Google's Schmidt to give $1M for tech that improves our world

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt will dole out $1 million to groups using technology to solve world problems.

Schmidt appeared on "CBS This Morning" on Monday to promote his new book "The New Digital Age," co-authored with Jared Cohen, founder and director of Google Ideas. Launched in 2010, Google Ideas was designed by Google to call attention to certain worldwide issues, including counterterrorism, counterradicalization, nonproliferation, and citizen empowerment.

And now Schmidt is putting that money where his mouth his, he said on CBS.

"The book is about the problems. There lots of people working on the solutions. We identified a whole bunch of companies in different parts of the world trying to solve oppressive censorship, empower individuals, and make these phones more useful," Schmidt said, referring to the spread of mobile phones.

Schmidt didn't reveal the who, what, or where of the $1 million grant, though he and Cohen apparently traveled to more than 40 countries to see how technology is being used. Cohen also discussed one key issue in his view -- how dictators are affected by the surge of people coming online, notably in such areas as the Ukraine and Venezula.

"As billions of people come online, most of the people are coming online in parts of the world that have autocratic governments," Cohen said. "And they're going to be the largest demographic in the world armed with mobile devices."

We'll know who receives the grant on March 10 when the actual recipient or recipients are announced.

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