera’ celebrates the joy of finding and being found.” -Cecilia Ruiz is an author, illustrator, graphic designer and educator. Born and raised in Mexico City, Cecilia currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.


  • Chromebook background depicting a variety of fruits sprinkled with chili powder, laid out into a pattern

    "Chile y Limón" - Liz Hernández


    “‘Chile y Limón’ depicts the simple act of cutting fresh fruit and sprinkling chili powder on it. This humble action transforms an already perfect snack into a complex, nostalgic treat.” -Liz Hernández is a Mexican artist based in Oakland, California. Her art practice, which includes painting, drawing, sculpture, and writing, is deeply influenced by her memories and surroundings of Mexico City.


  • Chromebook background depicting insects in a garden scene

    "The Scenic Route” - Marisol Ortega


    “‘The Scenic Route’ pays tribute to never losing your sense of joy, play, and exploration, even in our backyards.” -Marisol Ortega is a first-generation Mexican-American designer, illustrator, and letterer living and working in the Pacific Northwest. She pulls inspiration from childhood memories of visiting her abuela’s home in Michoacán, Mexico.


  • Chrome browser background depicting a person wearing 3 pairs of glasses, each a different style

    "Lenses” - Niege Borges


    “This artwork represents the multiple ways of seeing the world, for people that are open to see them.” -Niege Borges is a Brazilian illustrator and graphic designer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work is colorful, vibrant and playful. She likes to portray women, gender fluid people and explore different races and body shapes.


How a top Brazilian media portal uses Web Stories

Launched in 1996, Universo Online (UOL) became Brazil’s first major news website, featuring content from the daily edition of Folha de S.Paulo and other popular newspapers and magazines. Since then, parent company Grupo UOL has grown the publication into a leading media destination for Brazilians, expanding its audience reach to more than 109 million unique users. With a focus on news, health, lifestyle, gaming, sports, automotive and technology, UOL is now among the country’s top content producers — nine out of 10 Brazilian internet users visit the site. 

In 2018, with the goal of expanding and creating more mobile-friendly content, UOL became the first media company in Brazil to launch Web Stories. This fast-loading, visual and tappable content format was also helpful for competing with social media sites. To attract attention, UOL needed more than great text and reliable information. Text, photos and video needed to be  intuitive and engaging, so they decided to give Web Stories a try.

“In 2018, we encouraged our team to produce great Web Stories,” UOL Content Director Murilo Garavello says. “And starting in 2020, we started using tools to jump to a higher level of quality. In turn, we got a great response from our audience.” 

During this time, the team also ramped up production, going from about 85 Web Stories per month in 2018 to between 125 and 175 per month in 2021. This was key to expanding UOL’s reach and boosting user engagement. 

UOL experimented with Web Stories across its content areas, and the publisher’s developers incorporated these Stories into their own content management system (CMS). In July 2020, UOL adopted MakeStories, a drag-and-drop, no-code Web Stories builder, to make it even easier for busy journalists to produce Stories. 

For the summer 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, Nossa, UOL's lifestyle channel, featured immersive Web Stories about Japan, inviting readers to learn about Japanese culture, food and nature.


Web Story

The best of the 4 seasons in Japan

by Nossa

And UOL’s Sports section produced a series in a comic book format looking at the fascinating Olympic history, including the story of the 1992 U.S. Basketball Dream Team and Brazil's historic Olympic medals at the 2000 and 2008 Games.

Web Story

Leandro Guilheiro's win in Beijing 2008

by UOL

UOL’s constructive journalism section, Ecoa (“For a Better World”), also adopted Web Stories. “Learn how to make a lip scrub in less than 5 minutes” offers a step-by-step guide to making natural cosmetics with a mix of explanatory videos, animated GIFs and photos. Ecoa  also used Web Stories to create book-style content, like their Story on “The Day of Black Consciousness.”

Web Story

Learn how to make a lip scrub in less than 5 minutes

by Ecoa

UOL has recently started to promote the format directly on their website, such as in the entertainment section Splash, where they highlight their Stories on the homepage. Our recent post highlights how creators and publishers can raise the visibility of their Web Stories on their own site with a similar approach to that of UOL’s Splash section.  


In October 2020, Web Stories also started showing up on Google Discover. In that one month, engagement results increased over 250 percent. And performance continued on an upward trajectory: In February 2021, Web Stories traffic was six times higher than in July 2020, when UOL started tracking  monthly Web Stories performance.


UOL found that Stories about soccer, reality TV and health and lifestyle all had high levels of engagement. One reality show’s engagement was 1,137 percent higher as a Web Story than as a scrolling article, with 993 percent more readers. In total, all Stories about this reality show reached more than 10 million pageviews. The best results came from Web Stories with immersive, mobile-friendly and dynamic content.

UOL’s Web Stories also had high navigation rates —  50 percent of the platform’s special articles section, TAB, saw users scroll through all the way to the end of a story. 

“It was crucial that we publish more immersive content to attract more people who not only open a link, but actually read the story,” says Lilian Ferreira, UOL Strategic General Manager. “Web Stories bring us a more qualified audience.” 


Improved visibility in Google Meet on web

Quick summary 

Last year, we introduced low-light mode for Meet on mobile, using AI to automatically adjust your video to make you more visible if you’re in a dark environment. Having too much light behind you—such as a window on a sunny day—can also be challenging for many cameras. Google Meet on the web now automatically detects when a user appears underexposed and enhances the brightness to improve their visibility. 

Google Meet will automatically detect when a user is underexposed and will enhance the brightness for improved visibility.

For illustrative purposes only

Getting started 


Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers 

 Resources 

Upgrade to the newest version of the Google Chat app

Quick launch summary

Last year, we introduced the new Google Chat Progressive Web Application (PWA), which provides a fast, reliable, and engaging way to use Chat on any desktop device with the Google Chrome web browser. We’ve recently released a new version of this app.

While most users have already been automatically upgraded to the new app, a small number of users are still on the older Chat PWA version and will see an in-app banner nudging them to upgrade by visiting chat.google.com.

PWA banner
Banner to upgrade to the newest version of the Chat PWA


The banner will read “You are using an old version of Chat. You need to uninstall this old version first, then visit www.chat.google.com to install the new version.”

Beginning September 27, 2021, users who have not yet upgraded will no longer be able to use their previously installed Chat app. Instead, they’ll see a screen directing them to upgrade to the new version of Google Chat.

Screen telling users the old PWA is no longer available
Screen users will see when the old PWA version is no longer available


If users already have the new version of the app available but are still using the old app, they will simply see a screen asking them to uninstall this old version.

Screen shown to users who have installed the new PWA version but try to access the old version once it is no longer available
Screen shown to users that already have the new app, when the old PWA version is no longer available

Getting started


Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

A digital fast lane for emerging economies

A look at the new Future Readiness Economic Index for decision makers

The pandemic has had devastating effects on  emerging economies, threatening to undo thirty years of progress. In countries like Kenya, India, and Brazil, COVID drove up unemployment, disrupted supply chains, and devastated entire sectors.

If we do nothing, it could take years for these countries to recover, creating even greater divides between people in developed and emerging economies. But we’re seeing a contrary trend that could dramatically turn things around. Looking beyond the short-term headlines to longer-term trends actually tells a different story.

As last year’s Digital Sprinters Framework outlined, if emerging economies adopt the right digital policies, they could actually emerge stronger and better prepared to accelerate economic growth and opportunity.

Digital Sprinters video
10:25

While COVID has accelerated use of technology to learn and conduct business, almost half of all households in the developing world still lack access to broadband and high-speed internet. Greater digital adoption could help emerging economies generate as much as $3.4 trillion of economic value by 2030. That amount of growth would mean an astonishing 25 percent increase in GDP in Brazil, a 31 percent increase in Saudi Arabia and a 33 percent increase in Nigeria.

Unlocking this growth will require focused initiatives. Governments in emerging markets want to know where to invest limited resources, and how to support and grow their national talent pool.  That’s why, building on the Digital Sprinters framework, Google commissioned the Portulans Institute to develop a “Future Readiness Economic Index” — a ranking of digital progress, and a roadmap for the future.


The Future Readiness Economic Index

The Future Readiness Economic Index gives governments, businesses and analysts comprehensive metrics and milestones to assess their digital transformation.

Assessing countrywide trends can be an inexact science. But by breaking down the data in critical areas like infrastructure, talent development, skills matching, and technology adoption, the Portulans Institute’s Index can help countries focus their efforts to get the biggest returns on investment. For example, the Index suggests that Brazil, which ranks 67th globally on the Index, could sprint ahead with more adoption of digital technologies like cloud, AI and machine learning.


Seizing the chance to sprint ahead

Emerging economies have a key advantage. Unlike developed economies — which need to upgrade or replace outdated legacy infrastructure — many emerging markets can leapfrog ahead, building advanced tools from scratch rather than remodeling existing ones. (Think of how many countries without extensive landline telephone infrastructures in the 1990s have become leaders in mobile telephony adoption.)

Starting with the latest technologies can streamline progress. But which technologies, and what’s the right balance of investing in human capital, infrastructure and other critical elements? And which policies will accelerate progress and yield the greatest gains in competitiveness? The Index provides some objective comparisons to help answer those questions.

Good public policy that supports technology innovation can expand the pie for everyone.  Widely dispersed technological progress has doubled human lifespans over the last century and lifted more than a billion people from poverty in the last thirty years alone. Evidence-based investments, policies and digital tools will equip emerging economies to make even more progress in the years ahead.

Preventing users from blocking users in trusted domains

Quick launch summary 

We recently launched the ability to block another user in Google Drive. Based on your feedback, we’re updating how the feature can be applied to users in trusted domains. 


Previously, user blocks could be applied to any user outside of your domain. With this update, user blocks will no longer work with users in trusted domains. Any previous blocks established for users in trusted domains will no longer be enforced in Google Drive, but will continue to be enforced in other apps and services. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers. 

Resources 

Making permissions auto-reset available to billions more devices

Posted by Peter Visontay, Software Engineer; Bessie Jiang, Software Engineer

Contributors: Inara Ramji, Software Engineer; Rodrigo Farell, Interaction Designer; James Kelly, Product Manager; Henry Chin, Program Manager.

Illustration of person holding phone

Most users spend a lot of time on their smartphones. Whether working, playing games, or connecting with friends, people often use apps as the primary gateway for their digital lives. In order to work, apps often need to request certain permissions, but with dozens of apps on any given device, it can be tough to keep up with the permissions you’ve previously granted – especially if you haven’t used an app for an extended period of time.

In Android 11, we introduced the permission auto-reset feature. This feature helps protect user privacy by automatically resetting an app’s runtime permissions – which are permissions that display a prompt to the user when requested – if the app isn’t used for a few months. Starting in December 2021, we are expanding this to billions more devices. This feature will automatically be enabled on devices with Google Play services that are running Android 6.0 (API level 23) or higher.

The feature will be enabled by default for apps targeting Android 11 (API level 30) or higher. However, users can enable permission auto-reset manually for apps targeting API levels 23 to 29.

So what does this mean for developers?


Exceptions

Some apps and permissions are automatically exempted from revocation, like active Device Administrator apps used by enterprises, and permissions fixed by enterprise policy.


Request user to disable auto-reset

If needed, developers can ask the user to prevent the system from resetting their app's permissions. This is useful in situations where users expect the app to work primarily in the background, even without interacting with it. The main use cases are listed here.


Comparing current and new behavior

Current behavior New behavior
Permissions are automatically reset on Android 11 (API level 30) and higher devices. Permissions are automatically reset on the following devices:
  • Devices with Google Play services that are running a version between Android 6.0 (API level 23) and Android 10 (API level 29), inclusive.
  • All devices running Android 11 (API level 30) and higher devices.
Permissions are reset by default for apps targeting Android 11 or later. The user can manually enable auto-reset for apps targeting Android 6.0 (API level 23) or later. No change from the current behavior.
Apps can request the user to disable auto-reset for the app. No change from the current behavior.


Necessary code changes

If an app targets at least API 30, and asks the user to disable permission auto-reset, then developers will need to make a few simple code changes. If the app does not disable auto-reset, then no code changes are required.

Note: this API is only intended for apps whose targetSDK is API 30 or higher, because permission auto-reset only applies to these apps by default. Developers don’t need to change anything if the app‘s targetSDK is API 29 or lower.

The table below summarizes the new, cross-platform API (compared to the API published in Android 11):

Action Android 11 API
(works only on Android 11 and later devices)		 New, cross-platform API
(works on Android 6.0 and later devices, including Android 11 and later devices)
Check if permission auto-reset is enabled on the device Check if Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.R Call androidx.core.content.PackageManagerCompat.getUnusedAppRestrictionsStatus()
Check if auto-reset is disabled for your app Call PackageManager.
isAutoRevokeWhitelisted()		 Call androidx.core.content.
PackageManagerCompat.
getUnusedAppRestrictionsStatus()
Request that the user disable auto-reset for your app Send an intent with action
Intent.ACTION_AUTO_REVOKE_PERMISSIONS		 Send an intent created with androidx.core.content.
IntentCompat.
createManageUnusedAppRestrictionsIntent()


This cross-platform API is part of the Jetpack Core library, and will be available in Jetpack Core v1.7.0. This API is now available in beta.

Sample logic for an app that needs the user to disable auto-reset: 

val future: ListenableFuture<Int> =
    PackageManagerCompat.getUnusedAppRestrictionsStatus(context)
future.addListener(
  { onResult(future.get()) },
   ContextCompat.getMainExecutor(context)
)

fun onResult(appRestrictionsStatus: Int) {
  when (appRestrictionsStatus) {
    // Status could not be fetched. Check logs for details.
    ERROR -> { }

    // Restrictions do not apply to your app on this device.
    FEATURE_NOT_AVAILABLE -> { }
    // Restrictions have been disabled by the user for your app.
    DISABLED -> { }

    // If the user doesn't start your app for months, its permissions 
    // will be revoked and/or it will be hibernated. 
    // See the API_* constants for details.
    API_30_BACKPORT, API_30, API_31 -> 
      handleRestrictions(appRestrictionsStatus)
  }
}

fun handleRestrictions(appRestrictionsStatus: Int) {
  // If your app works primarily in the background, you can ask the user
  // to disable these restrictions. Check if you have already asked the
  // user to disable these restrictions. If not, you can show a message to 
  // the user explaining why permission auto-reset and Hibernation should be 
  // disabled. Tell them that they will now be redirected to a page where 
  // they can disable these features.

  Intent intent = IntentCompat.createManageUnusedAppRestrictionsIntent
    (context, packageName)

  // Must use startActivityForResult(), not startActivity(), even if 
  // you don't use the result code returned in onActivityResult().
  startActivityForResult(intent, REQUEST_CODE)
}

The above logic will work on Android 6.0 – Android 10 and also Android 11+ devices. It is enough to use just the new APIs; you won’t need to call the Android 11 auto-reset APIs anymore.


Compatibility with App Hibernation in Android 12

The new APIs are also compatible with app hibernation introduced by Android 12 (API level 31). Hibernation is a new restriction applied to unused apps. This feature is not available on OS versions before Android 12.

The getUnusedAppRestrictionsStatus() API will return API_31 if both permission auto-reset and app hibernation apply to an app.


Launch Timeline

  • September 15, 2021 - The cross-platform auto-reset APIs are now in beta (Jetpack Core 1.7.0 beta library), so developers can start using these APIs today. Their use is safe even on devices that don’t support permission auto-reset (the API will return FEATURE_NOT_AVAILABLE on these devices).
  • October 2021 - The cross-platform auto-reset APIs become available as stable APIs (Jetpack Core 1.7.0).
  • December 2021 - The permission auto-reset feature will begin a gradual rollout across devices powered by Google Play Services that run a version between Android 6.0 and Android 10. On these devices, users can now go to the auto-reset settings page and enable/disable auto-reset for specific apps. The system will start to automatically reset the permissions of unused apps a few weeks after the feature launches on a device.
  • Q1 2022 - The permission auto-reset feature will reach all devices running a version between Android 6.0 and Android 10.

Google at the UN General Assembly

Next week, leaders from government, civil society and the business community will convene at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to discuss how we can work together to solve the world’s biggest challenges. If the past two years have shown us anything, it’s that tackling global problems like pandemics, economic inequality and climate change demand global collaboration, across borders and across sectors. At Google, we’re committed to doing our part.


Earlier this year, I wrote about how we are accelerating our partnerships with international organizations in a number of areas. For example, since the start of the pandemic, we've launched more than 200 new products, provided over $150 million to public health officials to promote vaccine education, and enhanced existing products like Google Search and Maps to highlight authoritative information about COVID-19 and local vaccination sites. We’ve also continued to increase our support for the UN by providing over $250 million in Ad Grants, which has enabled it to serve over 1.6 billion ads and reach people in more than 200 countries with messages about COVID-19 prevention, vaccine safety and more. 


At UNGA this year, we will be deepening our collaboration with international organizations as we add our voice to critical policy discussions, share what we have learned from our partnerships, and seek out new ways to collaborate with multi-stakeholder groups.


Here are just a few events at which we’ll be participating next week around key issues.

Economic Recovery 

While the pandemic has exacerbated economic inequality around the world, the data shows that nations that adopt technology are poised to recover quicker. According to recent research, 16 emerging countries could generate as much as $3.4 trillion of economic value through digital transformation by 2030. 


On September 20, Google SVP of Global Affairs Kent Walker will join the Concordia Summit to discuss a new Future Readiness Index commissioned by Google and developed by the Portulans Institute. This interactive tool is designed to help governments use key metrics and data to make sound investments in technology, infrastructure and talent.


Later next week, Kent and I will join the Leaders on Purpose Summit for conversations about how the private sector and governments can work together to help more people prepare for jobs, and how sound digital policies can help governments drive economic opportunity and growth.

Sustainability and Climate Action

Technology has an important role to play in tackling climate change, and we’ve long been committed to advancing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and collaborating with UN entities like the Framework Convention on Climate Change to drive progress. We were the first major company to be carbon neutral and match 100% of our annual electricity use with renewables, and now we’re working to be the first major company to operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030.

On September 24 at theUN High Level Dialogue on Energy, our CFO Ruth Porat will call on other companies and governments to join the Sustainable Energy for All-Google 24/7 Carbon Free Energy Compact. Ruth will also speak at the kickoff of Climate Week on September 20 to discuss how we are working to achieve sustainability at scale and fulfill our commitment to offer 1 billion people new ways to live more sustainably by 2022 via our core products.

Music and Culture

In celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday, Google Arts & Culture and YouTube collaborated with other worldwide partners on the Global Ode To Joy project. Through this initiative, which is a fitting contribution to the UN’s International Year of the Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, thousands of users, top-tier artists, and orchestras from more than 70 countries came together to create and share videos of Beethoven’s music. On September 22, Kent will host a panel during the Concordia Summit with participants from the Ode to Joy campaign to discuss how music is bringing people together during the pandemic.

To be sure, with many events this year again virtual, UNGA 2021 will be a little different from years past. But the opportunities it presents for engagement with partners from around the world remain rich, and the need for collaboration substantial. Whether in person or over a screen, Google is “all in” when it comes to supporting the UN’s vision of multilateral and multi-stakeholder approaches to confronting the world’s biggest challenges. 


An Interspecies Assembly in New York

Biodiversity is collapsing, sea levels are rising, and weather is becoming more extreme and unpredictable. Human activity is now unequivocally linked to climate change and its consequences. The question stands: Is the planet’s ecological turmoil a result of our unwillingness to listen to the wants and needs of other species? 


This year at the United Nations General Assembly, the annual gathering of world leaders and representatives across humanity to address and act on our planet’s most urgent crises, we decided to open the first ever Interspecies Assembly. Created in collaboration with eight cultural organizations, the new interactive digital hub on Google Arts & Culture brings the representatives and voices of other life forms into the discussions and decisions around the changing environment. The simple mission: to foster friendly relationships among species, in the hopes of paving a way for a truly safe and sustainable future. 


Interspecies Assembly by SUPERFLEX for ART 2030 will be presented in two parts. In Central Park, there will be a gathering site also entitled Interspecies Assembly, marked by a series of pink stone sculptures arranged in a broken circle. It invites visitors of all species to enter and exit from any direction. Engraved across the sculptures is an “Interspecies Contract,” which suggests a new code of conduct for humans, based on what we call Interspecies Ethics. It asks the human participant, as an example, to give a moment of their time to other species, done by ‘idling’ for five minutes to cultivate awareness for the many different life forms that surround us every day.
Image of the UN building at night with a colorful projection on its side.

Visualisation of Vertical Migration , SUPERFLEX, 2021. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Hosting an interspecies discussion

In addition, we have invited the first non-human representative directly to the United Nations to participate in the high-level discussions conducted during the film Vertical Migration. The protagonist of this film is a computer-generated siphonophore, an order of marine animals from the deep sea. These are fascinating creatures that are unfamiliar to many of us — they vary wildly in size, from the slightness of a fingernail to the length of a whale and look nothing like what we find on land. They also have bodies quite different to what we know: they are composed of many individual zoids that work in harmony as a society to survive. Perhaps, if we can see and feel from the perspective of a siphonophore, we can also find inspiration for how we approach the world around us.

Image of a gleaming blue jellyfish breaking a water surface

Bluebottle I | Matty Smith | Underwater Earth

This delegation will also extend their voyage, from the depths of the oceans to the United Nations to you. Together with Google Arts & Culture, ART 2030 and Kollision, we are making the siphonophore from Vertical Migration come to life through Augmented Reality, for an intimate encounter with this marine species.

An grey amorphous AR model hovering over a wooden table

AR model | Vertical Migration's Siphonophore | SUPERFLEX in collaboration with Kollision | ART 2030

Check out the online exhibition

Also on Google Arts & Culture, a new digital exhibitionis bringing together contributions from museums and scientific institutions and encouraging you to learn about what makes this creature so special and the importance of biodiversity. You can explore it atg.co/siphonophore

Faced with the spectre of the siphonophore, we hope it sparks a recognition that we are all connected, that our actions affect each other and that we all share a common fate.