Google Earth Outreach program for non-profits launches in Australia and New Zealand [update]

Google has revealed that its Google Earth Outreach program is now available in Australia and New Zealand. The company plans to host mapping workshops with 75 non-profit partners this week.

The program offers software grants to eligible organizations for access to Enterprise versions of its mapping products, including Google Earth Pro, Google Maps Engine, Google Maps API for Business and Google Maps Coordinate.

Update: Google has officially announced the program on its blog. Projects include research on coral reef landscapes by Dr. Elizabeth Madin from Macquarie University; an interactive map by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Google Earth tours from the  Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

Google began awarding the grants last year, and it announced new grants last week. This year’s winners included The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Clinton Health Access Initiative, SamSamWater Foundation, Wild South, Internews, Vanishing Worlds Foundation / World Oral Literature Project / Language Landscape, the Jane Goodall Institute and Atlantic Public Media

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The company says it looks for “innovative ideas that address the world’s most pressing problems in the areas of the environment, humanitarian issues, disaster preparedness, at both the local and global level” when awarding grants.

We previously covered an impressive use of Google Earth – detecting landmines – that was helped by one such grant. The Google Earth Outreach team also played a part in mapping the amazon for Street View.

Image Credit – Thinkstock