Google's Eric Schmidt will donate $1 million dollars in grants to organizations that are using technology to solve some of the world's problems, including censorship, crime and natural disasters.
Announcements of the grants will take place next month to coincide with the paperback release of Schmidt and Jared Cohen's book The New Digital Age (Knopf, 2013) which outlines a "transformational vision of the future: a world where everyone is connected—a world full of challenges and benefits that are ours to meet and to harness."
Clearly, like many of his Silicon Valley peers, Schmidt is a strong proponent that technology is the answer to the majority of the world's toughest challenges.
“In writing The New Digital Age, Jared and I developed a strong belief in the power of technology to address some of the thorniest global challenges, a belief which was strengthened with each country we visited,” Schmidt said in a press release. “We felt it was important to recognize the work being done by non-profits that show promise in these areas."
Grantees will include those based in academic institutions as well as stand-alone organizations both in the U.S. and abroad. All recipients, however, are using technology to solve human problems. Schmidt's donation reinforces his message that the more people who are connected to the Internet, the better the world will be.
"I think I should put my money where my mouth is," he told CBS in an interview this morning. "Google's mission is to connect the world. We want a free, open Internet for everyone in the world."