Alphabet to try solve geopolitical puzzles with Jigsaw

17 Feb 2016

Alphabet, the umbrella organisation that Google finds itself under, has created a tech incubator called Jigsaw to solve global geopolitical problems using the think tank Google Ideas.

It’s quite difficult to keep on top of the amount of splinter organisations that are regularly created by Alphabet to do everything from managing its search engine or, in this most recent case, a tech incubator called Jigsaw.

In a post published to Medium, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt revealed how Jigsaw will operate under Google Ideas, the first piece of information being that Schmidt will operate as Jigsaw’s president.

Furthermore, the project’s mission will be to “use technology to tackle the toughest geopolitical challenges, from countering violent extremism to thwarting online censorship to mitigating the threats associated with digital attacks.”

‘The world is a complex puzzle’

Founded five years ago, Google Ideas was set up with the aim of ensuring greater security and privacy for the next generations of internet users, particularly those in parts of the world where internet privacy is flagrantly abused, as heard during Siliconrepublic.com’s chat with Charlie Lamson back in 2014.

Many of the projects that the Jigsaw incubator will look to work on include Google’s own Project Shield software, designed to prevent potential DDoS attacks, but will also expand to topics like countering money laundering, organised crime, police brutality, human trafficking and terrorism.

Explaining why Alphabet chose the name Jigsaw, Schmidt said it “acknowledges that the world is a complex puzzle of physical and digital challenges. For another, it reflects our belief that collaborative problem-solving yields the best solutions”.

Jigsaw image via Shutterstock

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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