Google NYC Tech Talk: Google Ideas

Google Tech Talk June 30, 2015 (click "show more" for more information) Presented by Yasmin Green, Salome Vakhtangadze, and Baris Yuksel ABSTRACT As long as people have expressed ideas, others have tried to silence them. Today one out of every three people lives in a society that is severely censored. Online barriers can include everything from filters that block content to targeted attacks designed to take down websites. For many people, these obstacles are more than an inconvenience—they represent full-scale repression. Engineers from Google Ideas will present the way technology is being used to enable free expression online, and protect every voice in the digital debate. Google Presenters: Yasmin Green Yasmin Green is the Head of Strategy and Operations for Google Ideas. She also oversees the team’s work on counter-radicalization and fragile states. At Google, Yasmin has assumed roles as Head of Sales Strategy and Operations for Southern Europe, Middle East, and Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa Operations Manager, and prior to joining Google, she consulted for Booz Allen Hamilton across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Yasmin has extensive experience leading and project managing in some of the world’s toughest environments. She has spent time in Iran, Syria and Nigeria, where she has worked cross-functionally in sectors ranging from oil and gas to the Internet. She recently led a multi-partner coalition to launch Against Violent Extremism, the world's first online network of former violent extremists and survivors of terrorism. Yasmin is a Senior Advisor on Innovation to Oxford Analytica and Co-Chair of the European Commission's’ Working Group on Online Radicalization. Salome Vakhtangadze Salome is a Software Engineer. She joined Google Ideas after having worked on Google's Search Infrastructure team for 3 years. She currently works on uProxy, and is passionate about human rights. Baris Yuksel Baris Yuksel is a tech lead and software engineering manager. He is currently leading projects at Google Ideas, a think/do tank that explores how technology can enable people to confront threats in the face of conflict, instability and repression. Google Ideas was founded on the principle that the next five billion to come online will face far greater human challenges than the first two billion. Baris has been focusing on designing and developing next generation features and technologies, trying to create magic moments not for few but for all. In the past, Baris worked on Google Search with Craig Nevill-Manning, founder of Google New York. Together they worked on features bridging the gap between Search and Google Now. Baris has been a volunteer with ScriptEd teaching high school students with an experimental curriculum, which he has been developing under the guidance of ScriptEd. He is hopeful that it will contribute to the major teaching effort. Baris graduated from MIT with a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, minoring in Economics.