Articoli

Last week we celebrated Earth Day — the second one that’s taken place during the pandemic. It’s becoming clear that these two challenges aren’t mutually exclusive. We know, for example, that climate change impacts the same determinants of health that worsen the effects of COVID-19. And, as reports have noted, we can’t afford to relax when it comes to the uneven progress we’re making toward a greener future. 

At Google, we’re taking stock of where we’ve been and how we can continue building a more sustainable future. We’ve been deeply committed to sustainability ever since our founding two decades ago: we were the first major company to become carbon neutral and the first to match our electricity use with 100 percent renewable energy. 

While we lead with our own actions, we can only fully realize the potential of a green and sustainable world through strong partnerships with businesses, governments, and nonprofits. At Google.org, we’re particularly excited about the potential for technology-based solutions from nonprofits and social innovators. Time and again we hear from social entrepreneurs who have game-changing ideas but need a little boost to bring them to life. 

Through programs like our AI for Social Good Initiative and our most recent Google.org Impact Challenge on Climate, we are helping find, fund, and build these ideas. Already they’re having significant impact on critical issues from air quality to emissions analysis. In this month’s digest, you can read more about some of these ideas and the mark they’re making on the world. 

In case you missed it 

Earlier this month, Google sharedour latest series of commitments to support vaccine equity efforts across the globe. As part of this, Google.org is supporting Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, in their latest fundraising push with initial funding to help fully vaccinate 250,000 people in low and middle income countries, technical assistance to improve their vaccine delivery systems and accelerate global distribution and Ad Grants to amplify fundraising efforts. We’ve since kicked off an internal giving campaign to increase our impact, bringing the total vaccinations funded to 880,000 to date, which includes matching funds from Gavi. And in the U.S., we’ve provided $2.5 million in overall grants to Partners in Health, Stop the Spread and Team Rubicon who are working directly with 500 community-based organizations to boost vaccine confidence and increase access to vaccines in Black, Latino and rural communities.

As many companies integrate return to the office plans with existing work-from-home strategies, a key component is building a device management and security strategy centered on remote access. In this era of hybrid work,  mobility is the critical link for workers who need the ability to connect to company resources from anywhere. 

A recent Forrester report highlights why IT administrators should use on-device security and enterprise management features to build a powerful and adaptive security strategy, noting how remote access is now paramount for business continuity. Organizations can enable the multilayered protections and management features in Android Enterprise to help their teams thrive in this hybrid world, giving teams powerful built-in security without layers of complexity.

Security built in as a foundation

In its research, Forrester found that 78% of IT admins surveyed are planning to increase their use of on-device security in the next year. When it comes to anti-malware defense, securely configuring devices and managing mobile applications, Android offers enterprise-grade security solutions that meet the needs of today’s organizations. 

Forrester recommends that operating system platform security be the key foundation to a device security strategy. With Android Enterprise, organizations benefit from on-device protection that is built to help secure data, protect employee privacy and equip IT admins with a rich set of management features. The report calls out how Android makes use of the anti-malware protections in Google Play Protect to provide an ongoing defense against potentially harmful apps.  In doing so, an IT security team can rely heavily on such built-in features to achieve the security posture that businesses of all sizes require to defend against complex attacks. 

Our recently updated Android Enterprise Security Paper provides a comprehensive review of the hardware and software security features available in Android which can be trusted for accessing critical and sensitive information.

Security admins need, privacy employees require

Android provides a depth of security features that are built to provide automatic defenses against many layers of threats. Google Play Protect uses machine learning to adapt to changing security threats, providing organizations a built-in solution at no cost.

The Android work profile gives organizations flexibility to securely enroll personal devices and provide greater privacy on corporate-owned smartphones and tablets. In its report, Forrester notes Android comes with strong data isolation and protection features with the Android work profile. By separating personal and work apps on devices with distinct encryption keys for each profile, Android gives admins a built-in solution to provide employees with secure access that aligns to their work styles without sharing any access to data from personal apps on devices with IT.

Managed Google Play lets admins specify which public or internal apps can be installed in the work profile. The granular levels of security available to admins from Android Enterprise APIs and the built-in security through services like Google Play Protect serve as a strong foundation for mounting a robust threat defense. In addition, the SafetyNet Attestation API integrates with partner Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solutions to verify that devices have not been compromised. This now includes hardware-backed evaluations as an indicator of a stronger device integrity evaluation. 

No matter where your teams are working, you can have confidence in the platform and management security features found in Android Enterprise. Learn more about building an on-device strategy from the Forrester report, and go in-depth on integrating features with our security paper.

For Lauren Sparandara, stepping onto a construction site transports her to the scrappy dollhouses of her childhood.

“I would scavenge styrofoam from the household trash and use it to build these elaborate cityscapes for my dolls,” she laughs. “I see a similar opportunity when I look at buildings that are about to be demolished: What could we make with those?”

At Google, Lauren looks for ways to reuse materials in Google’s design and construction process — like salvaging perfectly good doors and hardware, cabinets, furniture, and lockers from existing buildings to reuse them in Google’s spaces or donate to local organizations in need. 

I sat down with Lauren to talk about what she envisions for future Google construction projects, and how it relates to the circular economy.

First things first: What is deconstruction?

Typically, heavy machinery demolishes existing structures on a construction site, which means usable materials are often sent to the landfill.

The alternative is deconstruction, where a building is systematically dismantled from the outside in. To the greatest extent possible, building components — like interior doors or wood components — are kept intact and salvaged for reuse, creating a more circular system. Deconstruction also increases the recyclability of materials that can’t be reused.

Why does deconstruction interest you?

Existing buildings should be viewed as resources rather than something to be disposed of. Construction and demolition activities account for nearly two-thirds of all waste generated annually in the U.S. 

While traditional demolition is certainly time and cost-efficient, there’s a huge missed opportunity when salvageable materials are landfilled. Deconstruction can shrink the environmental impact of construction and expand green job opportunities — within both the construction industry and salvaged and refurbished materials market. 

Can you give us an example of deconstruction put into practice at Google?

We’ve salvaged materials from small-scale interior refreshes since 2012 and have diverted over 1,000 tons of materials from landfills in the Bay Area in the process — that’s roughly the weight of five Boeing 747s. When designing new office spaces, we look for opportunities to repurpose existing buildings. Our Spruce Goose office in the Los Angeles area is a converted airplane hangar, and our Fulton Market office in Chicago was a cold-storage warehouse. In Munich, we’ve started converting the Arnulfpost — a 1930s modernist-style postal distribution facility — into an inspiring workplace with public spaces for the community.

In addition to all of that, we want to spread awareness and advance research on circularity in buildings. In 2019, we partnered with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Building Product Ecosystems, and Ackerstein Sustainability to publish a whitepaper on commercial deconstruction and reuse, with the hopes of driving the wider building industry toward more circular practices.

Where do you see this work going in the future?

There’s the potential to think big about what we can do with our existing building stock, and reframe our thinking to view existing buildings as amazing resources rather than waste. Unfortunately, most deconstruction examples are historic residential properties, so we’re asking: “How can we create circular material flows from a suburban office building built in the 1980s? How do we prevent any usable materials from going to the landfill?’ 

We’re starting to answer these questions as we work on new development projects. At the Caribbean office development in Sunnyvale, California, we salvaged 35 tons of material to donate to California charities and nonprofits. And at the Charleston East development project in Mountain View, California we’re incorporating over 30 types of salvaged materials.

Welcome to the latest installment of our series, “My Path to Google.” These are real stories from Googlers, interns, and alumni highlighting how they got to Google, what their roles are like and even some tips on how to prepare for interviews.

Today’s post is all about Xiomara Contreras (pictured above with her mother), a product marketing manager in our San Francisco office. Xiomara’s passion for social impact is deeply rooted in her work, both in her core role of supporting small businesses and in building community for underrepresented groups both in and out of Google.

How would you describe your role at Google?

I’m a product marketing manager working on Google My Business. Specifically, my team is dedicated to supporting small-business owners. Google My Business is a free tool that allows users to promote their Business Profile on Google Search and Maps, allowing them to respond to reviews, post photos of products or special offers and add or edit their business details so they can connect with customers.

My role focuses on core product marketing, meaning I work with product managers and engineers to determine who our users are, what they need and how to align our product with those needs. As a product marketing manager, I show the value of our product to small business owners. Additionally, I recently contributed to the creation and launch of the Black-owned business attribute to support Black-owned businesses.

What made you decide to apply to Google?

When I initially started thinking about a career, I thought I would be in the nonprofit sector because most of my previous experience was in that space. Also, I studied Communication Studies and Latina/o Studies at Northwestern and I wasn’t aware of the breadth of opportunities available to “non-technical” students in tech. 

Then I learned about Google’sBOLD Internship Program through Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), an organization that prepares and connects university students from underrepresented backgrounds to internships and full-time careers. Through the support and encouragement of the organization, I applied to the internship. Once I was an intern at Google I was able to see how my passion for social justice issues, education and youth mentorship intersect with tech, and I knew I wanted to work at Google full time.