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Google Wave and Google Maps find their way
from Australia to the World
It may surprise you to know
that key parts of
Google
Maps technology were created in Australia by this year’s Warren Centre
Innovation Lecturer, Dr Lars Rasmussen, his brother Jens, and some Australian
colleagues, Stephen Ma and Noel Gordon.
Before we get into the content … if you have not registered for the lecture,
please do so, go to
http://tinyurl.com/dxe2xt.
The lecture starts at 5.45pm as follows:
30 June 2009: Brisbane, Customs House
2 July 2009: Sydney, Powerhouse Museum
8 July 2009: Melbourne, Ernst & Young, Exhibition Street
9 July 2009: Adelaide, Ernst & Young, King William Street
The brothers Rasmussen started their self funded company “Where
2 Technologies” in very modest circumstances in Sydney. By 2003 they had
developed their prototype for the new mapping technology which used maps as
the basis for a diversity of geospatial services.
By mid-2004, the four developers were part of the new
Google Empire – and still based in Australia! What's more, they were not
resting on their laurels - even as they were developing Google Maps within
Google, Lars and Jens were asking themselves 'what's next?’ Their idea was
communication ... two of the most spectacular successes in digital
communication, email and instant messaging, were originally designed in the
'60s to imitate analog formats – email mimicked snail mail, and IM mimicked
phone calls. Since then, so many different forms of communication had been
invented – blogs, wikis, collaborative documents, etc. – and computers and
networks had dramatically improved. So they proposed a new communications
model that presumed all these advances as a starting point
Lars and Jens moved on from Maps after a couple of years and set to work
(still in Sydney) on a prototype of what the world now knows as 'Google
Wave' - equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate
and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and
more. It's being hailed by technology commentators as one of the most
exciting innovations to have come from the web in recent years.
By attending the lecture you will not only gain a rare insider’s view of how
this potentially world dominating technology has achieved what it has, you
will also gain an insight into the very particular culture of Google that
attracts, engages and inspires people to give of their best.
There are 5 key factors to this innovation culture that are well worth
considering “no matter what business you’re in” says Lars.
5 Key Innovation Culture Factors
• 20% Free Time
• Google Labs
• Do it better or don’t do it
• Put the user first, the benefits will follow
• Launch early - and iterate, iterate…
20% Free Time
Google engineers are given 20% free time to work on whatever they wish - new
products, improvements to existing initiatives or whatever. It is not
strictly speaking one day each and every week – if someone is working
intensively for a few months on a particular project full time, then this
Free Time credit builds up, so you might get a few weeks straight, to work
on whatever you want. If the new idea is taken up by Google, the creator’s
next job is often heading up the team to take it further.
Google Labs
The place where early stage ideas are floated to the online world, which
responds with very considerable speed and volume, is http://labs.google.com.
It is a great way of getting worldwide responses from a very switched on
community.
Do it better or don’t do it
The Google approach is to create products only where they feel they can do
better than what's out there, or where there is a genuine un-met user need.
Put the user first, the benefits will follow
The Google philosophy is to keep users happy first and foremost. Do that,
and the rest falls into place. There are many areas where Google could be
trying to extract more revenues, e.g. by running advertisements on the
Google home page. Whereas there are ads on the normal web search results
pages (people find them useful), there are none on the home page - Google is
continually listening to its user base.
Launch early - and iterate, iterate…
Rather than waiting for years to get it perfect, Google plugs into the
online community around the world early and invites it to get involved in
the ongoing improvement process.
Google is one very clever juggernaut – this lecture provides an excellent
case study in how to engage and enthuse your own employees, as well as
include the wider online community in the development of your own
enterprise.
Not to be missed! Register now.
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The 2009 Innovation Lecture is proudly sponsored by
National Sponsors
AusIndustry
Ernst & Young
NICTA
Shelston IP
State Sponsors
Multimedia Victoria
NSW Department of State & Regional Development
SA Department of Trade & Economic Development
SA Department of Further Education, Employment, Science & Technology
University of Adelaide,
Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and
Innovation Centre
University of Queensland
Media Supporters
ABC Fora
Supporters
AIMA
Australian Computer Society
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Reader
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editor@eng.usyd.edu.au
Disclaimer:
The Warren Centre publishes articles relating to new
technology and innovation that are often based on information supplied by
third parties. While an editorial process is applied, we make no
exhaustive investigation into the accuracy of the information, thus no
liability will be accepted for its accuracy. Please note that in
providing this information, The Warren Centre is not supporting or
promoting any technology or company, merely seeking to inform. Interested
readers should take their own steps to verify the information prior to
relying on it in any way.
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