Google : the library of the World

The library of Alexandria in ancient Egypt was probably the most famous example of a successful storage of a large range of universal scriptures. Founded at the beginning of the 3rd century BC during the reign of Pharaoh Ptolemy II, it was partially destroyed by fire on a number of occasions, leading to the irreplaceable loss of many invaluable manuscripts that were establishing and memorising the history of the Antic world.

With a bit of imagination, we could easily figure today a panicked librarian, with his blackened face and half burnt tunic, hurrying out of the flaming building, pressing a ….laptop against his chest (would have such been available at the time!), in a splendid move to save the memory of our past civilisations.

Still, he would only have carried away a minor part of the written treasuries of the old times, as Alexandria, although probably the largest collection of such times, still could not represent more than a minor portion of all the world’s heritage. In addition, his laptop would of course have had a limited memory…And finally, any reconstructed library would still have been again at the only disposal of the happy Diaspora of a few well selected scholars.

Here comes Google, some 2300 years later, a pioneering and most unmatched enterprise to create the ultimate Library of the World, through mastering unsurpassed technologies:

• Searching, gathering, memorising, organising, and storing all the information that is available on the Blue Planet, representing a mass of data that cover the whole known Universe.

• Offering it to the largest variety of the inhabitants of the World, thru all six continents, at instant pace.

• Ascertaining in the same time the due rights for all to protect their own privacies, and deleting at given intervals of time from its huge memory all personal aspects that must not remain there.

Google, here is the memory of the World, intelligent, widely available, fast and efficient, servicing our thirst for knowledge, driving up the boarders of our intelligence.

Pierre de Fermor (With A. de Fermor de Wolkoff).

Davos 2007 : A Russian affair

It started with a question, raised by Ernst & Young CEO James Turley: “Is Russia reliable?“ The answer that he provided in concerto with a number of business participants was a sound “yes!” And these were, among others, E.Nevile Isdell, the chief of Coca-Cola, and Steve Forbes, the CEO of Forbes, who added: “Russia’s future is great because it does have a tradition in math, in sciences, engineering. And if those intellectual resources are free and allowed to flourish, Russia will become a mighty economy in the global economy.”

Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, a potential successor to President Putin, could not be more satisfied, later adding that Russia was actually striving to win international respect for itself and for its people, “not by force, but by our behaviour and achievements”.

Behaviour it is, actually. Such is critical for the ongoing maturation of the Russian economy, as all could only agree. And be satisfied that the Russian government has acknowledged this concern, and decidedly encased it as a dominant obligation.

It did not go unnoticed this year that Russia participated to Davos, with a high level delegation led by Medvedev himself, this being a sharp change to previous years where the Russian government simply ignored the event. The message was clear. And simple. Russia, stated Medvedev, will grow by diversifying its economy, improving its infrastructure, and developing a highly skilled workforce. As he noted, the economic output of Russia will surpass for the first time, in 2007, the highest level set by the Soviet Union: “Some say Russia is starting to resemble the Soviet Union… Maybe in part this is the case, but only in one area: This year we will reach the maximum level of GDP reached in the Soviet era!” He added: Russia should surpass Saudi Arabia to become the World’s largest oil producer in the near future, and currently ranks N°1 in gas production and N°4 in electricity.

Medevedv recognized that the Government is to submit soon a bill to the Russian State Duma that sets limits on foreign ownership in strategic industries such as oil, gas, metals and defense. As the past lack of clarity on this issue has certainly spooked potential investors, he added that the bill “will be clear, fully balanced and (will) answer all questions that arise in daily practice, (as) the worst thing in business is opacity and under predictability”. In addition, stated Economic Development and trade Minister German Gref, “there is no real danger of excessive state control of the economy in the future, because if it is in State hands, it will be inefficient, ineffective, and we would find ourselves having to sell it”.

Davos 2007: It certainly was a Russian Affair, among other famous subjects as climatic changes, or the limits of global economy. Russia is a giant that, as stated M. Medvedev “we are not trying to push anyone to love, but we shall not allow anyone to hurt”. Clear enough, Sir!

Pierre de Fermor.