'Nothing more important than education' - Google vice-president

"There is nothing more important than education. Human history is all about learning and passing on to others," Vinton Cerf, vice-president and chief internet evangelist for Google, told The Times during the inaugural meeting of the Internet Governance Forum in Athens, Greece two weeks ago.

Dr Cerf, widely known as the "founding father" of the internet after he co-designed the TCP/IP protocols and the architecture of the internet, was commenting about Google's joint project entitled the Literacy Project.

Earlier last month, Google and Unesco's Institute for Lifelong Learning Literacy Campaign (Litcam), an initiative of the Frankfurt Book Fair, teamed up to launch the Literacy Project, a web-based resource for teachers, literacy organisations and anyone interested in the promotion of reading and education.

Dr Cerf said that reading has been passed on to us from past generations and that we should make sure future generations learn from us.

He said the Literacy Project might have been borne from another Google initiative, google.org, which is concerned about global problems and that information about them is available to the public.

"Google is deeply involved in the scanning of materials from libraries so that we don't lose it and people could have access to it. There are literally hundreds of projects going around Google, some of which are business oriented, focusing on issues like global warming and environmental problems."

The Literacy Project, which can be accessed from www.google.com/literacy, is a library of educational resources. The website allows one to search for books, papers, articles and e-learning videos. It also allows one to run a search for educational organisations worldwide, and to set up reading groups and post blogs. The project, which was launched in conjunction with the start of the Frankfurt Book Fair, also allows users to share their resources.

At the launch last month, Nikesh Arora, vice-president of Google's European Operations, said: "Google's business was born out of a desire to help people find information. It's exciting to see how literacy organisations and educators are using the internet to share ideas and information. We hope this site will serve as a bridge to even greater communication and access to important information about literacy problems - and solutions".

Adama Ouane, director of Unesco's Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), said: "Education for All is Unesco's first priority. Literacy is at the heart of Education for All and is an issue of vital importance for individuals, families, communities and societies. Literacy and basic education give individuals a chance to succeed, open a world of opportunities, contribute to equality, improve health and economic self-sufficiency. The aim of this site reflects one of the key missions of Unesco, and in particular of its Institute for Lifelong Learning: to promote literacy, build capacity and enhance access to information about the issue".

"Litcam is excited to have partnered with Google on this site. A global problem deserves a global solution, and we believe that cooperation and the sharing of best practices is key in the fight against illiteracy," Karin Plötz, director of Education for the Future, Litcam, said.