Google "20-percent time" going to help Japan

Advertisement
By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 15 June 2012 15:39 IST
Highlights
  • Legions of Google workers are devoting a fifth of their work time or more to building technology to help to deal with the disaster in Japan.
Legions of Google workers are devoting a fifth of their work time or more to building technology to help to deal with the disaster in Japan.
Google has long allowed employees to spend 20 percent of their time on engineering projects that interest them but which don't fall into their usual area of focus.

The havoc and death wrought on Japan by a powerful earthquake and ensuing tsunami has prompted many "Googlers" to devote their "20-percent time" to crafting Digital Age tools for handling the crisis.

"A lot of 20-percent time is being spent on Japan," Google spokesman Jamie Yood told AFP on Thursday.

"There is definitely a group of people in our Tokyo office spending a lot more than 20 percent of their time on this, and that is supported by Google," he said.

Google has established a multi-lingual Crisis Response Page with links to resources such as emergency hotlines, relief organizations, maps, and a service for finding loved ones.

"Like the rest of the world, we've been transfixed by the images and news coming out of the northeastern part of Japan over the past six days," Google product manager Nobu Makida said in a blog post on Thursday.

"Googlers in Japan and elsewhere around the world have been working around the clock to try and help improve the flow of information."
The Japanese military Thursday used trucks and helicopters to dump tons of water onto the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant in efforts to douse fuel rods and prevent a disastrous radiation release.

The operation aims to keep the fuel rods inside reactors and containment pools submerged under water, to stop them from degrading when they are exposed to air and emitting dangerous radioactive material.

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.

Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. iPhone 18 Pro Max Roundup: Everything We Know Ahead of Launch
  2. Alienware 15 Arrives on Flipkart: Is This the Ultimate Mid-Range Gaming Powerhouse?
  3. Tecno Pova 8 Pro 5G Tonino Lamborghini Limited Edition Unveiled
  4. Samsung Galaxy A27 Review
  5. Xiaomi Power Bank 20000mAh 165W to Launch in India On This Day
  6. Xiaomi Smart Band 11 Active With a 1.47-Inch Screen Debuts: See Price
  7. Oppo A7 Pro Confirmed to Launch on This Date: See Features, Design
  8. Pixel Watch 5 Stephen Curry Special Edition Now on Sale: Price, Features
  1. IFA 2026: Lenovo Unveiled New IdeaPad, Yoga and ThinkBook Laptops
  2. IFA 2026: Nvidia RTX Spark PCs, Local AI Tools Announced With October Launch Planned
  3. WhatsApp Reportedly Rolling Out Third-Party AI Agent Chats to Android Users
  4. Luna Band Now Available Globally: Check Price in India, Specifications and Features
  5. Pocket Bitcoin Data Breach Exposes Personal and Financial Information of 5,411 Customers
  6. Google Pixel Watch 5 Stephen Curry Special Edition Goes on Sale: Price, Features and More
  7. IFA 2026: Noise Master Buds Open With Sound by Bose Technology Unveiled
  8. Binance Warns of Phishing Scam Targeting Crypto Users With Fake Account Security Alerts
  9. Oppo Find X10 Pro Max, Find X10 India Launch Seems Imminent as Phones Appear on Certification Site
  10. Xiaomi Smart Band 11 Active Launched With Up to 21 Days of Battery Life; Smart Band 11 Price, Features Revealed
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2026. All rights reserved.