Google Acquires Crowdsourced Navigation App ‘Waze’ for $1.1B

Google and Waze: What made the Israeli startup say yes?
David Shamah for Tel Aviv Tech

After months of rumours, a deal to bring Waze into the Google fold has finally been signed. And it seems likely that one reason Waze chose Google to be its suitor because the search engine giant has no problem with Waze remaining an independent unit, continuing to operate in Israel.

Rumors of a sale to Google surfaced about two weeks ago, after reported negotiations between the Israeli company and Facebook fell apart. The price Facebook was prepared to pay for Waze – about a billion dollars, give or take – was very similar to the price Waze company sources said the company sold for ($1bn, plus an additional $100m in performance payouts in cash and Google stock for employees).

What perhaps was different about Google's offer was a willingness to allow Waze to return its own identity (as an R&D firm, regardless of what the company's new owners do with the technology Waze is continuing to develop).

As Waze CEO Noam Bardin put it in a blogpost announcing the sale (the post was published at the same time Google VP Brian McClendon announced the sale in his own blogpost): "Nothing practical will change here at Waze. We will maintain our community, brand, service and organization – the community hierarchy, responsibilities and processes will remain the same. Our employees, managers, founders and I are all committed to our vision for many years to come."
McClendon's post also explicitly noted: "The Waze product development team will remain in Israel."
Part of that vision is keeping Waze independent – and in Israel. Waze executives, among them company President Uri Levine, have many times stated that they planned to keep the company here, and saw no reason to move elsewhere. According to a company source, Waze executives, anticipating a buyout at some point, long ago decided that they wanted to be sure employees were treated fairly if an acquisition took place.

According to reports, Facebook pressed Waze to agree to move the company to one of its existing R&D centers. Waze refused, and it was at that point negotiations apparently faltered, paving the way for Google to make its own offer.
Waze remaining in Israel is not a problem for Google, which already has numerous R&D facilities here. But Google is hardly unique; nearly every major multinational tech company has at least one, and often more, facilities in Israel.
Facebook clearly has its own reasons for seeking to concentrate its R&D teams in limited locations, but if anything would have been worth changing that policy for, it was Waze. Now, the prize has gone to Google, which will integrate Waze users into its own mapping and driving apps — thus giving the world's biggest search engine an even bigger user base, and, more importantly, even better ways to get information on users.

Brazil cloud computing regulations

Brazil may introduce cloud computing regulations

By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech | June 4, 2013

The lack of a regulatory environment around data protection could finally be addressed if proposals become law

A Brazilian politician has put forward a set of proposals which prompt the creation of a cloud computing framework and the introduction of data protection laws.

The bill presented by federal representative Ruy Carneiro is intended to address the current lack of regulations around privacy protection for any data transferred to Brazil, interoperability and standards for the provision of services. The proposals also include the creation of agreements with other countries to regulate international data flows and mechanisms to deal with occurrences of cybercrime.

"Brazil should have the ambition of becoming an important player in the cloud computing space as it has the potential to increase national competitiveness and productivity," Carneiro says in his proposal.    

"So an adequate regulatory environment - which doesn't isolate the country, but offers security to citizens, enterprises and the government - is fundamental to foster the industry, bring more foreign investment in that field and allow Brazilian providers to expand internationally," he adds.

It is true that universally binding privacy laws does not exist and that countries where such laws have been adopted often struggle with reforms designed to respond to the advent of a global digital ecosystem. But the current unpreparedness of Brazil to deal with data-related matters is appalling.

As well as the inexistent privacy and cybercrime laws, Brazil hasn't signed the WIPO Copyright Treaty, meaning there are no regulations to protect new technology - and piracy is rampant here. A report by Cushman and Wakefield and hurleypalmerflatt published in 2012 also highlighted other concerns, including high energy prices and scarcity of skilled manpower, resulting in the conclusion that Brazil is currently one of the riskiest locations in the world in which to build a datacenter.

The proposals around cloud computing by the Brazilian politician, which are currently being analyzed by the Consumer Rights Commission of the government, are perhaps too wide-ranging, but are certainly the start of a much-needed debate. However, Mr Carneiro's path will be far from smooth: the congressman has expressed frustration about the fact his peers in the Chamber of Deputies have no idea what cloud computing is.

"No one understands even the most basic concept," the politician told Brazilian news portal iG.

If approved, the new measures will mean a huge advance in terms of Brazil's attractiveness in the global ICT market and also an update of the country's laws, which are seriously out of step with global standards on cybercrime and privacy. So hopefully, Mr Carneiro will manage to get his message across - not just for the local IT industry, but for citizens' sake.