21 September 2006 | Author: Jessica Armstrong

Google: socially responsible or a villainous corporation?

Google's motto, informally, is "don't be evil". So it's fair to say that they aim to make their practices morally admirable. In fact, that's exactly what Google's Code of Conduct claims to set out to do: it is a "set of rules meant to inform all [Google's] actions" to which Google, as an employer, expects all employees, consultants, directors, and so on to adhere to. The core of the code, Google explains, is that, "being Googlers means striving toward the highest possible standard of ethical business conduct."

Recent news has proved that Google truly means to act upon these standards, or principles, and some might say that Google has skyrocketed up the social responsibility ladder by attempting to set an example for us all.

Google have recently partnered with the United Negro College Fund (UNFC), and this stimulates a need to delve deeper in the exemplary businesses and social practices of Google. It is not that Google do not have anything other than altruistic intentions - rather, it is simply difficult to identify them when they are overshadowed by negative publicity.

For example, earlier this year Google self-censored its Chinese search engine from what they deemed "dangerous searches" on a socio-political level. Some have vilified this action as a violation of freedom of speech, and it is not the intention of this reporter to get involved in a historical debate - rather to highlight that previous attempts at corporate responsibility have gone awry. In researching the news about this new partnership of Google's a number of other successful, socially responsible, and charitable partnerships and exercises undertaken by Google were unearthed.

The new partnership is based on the UNFC's practice of offering scholarships and grants to students enrolled in member colleges, other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and majority institutions since the mid-1980s. These scholarships aim to ensure that students are able to "discover and foster their unique gifts", and are well worth investigating. The partnership aims to:

"Encourage students to excel in their studies, inspire them to become role models and leaders, and help remove the financial barriers for African-American students wishing to pursue an engineering degree".

The UNFC website details the partnership and program with the following statement:

"Google strives toward one overarching mission: to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Google believes that the diversity of perspectives, ideas, and cultures leads to the creation of better products and services. UNCF and Google share a common and critical goal to ensure that America has the requisite scientific and technological talent to compete in today's global economy. As part of Google's ongoing commitment to advancing computing and technology, they have partnered with UNCF to provide scholarships to encourage students to excel in their studies and become active role models and leaders. The UNCF Google Scholarship Program will help to remove the financial barriers that cause so many African American students to abandon their pursuit of a computer science or computer engineering degree."

This is not the only partnership Google have entered for charitable purposes and to encourage social standards. The Hispanic College Fund and Google Scholarship Program offers funds to students studying computer science or computer engineering who ultimately demonstrate academic and financial need. Also, the Google Anita Borg Scholarship and the Google Global Community Scholarship for the 2006 Grace Hopper Conference are scholarships to encourage women in computer science and engineering.











And have you heard about Google.org? In October 2005 Google set up a subsidiary, Google.org, which would receive 1% of Google's stocks and profits. The charity was set up to fund social programs in the developing world.

Google are socially responsible, says this reporter - that's a yes for 'corporate', but no for 'villain'.

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