The company is already well known for aiding billions of people in finding anything imaginable. From the name of the kid who played Cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch (Robbie Rist) to immersive directions (complete with photos) to a café at the other end of the planet, Google has helped.
Google Earth Outreach gives non-profit organizations the resources they need to help tell stories. Photo credit: iStockphoto.
Now the company which has built its reputation on helping people find things is reaching out to non-profit organizations seeking to find supporters.
Google Earth Outreach is a visualization tool that Google says is designed to “bring your cause to life.” The application allows organizations to create maps in its popular Google Earth offering to dynamically show areas affected by industrial development, demonstrate the migration patterns of birds and animals and connect with other non-profits with related stories.
Organizations can also apply for software grants and other services that fall under the Google for Nonprofits program. In a world where information technology has made every aspect of our life global, Google Earth Outreach is a natural fit for organizations whose stories already reach across the planet.
The tool has already been used by the United Nation’s Environment Programme’s Atlas for our Changing Environment to link written articles to the physical world, and by the Surui tribe in the Amazon to visualize deforestation.
Google Outreach has even reached Canada. Using Google’s application, the Pew Environment Group has produced its Boreal Forest Tour, a virtual flyover of the 1.2 billion acres that form one of Canada’s greatest natural treasures. The tour includes the routes of migratory songbirds and outlines the importance of protecting wildlife like caribou and grizzly bears.
OSQAR has talked about Canada’s boreal forest and the importance of conserving the ecosystem while producing much-needed bitumen. Our stakeholders expect us to be a responsible user of the land.
As a member of the Boreal Leadership Council, an organization committed to protecting 50 percent of the Canada’s boreal forest, Suncor welcomes any tool aimed at creating an informed conversation about this ecosystem and impacts by resource development. (For the record, about 0.02 percent of Canada’s boreal forest has been disturbed by oil sands mining operations, according to Alberta Environment.)
Regardless of your perspective, universal access to a common set of facts and data can only help generate meaningful dialogue and, we hope, real solutions.
The company is less than modest about Google Earth Outreach, boldly promoting: “You want to change the world. We want to help.”
The confidence is understandable, given the company’s sensational track record in rolling out applications that truly make things easier to do. And we’re holding out hope a Google application for bitumen extraction will be forthcoming soon.
