Google’s European Zeitgeist event this year has been nicknamed “the Royal one” as it was attended not only by the usual business heavyweights like Vivendi’s Jean-Bernard Lévy and Richard Branson but by Prince Charles of the UK, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Prince Philip of Spain.
The presence of royalty is not as strange as it might initially seem. Much of Zeitgeist revolves around discussions on how to save the planet, and this is a project that many otherwise under-employed European royals have embraced.
Perhaps these aristocrats also see a kindred spirit in Google, the king of the internet. Oh if only it weren’t for those tedious elected governments, those dull regulations, how much easier it would be to make the world work better.
Larry Page, co-founder of Google, is an immensely likable guy. He looks a little like an older version of Alexander Rybak, the Norwegian winner of this year’s Eurovision song contest – minus the violin. And he clearly wants to do good.
Asked by Eric Schmidt, chief executive, what his plans were, Mr Page said he wanted to make the world better. How? “I don’t know” Mr Page grinned.
But he does have ideas on many things. How you could use computers to cut road deaths, for example. It’s not hard to believe him when he says Google wants to index the world’s information because this would be A Good Thing.
Google’s information is really valuable, says Mr Page. Maybe for predicting epidemics. Maybe for some other public service use that hasn’t been thought of yet. Hence the company should be allowed to keep it without restrictions.
The trouble with this is, however, that it’s not very democratic. This is our information, after all. Should people – through their elected representatives – not be allowed to set rules on how their information can be collected, stored and used? Should we just rely on Google promising to be a force for good – without any real guarantees that it will stick to those promises?
Democracies are frustratingly slow. Regulation can feel stifling to innovators. Public debate can seem uninformed and tedious. But surely we cannot want to have Google simply make our choices for us -however well intentioned – any more than we would want to return to an absolute monarchy despite the laudable aims Prince Charles has for saving the rainforests.
