Last night in Amsterdam, we celebrated a new partnership with The Next Web to bring Google for Entrepreneurs to the Netherlands. In the unfinished space at Singel 542 in Amsterdam, within a stone’s throw of the city's famous Flower Market, The Next Web shared their inspiring vision for the project, called X, which we expect to open to more than 150 Dutch startups in the first half of 2016. We have a very clear goal for this unique partnership in the Netherlands: to further strengthen local entrepreneurship in the heart of the city. We know the startup scene in Amsterdam is a vibrant one--but we think X will cut through the noise of a buzzy ecosystem that’s been missing a physical center, something research tells us really matters for startups. At X with TNW we’ll be able to offer our local mentoring program and initiatives like demo days with international guests, global exchange programs and training sessions designed to help Dutch startups grow.
“The Dutch startup ecosystem is flourishing and new initiatives that empower the growth of startups are sprouting,” says Dutch Startup Envoy Neelie Kroes. “‘X’ contributes to this energetic scene by connecting players with global networks like The Next Web, Google, KPMG, ABN Amro and Booking.com that can offer the next growth step for startups.” One thing’s sure: this isn’t our first rodeo. Through the Google for Entrepreneurs network, we have 25 tech hub partners around the world, plus five Campus spaces we offer ourselves--in Tel Aviv, London, Seoul, Madrid and Warsaw--all sharing know-how and content to help new and fast-growing businesses do more.  Members of X here in the Netherlands will have access to that global community and world class network of physical spaces and programming. Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, CEO of The Next Web says that building X together with Google and other partners that include Booking.com and ABN-AMRO is “a dream come true” for the company. “Joining the Google For Entrepreneurs network not only makes sense for X but even more to the X residents who can instantly reap the benefits of this amazing global network to scale their businesses even faster.” But why make this kind of investment in startups in the Netherlands? It’s pretty simple. Google began in a garage, and we remain a startup at heart. Because of that, we’re committed to supporting next-generation entrepreneurship across Europe and around the world. It’s the same reason we recently launched the Digitale Werkplaats in the Netherlands with a goal of bringing digital skills to 30,000 Dutch entrepreneurs and independents to help them grow their businesses online, part of our greater efforts to show how Google can be a Growth Engine for all of Europe.

It takes years of practice to perfect the pirouettes. Months of rehearsal to get the crescendos just right. Multiple stories of lights, rigging and machinery to set the scene. At the world’s leading performing arts venues —like Carnegie Hall, the Berliner Philharmonie, the Bolshoi Theatre—artists, costume designers, musicians, stage crews and many more all come together to create the perfect moment on stage.



And now you can join them. In a new virtual exhibition from the Google Cultural Institute and more than 60 performing arts organizations, you can experience dance, drama, music and opera alongside some of the world’s leading performers—onstage, backstage and with a 360 degree-view of the action.



The new Performing Arts exhibition gives you a view that’s even closer than the best seat in the house. With 360-degree performance recordings, you you can choose a dancer’s-eye view of the crowd, or look down from the stage into the orchestra pit. At the Paris Opera, you can stand in the middle of the largest stage in Europe, surrounded by dancers performing choreographer Benjamin Millepied’s moves. Sit between the woodwinds and strings at Carnegie Hall with a full view of Maestro Nézet-Séguin. Don’t worry if you’re underdressed as you tour the Berliner Philharmoniker’s rehearsal performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with conductor Sir Simon Rattle—you’ll see the orchestra is not in black tie either.



Beyond the performance itself, new indoor Street View imagery gives you an all-access backstage pass to each venue. Wander through the wig workshop at Brussels’ opera house, look beneath the stage at the historic underground arches of the Fundação Teatro Municipal in São Paulo, or zoom in on ultra-high resolution Gigapixel costume images at France’s National Centre for Stage Costume, before browsing more than a hundred interactive stories about the shows, the stars and the world behind the scenes. If you’re lucky enough to be planning an in-person visit to one of these venues, you can be tour them in Street View first to see where you’ll be sitting, or how the view is from the balcony.



The Google Cultural Institute was founded in 2011 to bring the world’s treasures to anyone with an Internet connection. Starting in partnership with a handful of renowned museums, we’ve since joined forces with 900+ institutions to include historic archives, street art, and 200 wonders of the world. Now you can also visit dozens of the world’s stages together in one place—across mobile, tablet and desktop at g.co/performingarts and on the Google Cultural Institute website.



Curtain-up, and let Performing Arts take the stage!



Posted by Amit Sood, Director of the Google Cultural Institute



IMAGE URL Amit Sood Director Google Cultural Institute

Earlier this month, we co-hosted the Brussels premiere of ‘Suffragette’, a film about female emancipation in the UK starring Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep and Carey Mulligan. The film is directed by Sarah Gavron and is interesting for policy geeks since it is the first film in history to be shot in the UK Houses of Parliament. The film follows the struggles of several women fighting for the right to vote and for greater equality. Even though we have made great strides in the fight for equality since the 19th century, the film is a reminder that we still have a long way to go. At Google, diversity and equality are big priorities. We think creating product and services for users --all users-- starts with having a workforce that reflects the diversity of people around the world. We’re not there yet, but we’re working on it. That’s why we publish our data on diversity - it’s hard to address these kinds of challenges if you’re not prepared to discuss them openly, and with the facts. Overall only 30% of Google’s workforce are women - a reflection of the picture in the tech sector and STEM education overall. We’re working hard to improve this, not only for Google but for our communities. We’re empowering Googlers to confront unconscious bias and to celebrate diversity in their teams. We offer internships to young people interested in pursuing a career in tech and programs encouraging girls to learn how to code. We do all this because we want to move the needle on equality. With more and more career opportunities in technology, the fight for equality means encouraging young girls to study STEM subjects, improving representation of women in government and business and demanding equal pay for equal work. You can find out more about Google’s work on diversity here. Posted by: Catherine Williams, Public Affairs Associate Google Brussels

For us, this year has been all about getting Europe trained up in terms of digital skills. The follow-on from that is creating growth when European companies go global. We've been partnering with Politico to host a series of events across the continent exploring the roadmap for Europe's digital growth. Earlier this month we were in Paris, and last week we took the debate to Berlin, where guests included MEP Eva Paunova, Bundestag member Thomas Jarzombek and Poland's Undersecretary of State for Digital Affairs Jurand Drop.

Computers, the internet and smartphones are integrated into our daily lives in a way that was unthinkable a few years ago. How can we ensure the next generation have the skills necessary for working in this digital world? Tech smarts aren't an optional extra: the European Commission predicts that by 2020, there will be nearly 900,000 unfilled jobs in Europe because of the digital skills gap.

Friends of Europe and Google teamed up this week to discuss this urgent issue. In Brussels, we brought together experts from around the world including Esther Wojcicki, Vice Chair of Creative Commons and author of ‘Moonshots in Education’, Jos Bertemes, Director at Luxembourg's Ministry of National Education and René Tristan Lydiksen, Managing Director of LEGO Education Europe.

Before speaking with educators, we did our homework. We commissioned research by the Economist Intelligence Unit, titled "Driving The Skills Agenda," which looks into digital skills levels worldwide. (The report definitely gets an A+ grade). They describe how education systems around the world are changing. We kicked off the discussion with the report's author, Irene Mia, telling us about her findings.

The report draws on data from global surveys of senior business executives, teachers and two groups of students, aged 11 to 17 and 18 to 25 -- and is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of education. For example, 51% of executives say a skills gap is hampering their organisational performance and only 34% claim to be satisfied with the level of attainment of young people entering their company.

The research didn’t only look at general skills, but also at digital skills specifically. Teachers know this is an issue -- 85% of teachers say that technological advances have changed the way they teach, but only 27% claim to be very confident in developing digital literacy in their students. Technology could ultimately level the playing field, by giving students access to tools and teaching from around the world and broadening their horizons.

An overview of the ideas discussed at our event, captured by Somang Lee

Skills for the future is a topic that’s relevant not only to young people. As a digital company with hundreds of millions of users in the EU, Google is dedicated to ensuring Europeans have world-class digital skills. We're working on everything from giving entrepreneurs the tools they need to set up their own business, to putting Europe's top galleries online so everyone can enjoy their cultural treasures. And all of these projects need digital skills -- which is why it's so important the next generation learn them now.

Posted by: Liz Sproat, Google’s Head of Education for Europe, Middle East and Africa

The Dutch have always known that Delft is a special city. Now a recent discovery by Frans Grijzenhout, Professor of Art History at the University of Amsterdam, using a unique pairing of seventeenth century records and Google Street View technology, has uncovered a new treasure on its streets. A small door, tucked between numbers 40 and 42 on Vlamingstraat, which marks the alleyway depicted in Johannes Vermeer’s world-famous Little Street.
"In my endeavours to pinpoint the exact location of Vermeer's Little Street, I have been an avid user of Google Maps, particularly in studying the rythmic articulation of the canal walls along Vlamingstraat,” said Professor Grijzenhout this week.

The discovery of the whereabouts of Vermeer’s Little Street is the subject of an exhibition running from 19 November 2015 to 13 March 2016 in the Rijksmuseum. It will then transfer to Museum Prinsenhof Delft.

To commemorate this discovery--including the small part that Google Street View technology has played in it--we’re marking 19 November 2015 Vermeer Day on the Google Cultural Institute. Today our homepage will feature 17 works of art by the Dutch master, including Little Street, and the site will feature a special look at the present day Little Street in Delft. The aim of the Google Cultural Institute is twofold, helping users to discover artworks in new ways and helping the cultural sector to make the most of digital opportunities. 

We’re thrilled to celebrate the Delft’s own Vermeer with our longtime partners at the Rijksmuseum, and to mark the discovery of this little street in that’s been culturally significant--if unknown--since the 17th century.

Posted by Meghan Casserly, Communications Manager Google Netherlands

We’ve said it a lot this year: every business should be a digital business, because every customer is a digital customer, and that’s a huge economic opportunity.  And by extension, that means that everyone coming into the job market should have some digital skills too. So when we heard about the European Pact4Youth, we were keen to be a part of it.

The agreement is an exciting idea from The European Business Network for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR Europe) which aims to help young people across Europe find work.  Together with the European Commission, other businesses, social partners, education and training providers all over Europe, we  have committed to developing and consolidating partnerships in support of youth employability and inclusion.

We're not the only ones who are excited. "Our top priority has been to get Europe growing again and to stimulate good quality job creation," said Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility. "It builds on the successful European Alliance for Apprenticeships.... the Commission, together with business, is moving now towards one quarter million new opportunities for young people across Europe."

While we're looking forward to working with our fellow signatories to create jobs for young people in the same way Erasmus has broadened their educational experience, we can't resist telling you about some of the work we're already doing in this area. We're currently in the middle of training up one million Europeans in essential digital skills -- in time for next year. We've committed over €25 million to build a Europe-wide training hub.

And in Spain -- one of the countries worst hit by youth unemployment -- we've developed a series of massive open online courses (MOOCs), Google Activate, together with the Spanish Ministry of Industry, through the business school, EOI, Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). The news from Spain is encouraging: more than 148,000 people have registered for Activate with 13% of participants earning a certificate.

Another example is Italy, where we have the initiative Crescere in Digitale, offering free digital skills online training to the 700,000 young Italians currently not in employment, education or training. This program is run in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and the Chamber of Commerce and will provide 3,000 internships in addition to the training.

Improving Europe's skills in everything from data analytics to web design are a key part of tackling youth unemployment -- and we are excited to support the Pact4Youth.

Posted by: Lie Junius, public policy director, Google Brussels