Google New Zealand Blog

Helping more people stay safe with flood forecasting

Friday, May 26, 2023

Caption: Google Flood Hub shown on a mobile device

Since early 2023, New Zealanders have faced extreme weather events unlike anything we’ve seen before. Historic flooding and cyclones have ripped through communities, and while natural disasters are common here - causing an average of NZ$790 million in damages each year - they’re unfortunately increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change, threatening people’s safety and livelihood. Globally, it’s estimated that flooding affects over 250 million people each year.

As part of our work to use AI to address the climate crisis, we’re expanding our flood forecasting capabilities to 80 countries, including here in New Zealand. With the addition of 60 new countries across Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, and South and Central America, our platform Flood Hub now includes some of the regions with the highest percentages of population exposed to flood risk and experiencing more extreme weather, covering 460 million people globally.

Governments, aid organisations, and individuals can use Flood Hub to take timely action and prepare for floods, seeing locally relevant flood data and flood forecasts up to 7 days in advance — an increase from last year, when information was only available 48 hours in advance.

Flood Hub’s AI is based on diverse, publicly-available data sources, such as weather forecasts and satellite imagery. The technology then combines two models: the Hydrologic Model, which forecasts the amount of water flowing in a river, and the Inundation Model, which predicts what areas are going to be affected and how deep the water will be.

Caption: Image shows the Hydrological and Inundation Models

We’re working to expand flood forecasting alerts in Search and Maps to make this information available to people when they need it the most.

Using AI to help people prepare for flooding

In 2018, we kicked-off flood forecasting in India and expanded to Bangladesh to help combat the catastrophic damage from yearly floods. Due to advances in our global AI and machine learning forecasting models, in 2022 we further rolled out our technology to 18 more countries, paving the way for today’s global expansion.

Flood Hub is part of our Crisis Response work to provide people access to trusted information and resources in critical moments. For over a decade, we have been partnering with front line and emergency workers to develop technology and programs that help keep people safe, informed and out of harm’s way.

In addition, to support communities that have been impacted by the flooding and cyclones in New Zealand this year, through our Google.org giving campaign, which combines Google employee donations with a Google.org grant, we raised over NZ$200k total, for The Center for Disaster Philanthropy to support on the ground recovery.

As we continue improving our AI-based global models for flood forecasting, we will keep supporting at-risk communities with technology to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Posted by Yossi Matias, VP Engineering & Research and Crisis Response Lead

Google Play Games beta open to all players in New Zealand

Thursday, May 25, 2023

Caption: Google Play Games available on PC with seamless sync across signed-in devices

Subject to game availability and PC compatibility.

This year, at the Google for Games Developer Summit, we announced that Google Play Games beta would soon be expanding to additional global regions. Our goal with this beta experience has been to gather early feedback so we can continue improving the product to fit the needs of players and developers around the world. Over the past months, we have added multiple features and lowered the minimum PC spec requirements to make GPG more widely available. Starting today, we’re excited to announce that Google Play Games beta will be rolling out to all players in New Zealand (subject to device and account eligibility; see help centre for full list of country availability).

Caption: Google Play Games is available to download in New Zealand. *Subject to game availability and PC compatibility.

Over the past few months, our Google Play Games catalog growth has been accelerating with the addition of many popular mobile games. We’re particularly excited to announce the GPG launch of titles from globally acclaimed developers such as Gardenscapes, Evony: The King’s Return, and Lords Mobile – these games and dozens more are available to play in New Zealand.

Our broader goal continues to be meeting players where they are and giving them access to their games on as many devices as possible. Players participating in the beta have expressed excitement at being able to seamlessly play their favorite games across their phones, tablets, Chromebooks and PCs. Additionally, since launching last year we have made significant strides to reach even more players by reducing the minimum spec requirements to PCs running Windows 10+ with an integrated graphics card and 4+ core CPU.

We’re thrilled to expand our platform to more markets for players to enjoy their favorite games on Google Play. As we move towards a full release, we will continue to add new features and evaluate developer and player feedback. To sign up for future announcements, or to access the beta version, please go to g.co/googleplaygames. If you’re an Android games developer looking to learn more about Google Play Games, please express interest on our developer site. We’ll have more to share on future beta releases and regional availability soon.

Windows is a trademark of the Microsoft group of companies.
Game titles may vary by region.
Posted by Arjun Dayal, Director of Product, Google Play Games

Professional Development Grants to Promote Diversity in STEM Education

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Image caption: Guests are guided through Te Kōhangu Museum of Waitangi

To meet future economic demands, New Zealand needs to produce more science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) graduates than ever before. Those with STEM qualifications are the developers of new technologies, they’re problem solvers and they’re creating jobs that have never before existed. It’s important that everyone in Aotearoa has the opportunity to engage with STEM and be a part of our digital future.

Building a diverse workforce starts with our schools and teachers and, unfortunately, not all schools have the same opportunities. Monika Kern from the Waitangi Treaty Grounds is looking forward to giving teachers in the Far North access to quality Professional Development (PD) this year. “The Far North District is full of beautiful people and places, but access to professional development opportunities can be limited due to the distance from major cities. We look forward to providing learning and development for our local teachers in our local area, grounded in our local stories.”

Image caption: Guests at Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi learn through the waka interactive touch screen.

With the newly gazetted Aotearoa New Zealand histories curriculum content, educators at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds recognise their critical role in upskilling teachers to implement this content. By offering teachers workshops in the digi-lab, focused on exploring new digital tools that teachers can apply to their own unique learning contexts, Monika hopes that “this will allow our local tamariki and rangatahi to experience similar opportunities as their city counterparts.”

Educators will learn through exploring new digital tools and applying these technologies to the teaching of big ideas, contexts and practices. For example, learning about Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the museum, guided by facilitators, to understand how to connect student learning to local and national historical contexts.

Over the past decade, more than 20,000 have benefited from Google’s Educator Professional Development Grants program across Australia and New Zealand. The program is focused on providing regional teachers and those from low-socioeconomic schools with the opportunity to engage with Digital Technologies PD.

We’re excited to announce the 2023 grant recipients for New Zealand:

SheSharp
Waitangi Treaty Grounds

We are excited to work with these partners on their 2023 PD workshops and look forward to seeing the important impact they will have in their communities.

Posted by Marie Efstathiou, Australia & New Zealand Lead for University Relations and CS Education

Connecting Millions More People with Helplines with ThroughLine New Zealand

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

New Zealand is one of the top three countries in the world searching for mental health with interest in the topic reaching an all-time high this year. We know people turn to Google Search for actionable information in a crisis, and wherever you are in the world, access to information is a critical determinant of your health and wellbeing.

Today at Google Health’s annual event, The Check Up, we announced that we’re partnering with ThroughLine New Zealand, the largest verified network of mental health and crisis helplines around the world to add relevant local helpline information to Google Search. This will increase the number of crisis helplines that appear at the top of search results in additional languages and countries for searches related to suicide, domestic violence and other personal crisis topics.

Image: Suicide Helpline on Google Search in Panama

Elliot Taylor, founder of ThroughLine, said “Our mission is to help as many people as we can, all over the world, with crisis support in their most difficult moments. Google is in a unique position to be able to connect people to such support, and we’re so proud to partner with them to scale this work globally, helping millions of people with accurate and timely information.”

Our focus is on quickly connecting people in need with helpful resources, especially in situations where time is of the essence. For over a decade, we’ve worked closely with crisis support providers to help people who are looking for information in personal crisis situations like suicide, sexual assault and domestic violence. By expanding the number of crisis prevention information boxes on Google Search we hope to reach millions more people in critical moments.

People come to Google with health-related questions hundreds of millions of times a day and partnerships like this one will help more people around the world find help with challenges like mental health issues, in the moments they need it most.

Posted by Kia Wahl, Head of Product Partnerships Google Australia and New Zealand.

Improving Representation of Aotearoa’s Communities in Tech

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Image: Anne Fitisemanu, Chief Executive of TupuToa speaking at their Alumni Gala Event

Research by NZ Tech shows that there is low representation of Māori and Pacific people across corporate Aotearoa, with these figures even lower in the technology sector. This presents two challenges. First, diversity in organisations is critical to broader business success. And second, we’ve seen that teams that offer different perspectives, experiences and insights develop technological solutions that support all communities.

Over the past decade, TupuToa has been nurturing and developing Māori and Pacific leaders to ensure corporate Aotearoa is representative of these communities. With over 1000 alumni placed in roles across Aotearoa and beyond, there’s also a need to support this cohort of professionals with the skills required to achieve their tech-career aspirations.

Now, through grant support provided by Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, TupuToa will commence a programme aimed at increasing representation of Māori and Pacific professionals in technology across Aotearoa to improve technological outcomes for all.

TupuToa Chief Executive Anne Fitisemanu said, ”The ripple effect of this programme will be massive. Not only will we be able to support our alumni but this work will impact their whanau and communities who are at risk of exclusion from this industry, and eventually improve the growth of Aotearoa’s technology related skill sets that are already needed across a broad range of industries. I’m so pleased that we’re aligned with Google.org on this shared mission to develop and empower our people through tech.”

The programme will support the TupuToa community of Māori and Pacific professionals in two ways. By seeking to understand the needs of alumni in the workforce and then by providing better support and pathways for Māori and Pacific early talent to develop their careers successfully in technology, with scope to expand to experienced career changers in the future.

With a shared commitment to ensuring indigenous communities take their place and thrive in the world of technology, we hope this programme will in time deliver better technological outcomes for all of New Zealand.

Posted by Annie Lewin, Senior Director for Global Advocacy at Google.org.

Protection and partnership in today’s Waitangi Day Doodle

Monday, February 6, 2023

“One of the core principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi is protection and partnership. This tiki artform represents the ambitions of our tipuna, and honours the aspirations of both Māori and the wider community for protection of land, community and partnership.” says Hori-Te-Ariki Mataki (Ae, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kauwhata, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui me Te Āti Haunui a Pāpārangi) of the artwork he has designed for today’s local Google Doodle.

Shared today for all in Aotearoa to see on New Zealand’s Google homepage, this Doodle celebrates the ambitions of two cultures and their shared desire to protect and provide for their people. Taking its likeness from pounamu, a taonga in Māori culture, the colours represent the physical - land, sea and air - taonga of tangata whenua. “The outstretched arms of the tiki represent the integration of cultures and future innovation to protect these natural domains of our environment, the flora and fauna, for all generations to come.”Hori explained.

Aotearoa New Zealand today recognises Te Tiriti o Waitangi which was signed on 6 February 1840. Kiwi’s search interest in Te Tiriti o Waitangi has tripled over the past 12 months in New Zealand showing a growing desire to lear more. Searches for the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi reached a ten-year high in May last year.

Of his work, Hori shared that the use of “language, art forms and philosophies of our ancestors and tikanga Māori allow us to create, communicate and connect. And the latest technologies in design and strategy help our people toward a better future.”

Posted by Caroline Rainsford, Country Director of Google New Zealand

2022 Google News key moments

Monday, December 12, 2022

For more than two decades we’ve worked with news media companies to strengthen quality journalism in Aotearoa and 2022 is no different. As the year draws to a close, we’re pausing to reflect on our efforts - to share key highlights and reflections from our ongoing partnerships.

We’re proud of the launch of News Showcase and have now signed agreements with 23 local news publications, including NZME’s national and regional titles like New Zealand Herald and Whanganui Chronicle, RNZ, BusinessDesk, Scoop Media, Crux Publishing, Newsroom, Pacific Media Network, Sun Media and Times Newspapers. These publishers and their respective mastheads represent a broad mix of audiences across New Zealand, from metropolitan to smaller, regional and ethnically diverse publications.

Throughout the year, our Google News Initiative (GNI) projects focused on advancing quality journalism, strengthening publisher business models and empowering newsrooms through technological innovation. This year alone we’ve reached over 30 news organisations and hundreds of journalists through our programs.

Advancing quality journalism

Training Kiwi journalists

We partnered with Telum Media to deliver a series of 12 in-person digital skills workshops to equip journalists with tools they can use in daily reporting and data visualisation projects. This year, we’ve trained over 100 New Zealand journalists across 30 newsrooms throughout the country.

In August we hosted the Te Rito Journalism Training Camp which saw 25 cadets representing multiple ethnicities, languages, and the rainbow and disability communities from all over the motu participate in training focused on digital skilling and fundamental principles of digital tools and reporting. As part of the Te Rito initiative, established by New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME), Whakaata Māori, Discovery / Newshub and Pacific Media Network, with support from NZ On Air's Public Interest Journalism Fund, these cadets were selected to develop and bring diverse voices into the journalism and broadcasting industry.

Caption: News Lab Teaching Fellow session with Te Rito journalism cadets in August 2022.

Supporting media literacy for New Zealand’s students

News Lab also supports efforts to teach children what information sources they should (and shouldn’t) trust. Newshounds by Squiz Kids is a new media literacy teaching resource for children between 8 and 12 years, supported by GNI and already launched in more than 500 schools in Australia and New Zealand. Teachers that have used the curriculum said students are highly engaged in the lessons and are more likely to think critically about the information they consume.

Supporting Election policy and misinformation tracking

The Policy New Zealand team’s aim is to make it easy to find out who’s running in local elections and what they stand for. This tool is critical to improving access to election information. We’ve supported their efforts for a number of years, including their latest iteration which provides journalists with a database for candidates’ key election policies, supporting their ability to track misinformation. It was utilised by a broad cross-section of media, from national outlets such as Stuff, TVNZ’s Breakfast and Newshub’s Three News, through to community and local news outlets.

Supporting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Through the News Equity Fund - a global commitment from Google to provide financial support and opportunities to news organisations that primarily serve underrepresented communities - four news publishers in New Zealand have received funding for projects that create original journalism for underrepresented audiences. Recipients include Lizard News, The News, Shepherdess and Pacific Media Network.

Strengthening and evolving publisher business models

The GNI Digital Growth Program’s News Fundamentals Series

Through the GNI Digital Growth Program, we’ve helped small and mid-sized news publishers in New Zealand and Australia to develop the capabilities required to accelerate the growth of their businesses online. This year, more than 240 participants from approximately 220 publishers across Australia and New Zealand took part. A link to the on-demand videos can be found here.

GNI News Consumer Insights: Shift Program

The NCI Shift is a free, immersive two-month program developed to support the news industry on how to increase Reader Engagement and Reader Revenue (including contribution models where relevant). The program has provided actionable and personalised insights, data-driven strategies and recommendations through the use of custom audits, group discussions and peer-to-peer learning for a cohort of nine New Zealand digital news publishers.

We are also supporting innovation within the newsroom by partnering with Bastion Transform to create a framework for newsrooms to experiment. We are working with Business Desk NZ and Australian publishers The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and National Indigenous Times to finetune and implement the framework so journalists can prioritise, design, run and measure different opportunities they want to experiment with.

Empowering news organisations through technological innovation

12 projects joined the GNI Startups Boot Camp

In partnership with Fishburners we launched the first GNI Startups Boot Camp in Australia and New Zealand, a program designed to provide hands-on support and coaching to aspiring news entrepreneurs as they establish and grow a new independent journalism venture and set their business on the path to sustainability. Some of the projects that participated in the 2022 cohort includes Nak-Ed, one of New Zealand's first media brands dedicated to exploring the growing sexual wellness scene across marginalised communities. through in-depth, female led reporting.

Supporting new ideas as part of the Asia-Pacific GNI Innovation challenge

This month we were also pleased to share that two Kiwi organisations, Scoop and Kīnga Voxpop, will receive support from the Asia-Pacific GNI Innovation Challenge. These projects focus on innovation to create a more sustainable and diverse news ecosystem.

We are pleased to partner with the New Zealand news industry, as we have done for many years, to ensure New Zealanders have access to relevant and useful information.

Posted by Caroline Rainsford, Country Director Google New Zealand

Year in Search: Here’s what Kiwis searched for in 2022

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Everything from COVID to Costco and guacamole to Globle, these are the moments, people and peculiarities that captured Kiwis’ attention this year.

Year in Search 2022 artwork by Kiwi artist Chippy Draws

Kiwis will remember that this year had its share of historic moments: from the traumatic war in Ukraine, to Tonga’s devastating eruption, and the passing of Queen Elizabeth. And yet we’ve seen lightness and optimism as we seek to find new ways to adapt and come together. We observed our first national public holiday for Matariki. We crowned our first ever medallists at the Winter Olympics. We marvelled at the unprecedented support for our Rugby World Cup champions, the Black Ferns.

Google’s Year in Search helps us explore the year through the lens of the questions we asked. What is the meaning of Matariki, how do you play Wordle and how do you make an NFT? And as our trending searches indicate, it’s been a year of momentous milestones, fun online fancies and people that will go down in the history books.

Let’s take a look at some key themes from our searches in New Zealand this year:

Going local and celebrating our culture

Alongside global moments, our searches show a keen interest in celebrating what is local. We looked for pottery, zumba and cooking classes nearby - maybe to learn how to whip up a pavlova! We wanted to find and define Matariki. Wayne Brown and Sam Uffindel piqued our interest in regional politics. And ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ put Waititi on the world stage.

Sports has our hearts, minds and searches

With sporting heroes, matches and league tables, Kiwis were spoilt for sporting choice this year. The Winter Olympics, Commonwealth Games and a plethora of - rugby, soccer, rugby league - world cups and matches kept us entertained. Well established sporting champs like Israel Adesanya, Joseph Parker and Lydia Ko loomed large. Other breakout stars like Ruby Tui and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott captured our attention.

Curiosity and quirks…alongside COVID

The number of COVID cases or the locations of interest were still very much top of mind this year. And we had to learn quickly how to do a rapid antigen test. But despite this, our searches show a desire for distraction and amusement. We delved into the story of Anna Delvey, welcomed the arrival of Costco to our shores and somehow found time to play Wordle, Quordle, Heardle, Globle and Octordle!

Back to basics in the kitchen

This year our recipe lists show our desire to make from scratch as we searched for ways to make condiments like tomato relish, plum jam, and teriyaki sauce. For the first time in years we deviated from our banana bread obsession and other indulgent bakes found their way into our hearts and stomachs. Sugary sweets like hot cross buns, cinnamon rolls and chocolate brownies complimented more classic bakes like shortbread. On the savoury side, we showed our unwavering love for guacamole, which topped the savoury recipe list for the second year running! And explored Italian fare with spaghetti bolognese, gnocchi, focaccia and…macaroni cheese.

To dive into the data, check out New Zealand’s full trending* lists for 2022:

Overall:

Wordle
Locations of interest
Australian Open
Covid cases today
All Blacks vs Ireland
Ukraine
World Cup
Quordle
Matariki
Queen Elizabeth

Global Figures:

Johnny Depp
Amber Heard
Will Smith
Novak Djokovic
Andrew Tate
Anna Delvey
Chris Rock
King Charles
Elon Musk
Meghan Markle

Kiwis:

Clarke Gayford
Ryan Fox
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott
Lydia Ko
Israel Adesanya
Jayden Meyer
Wayne Brown
Sam Uffindell
Joseph Parker
Ruby Tui

News:

Covid cases today
Ukraine
Queen Elizabeth
Costco
Will Smith
Tropical cyclone Dovi
iPhone 14
Russia
Tonga
Commonwealth Games medal table

Loss:

Queen Elizabeth
Shane Warne
Betty White
Olivia Newton John
Anne Heche
Taylor Hawkins
Bob Saget
Aaron Carter
Technoblade
Ray Liotta

Sporting Events:

Australian Open
All Blacks vs Ireland
Rugby league world cup
All Blacks vs South Africa
Fifa World Cup
Ipl
Women’s rugby world cup
All Blacks vs Argentina
Commonwealth Games medal table
Samoa vs Australia

Online Games:

Wordle
Quordle
Heardle
Blooket
Snake
Globle
Poki
Octordle
Slope
Nerdle

How to...?

How to do a RAT test
How to play Wordle
How to screenshot on a Windows
How to tie a tie
How to find Matariki
How to screenshot on a Mac
How to spell askew Google joke
How to solve a Rubik’s cube
How to be single
How to make self raising flour

Savoury Recipes:

Guacamole
Tomato relish
Spaghetti bolognese
Coleslaw
Macaroni cheese
Focaccia
Quiche
Corn fritter
Gnocchi
Teriyaki sauce

Sweet Recipes:

Hot cross bun
Apple crumble
Plum jam
Cinnamon rolls
Overnight oats
Pavlova
Shortbread
Pikelet
Chocolate brownie
Tiramisu

*Trending Searches: What was hot in 2022? The "trending" queries are the searches that had the highest spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2022 as compared to 2021.

Posted by Carrie Jones, Communications and Public Affairs Manager Google New Zealand

New Zealand Blog

Helping more people stay safe with flood forecasting

Google Play Games beta open to all players in New Zealand

Professional Development Grants to Promote Diversity in STEM Education

Connecting Millions More People with Helplines with ThroughLine New Zealand

Improving Representation of Aotearoa’s Communities in Tech

Protection and partnership in today’s Waitangi Day Doodle

2022 Google News key moments

Year in Search: Here’s what Kiwis searched for in 2022

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