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November Technology Salon: Computers in Schools TCO

2008-10-23T20:15:17Z

For November, we have a very special Technology Salon. In coordination with the World Bank e-Development Thematic Group and infoDev, we will have a World Bank ICT and Education Community of Practice Discussion on Total Cost of Ownership:

How much does this really cost?

How much does it really cost to introduce and sustain computers in schools? A discussion of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and models of affordable computing for schools in developing countries.

"Total cost of ownership" (TCO) is often underestimated, sometimes grossly, when calculating costs of ICT in education initiatives in developing countries. Estimates of initial costs to purchase equipment to overall costs over time vary widely; typically they lie between 10-25% of total cost. That said, there is a dearth of reliable data, and useful tools, to help guide education decision makers in their assessments of the true costs of educational technology initiatives.

A recent whitepaper from Vital Wave Consulting, "Affordable Computing for Schools in Developing Countries: A Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Model for Education Officials", and accompanying case study of ICT in education initiatives in India, provide further insight and perspective on this important and often controversial issue. The white paper discusses key issues related to technology use in education and presents several major findings.

At the same time, we now have an update to the TCO Tool for schools developed by the Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI) and Mr. Camfield. This tool, "Deploying 1:1 educational models in large scale: a practical budgeting tool based on TCO", is currently being utilized as part of planning processes in Rwanda, drawing on lessons learned from its earlier use elsewhere in Africa, most notably in Namibia.

Come join what we hope to be a lively presentation and discussion of the findings of both activities, their potential implications, and the underlying methodologies and assumptions underpinning the models explored in this work.

Speakers:

Karen Coppock, VP of Consulting Services, Vital Wave Consulting
Brendan Smith, Senior Consultant, Vital Wave Consulting
Jon Camfield, Director of ICT, Youth Service America

Logistics:

11am to 12:30pm - 6 November 2008
The World Bank "J" Building,
701 18th Street, NW, room J-B1-075

While this Technology Salon promises to be larger than usual, seating is still limited, so please RSVP to Lorelei Lacdao, with the subject line: "Attend ICT/ed TCO meeting"

September Technology Salon: USAID ICT4D Challeneges

2008-09-18T14:50:16Z

The Technology Salon returns to Washington DC this September 25th to explore an innovative initiative from USAID: ICT4D Challenges.

Let's solve his ICT4D challenges

Akin to the contests that had Lindbergh cross the Atlantic and Rutan/Branson cross into space, ICT4D challenges (contests, makeovers, and competitions) will leverage user-driven innovation to create ICT-based solutions for major development challenges, with the incentive of cash prizes and possible inclusion in a USAID project.

These challenges will spur innovation at the nexus of development and technology while forging new connections between the technology and development communities.

What better forum to explore where USAID is going with these challenges and help shape that path than the Technology Salon, our intimate and informal discussion of technology and development?

Leading the conversation will be Seema Patel, Alliance and Management Specialist for DAI, who is consulting with USAID on the Global Development Commons Initiative - the sponsor of the ICT4D challenges. Our gracious host is the UN Foundation and I'll have coffee and donuts for a good morning sugar rush to wake everyone up.

September Technology Salon: USAID ICT4D Challenges
Thursday, September 25th, 8:30-10am,
UN Foundation Conference Room
1800 Mass Avenue, NW, Suite 400,
Washington, D.C. 20036 (map)

Do note that seating is limited and the UN Foundation is in a secure building. So the first dozen (12) to RSVP will be confirmed attendance and then there will be a waitlist.

Omatek Smartbook: Local 4P Computing Innovation

2008-08-26T22:00:30Z

Earlier this month, I had the luxury of inspecting a new Omatek Smartbook at the Ministry of Education in Ghana. The Smartbook is a low-cost laptop aimed at the education market, and with one look, you'l know its an XO laptop derivative:

It also happens to be one of the many 4P Computers that are coming out of the developing world. Not content to leave the 4PC market to Asus, these local computer manufactures are making their own low-cost, highly-portable, power-efficient, and performance-relative computers for local and regional markets.

Omatek Computers is a Nigerian company with a computer assembly factory in Ghana. This allows Omatek to produce computers tax free for Ghana and Nigeria, within certain quotas, giving it a competitive advantage over international vendors.

Add in the reference designs shared freely by the chipset manufacturers and local companies like Omatek are the next wave of real innovation the in 4P Computing market - more creative than Intel or OLPC, and over the long term, more game-changing.

As soon as one of these vendors realizes the true untapped market - parents who want to give their children an educational edge - you will see an explosion in local design and assembly. Just the employment, investment, and empowerment that the developing world needs.

OLPC News Community of Practice

2008-08-14T21:07:49Z

Enlightened by OLPC News success

Recently, I've been looking at OLPC News in a whole new light. I'm seeing it as more than just a blog. In fact, when you bring in the OLPC News Forum and how both integrate with the OLPC Wiki, I see a three part system that is the community of practice around the One Laptop Per Child program.

First, a definition of a community of practice:

A community of practice is a group of people who share a common passion for a subject and through regular interaction and communication, improve their knowledge and expertise in the topic area.

Communities of practice differ from teams and networks in that they are bound by a shared desire to learn, and implement the learning through practice.

I believe that the triumvirate of OLPC News, OLPC News Forum, and OLPC Wiki serve to accomplish four goals typical of a community of practice:

Exchange and interpret information between participants

When you look at the success of OLPC News in being an independent source for news, information, commentary, and discussion of the "$100 laptop" initiative, with almost 900 posts and 10,000+ comments, you quickly realize that there is a massive exchange and interpretation of information at all levels of ability. Add in the 3,200+ members of the OLPC News Forum and their 25,000 posts and you realize the conversation is greater than any single domain.

Yet, there is not other platform where OLPC insiders like Walter Bender and Mary Lou Jepsen to technology visionaries like Lee Felsenstein and Steve Cisler, to the many thousands of interested and committed supporters can express their thoughts and hope to change others (and their) minds as equals.

Participating in OLPC discussions

Retain the collective knowledge of participants

From the beginning of the One Laptop Per Child initiative, the OLPC Wiki has been the supreme knowledge resource and official knowledge repository for the OLPC community. With sections managed by OLPC directly, yet an open architecture that lets the community publish its own learning's, the Wiki has grown organically to be the final arbitrator of fact from fiction, even if those facts first came from OLPC News instead of OLPC itself.

Even better, community members have made the direct link between the wiki and OLPC News & Forum. Wiki pages have developed directly from OLPC News posts or Forum conversations, and the Wiki also drives new thoughts and ideas for posts and conversations. One of the best examples is How Laptop delivery Breaks, where an OLPC News reader, using the OLPC News Forum to collect and analyze data from the community, created the best known knowledge base around a major OLPC issue.

Raise the competencies of each participant

From the feedback I've received since the inception of OLPC News, I am confident that the conversation on it and the Forum, combined with references to the Wiki, has educated thousands of OLPC supporters on everything from the need for a defined implementation plan, to the actual costs of the OLPC program, to the steps to add Ubuntu on the XO laptop. In the process, the level of conversation has also increased, with basic questions giving way to investigative reports on deployments and intense debates on the basis of education itself.

I think the impact of this discourse is best expressed by Lee Felsenstein:

"[OLPC News] was the missing link we needed - constant journalism and analysis from an expanding group of interested and intelligent (most, at least) readers. Attention integrated over time, with an active audience. I shifted most of my blogging effort over to OLPC, somewhat to the detriment of my own blog but much to the enhancement of my profile."

Lee Felsenstein in OLPC action

Create a shared identity and purpose for participants

A dozen writers, at least 50 contributors, and countless commenters spread across the globe - few even know real names or have seen photos of each other. Yet every single one of these people considers themselves an OLPC supporter in one way or another. This is what OLPC News, Forum and the OLPC Wiki have created. User groups from Washington DC to Vancouver, each with on and offline activities that forge inter-personal links and informal support networks that reinforce the online community.

In fact, participation in OLPC News and Forum has created such strong identities for several participants, they are now recognized experts on topics they once led in obscurity. Personally, my identity with OLPC News has led to opportunities and employment I once thought well beyond my reach.

And that is the whole purpose of a community of practice - to improve your knowledge and expertise in a topic area of interest through regular interaction and communication.

From OLPC to ASUS: An Overview of 4P Computing

2008-07-23T15:49:55Z

Three years ago, the IT industry was shocked with a radical idea - a "$100 laptop" designed specifically for education in the developing world. Price would be low and yet quality high, through innovative design mixed with low-cost components, and sales would be focused exclusively on the developing world.

This heretical bombast upset the longstanding computer manufacturing tradition to keep adding functions to maintain high prices in the developed world, while ignoring the developing world. The revolution was lead by One Laptop Per Child and its visionary founder, Nicholas Negroponte, and we now have a whole plethora of revolutionaries - from the upstart Asus to the goliath Intel - who are developing "4P Computers" in response to OLPC's iconic XO Laptop.

4P Computing is a new class of appropriate technology - computing power, performance, portability, and price specificity designed for the realities and markets of the developing world.

Now join Wayan Vota, an expert on ICT in the developing world, in an overview of this revolution, the resulting 4PC's, and their impact on the whole information and communication technology industry:

A special thanks to Alexius International for creating this video.

July Technology Salon: Empowering m-Banking, Legally

2008-07-02T21:27:55Z

For the July Technology Salon, we're returning to the cellular technology world, with a twist. We'll be discussing mobile banking, m-Banking, but we'll move beyond the handsets and the hype to discuss the legal frameworks required to make it a reality.

The future bank teller in Mali

In some countries, text messages cannot be used as evidence in court - a problem if that's all you have to show for a money transfer. In other regions, cross-border and multi-currency transactions is the domain of banks, not mobile operators. In either situation or more, what is the development community's response to facilitate m-Banking?

Please join Michael Tetelman of AED, and Ann Casanova of CARANA, at the UN Foundation headquarters for a vibrant discussion of their work in overcoming legal and regulatory barriers to make local and intra-regional m-Banking a reality in the developing world.

July Technology Salon: Empowering m-Banking, Legally
Tuesday, July 15th, 8:30-10am,
UN Foundation Conference Room
1800 Mass Avenue, NW, Suite 400,
Washington, D.C. 20036 (map)

Do note that seating is limited and the UN Foundation is in a secure building. So the first dozen (12) to RSVP will be confirmed attendance and then there will be a waitlist.

About the Speakers

Ann Casanova is a lawyer with fourteen years of combined experience in multilateral trade negotiations, institutional strengthening, and management of USAID and IDB projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. Ms. Casanova joined CARANA Corporation in 2004 as Vice President of the firm's Trade Practice.
Dr. Michael S. Tetelman is director of the dot-ORG program at the Academy for Educational Development (AED), and designs and manages innovative ICT infrastructure and applications projects that stimulate economic growth and improve the service delivery of governments and other institutions.

About the Technology Salon

Wayan Vota hosts the Technology Salon, an intimate and informal discussion around emerging trends in technology and international development, with a focus on both:

technology's impact on donor-sponsored technical assistance delivery, and
private enterprise driven economic development, facilitated by technology.

Active participation with your ideas, opinions, and predictions is actively encouraged, and Power Point presentations are banned. If you'd like to join us, please subscribe to get invitations.

Asus Eee PC is the 4P Computing Market Leader

2008-07-01T18:46:28Z

With the plethora of new 4PC's (computer power, performance, price, and portability perfectly suited for the developing world), coming out of Computex this year, you might be wondering who is the current market leader. Personally, I would have to say its Asus with its popular Eee PC line.

Now that may surprise those that know me as a One Laptop Per Child fanboy, but as I told the Economist in its article "The rise of the low-cost laptop":

By raising the very possibility of a $100 laptop, the XO presented the industry with a challenge. Wayan Vota, founder of OLPCNews.com, an independent website that follows the project, calls the XO a "harbinger of an entirely new class of computers".

As such a harbinger, OLPC took the concept of 4P Computing, first conceptualized by the Simputer, and made it a practical reality with the XO laptop. But in the many missteps we chronicled on OLPC News, it never really commercialized its lead.

Asus has. It took Nicholas Negroponte's basic "$100 laptop" idea, and according to PC Magazine's "Asus Makes Another Eee PC Wave" article, commercialized it beyond anyone's expectations:

"We forecast sales of Eee PCs to double to 10 million units in 2009 with growing demands from both developed and emerging countries," said Jerry Shen, the CEO of Asus. According to a recent report from IDC, Asus shipped around 1.4 million notebooks in the first quarter of 2008 and ranked No.8 in terms of market share.

"In terms of worldwide shipments, it is the first time for a Taiwan IT brand to create such a huge impact in the global market by a single product," said Dickie Chang, the Personal Computing Solutions Analyst for IDC.

Now this doesn't mean that Asus will be the 4PC leader of tomorrow. In fact, the mantle may shift as early as this fall, as other players enter the market. Rumors and reality have everyone from HP to Dell to Toshiba, along with several come-from-nowhere candidates (like Asus, 6 months ago), jumping into the fray.

Only one thing is certain: The XO and its direct competitor, the Classmate PC, are, sadly, not going to be in the lead.

June Technology Salon: OLPC in the Field

2008-06-03T03:45:46Z

There is much talk about One Laptop Per Child, Nicholas Negroponte idea of a "$100 laptop" empowering education in the developing world. Yet the focus tends to be on the XO laptop itself, not the overall impact of the program on both technology and education.

Rabi Karmacharya

For the next Technology Salon on June 3 at 5:30pm, we'll move pass the headlines and into the field with two special guests:

Aaron Kaplan, of OLPC Austria, will talk about how he's leveraging wireless mesh networking initiatives to facilitate one laptop per child
Rabi Karmacharya of OLE Nepal, will explain how he is developing lasting educational advantages within the Nepalese school system

We'll have an hour of free-flowing conversation and debate around the topic and its impacts, followed by open-ended informal discussions between practitioners, in an intimate and informal setting:

June Technology Salon
Tuesday, June 3 @ 5:30pm
Hosted by RTI International - DC
Main Conference Room
701 13th Street, N.W.
Suite 750 (map)

The Comming Computex 4P Computing Competition

2008-05-15T01:46:41Z

Now that One Laptop Per Child has brought the 4P Computing vision into reality, and Asus proved its market with the Eee PC, expect to see an amazing plethora of form factors at this year's Computex that ascribe to the power, performance, price, and portability required by the developing world.

Mary Lou Jepsen with her XO laptop

But don't take my learned opinion on the matter, just listen to Mary Lou Jepsen, inventor of the XO laptop's dual mode screen:

So many new machines are coming out about the size of the XO laptop. I've heard that 50 distinct different laptop models will be introduced at Computex (in Taiwan) alone in early June. These machines use screens between 7-10″ diagonals - and have been slapped together rather quickly to capitalize on the momentum first created by One Laptop per Child.

Now she sees the new 4PC entrants being high on price, and they are. The cheapest 4PC laptops that I've seen are still around $450 for the base models. Yet, I must take exception to Jepsen's claim that $450 is double the XO price.

For any retail purchase, where pricing really matters, the XO is at least $300 on eBay and $400+ if purchased through the Give One Get One process. OLPC has set the price floor at $400, for better or worse. But I do have to agree with Mary Lou's overall vision. She and I can both celebrate this:

At the very least, we should have extremely low-power, sunlight readable, high resolution screens in these and other laptops. Pixel Qi is working towards this and we will announce some of our partners soon.

Thanks! It will not be a moment too soon for all of us interested in applicable technology for the developing world.

May Technology Salon: Dialing for Digital Development

2008-05-01T18:52:54Z

Mobile phones have established themselves as the communication and networking platform of choice for billions of the world's consumers, most of whom are at the base of the global economic pyramid. Worldwide, mobile phone subscribers outnumber Internet users almost 3 to 1, with much of that gap coming from skyrocketing mobile phone use in Africa, India and China.

Yet new mobile computing platforms, such as the XO laptop from One Laptop Per Child and the Asus Eee PC promise to radically change Internet access with breakthrough portability, performance, power and price. Does "4P Computing" pose a challenge to mobile phone dominance, or does each approach blend into the other?

David Lehr

Please join David Lehr and Wayan Vota in a lively discussion of how this technology dissemination is transforming economic development at the Base of the Pyramid. Active participation with your ideas, opinions, and predictions is strongly encouraged.

About Your Hosts:

David Lehr recently authored Going Wireless: Dialing for Development for the Acumen Fund and focused on cell phones for farmers as a Reuters Fellow with the Digital Vision Program.

Wayan Vota is editor of One Laptop Per Child News and previously as Director of Geekcorps, promoted computer-based economic development.

Conversation Logistics:
Wednesday, April 305:30pm-7pm
Mercy Corps Conference Room
1730 Rhode Island Ave NW
Suite 809 - 8th Floor
Washington DC - map

April Technology Salon: The Rise of 4P Computing

2008-04-14T15:57:16Z

One year ago this week, One Laptop Per Child changed its mission, dropping its invitation for lower-cost alternatives to the XO laptop. Was that a reaction just to Intel's Classmate PC, or amazing foresight?

Walter viewing the future

Either way, a year later we are witnessing a dramatic change in the low-cost laptop marketplace. New low-cost laptops, or as I am now calling them, 4P Computing (Power, Performance, Portability, Price) are popping up daily with entrants from the practical Asus Eee PC to the seemingly comical Van Der Led.

In the midst of all this action, I'd be honored if you could join me in an intimate and informal discussion on:

What will all these low-cost laptops (4PC's?) means to developing world markets?
Where might all this take us, both as "first-world" producers and consumers?
How can we influence 4PC growth as leading voices in the technology for the developing world space?

Be ready to share your ideas, opinions, and predictions. At the last meetup in August, I predicted G1G1, which sounded crazy at the time. Also, please bring examples of 4P technology if you have it - I'll have an XO or two of course.

Inveneo has graciously offered to host us in their new offices in San Francisco and Vital Wave Consulting is donating lunch.

4P Computing Meetup
Saturday, April 19
11am - 1pm
at the new Inveneo Offices
972 Mission Street, 5th Floor
San Francisco, CA
map: http://tinyurl.com/5e2owj
Parking is available

Please feel free to invite others who would be interested and interesting, just let me know so I can keep a headcount.

The Rise of 4P Computing Solutions for the Developing World

2008-04-09T16:06:05Z

Last August, I crowded a few friends into a Japanese restaurant in Silicon Valley to talk about technology in the developing world. Back then, the discussion swirled around One Laptop Per Child, as it was the most visible manifestation of our collective drive to spread appropriate information and communication technology beyond the world's elite.

The first 4PC entrant

That's because three years ago, Nicholas Negroponte stunned the technology industry and the development community with an amazing idea: One Laptop Per Child - a rugged yet low-cost computing device, the XO laptop, can empower primary education in the developing world.

His idea that low-power, appropriate performance, highly portable, and low-priced computers were not only possible, but could also radically change education in the developing world and computer manufacturing in the developed world was an instant hit with Presidents of the Global South.

While the global telecommunications industry was quick to dismiss his idea as folly, as I told the Economist in its article "The rise of the low-cost laptop", they did not laugh long:

By raising the very possibility of a $100 laptop, the XO presented the industry with a challenge. Wayan Vota, founder of OLPCNews.com, an independent website that follows the project, calls the XO a "harbinger of an entirely new class of computers".

New low-cost laptops, 4P Computers, are popping up daily so I am hoping to reconvene a similar thoughtful discussion next week in San Francisco, but this time, OLPC will be but one option for us to talk about. Now not a day goes by without another announcement of a new laptop in the OLPC space with entrants from the practical Asus Eee PC to the seemingly comical Van Der Led "Jisus laptop".

4P Computing

What is "4P Computing"? Its a simple acronym to describe these new computing devices that are now responding to four market requirements of the developing world, Power, Performance, Portability, Price. 4P Computing, or 4PC's, is a better term than Intel's "netbook" or the industry's UMPC (ultra-mobile PC) and ULPC (ultra low-cost PC), because the term "4P Computing" leaves open the form factor and focuses on what really matters:

Power

In the developing world, grid electricity is rare, and generator power is shockingly expensive. Just listen to Michail Bletsas talk about the Negroponte-financed Cambodian school that inspired OLPC:

The largest operating expense for that school is the diesel fuel for the generator at this point in time. That includes airfare and living expenses for the volunteer teachers that teach there. That includes computers, amortized over 5 years. That includes building and maintaining the school. Getting diesel fuel to power the generator is the biggest ongoing operating expense.

To reach any level of market penetration, computers must be highly energy efficient, mainly to allow them to run off solar or other alternate energy sources, including human power. High energy efficiency also reduces heat waste, negating the need for a fan or other dust openings in the form factor, increasing processor lifespan.

Measuring Sugar on the Clasmmate

Performance

If you look at any cybercafé in the developing world, you'll see people actively engaged with computers, but only using a few applications. Web browsing, including web-email and video watching, listening to MP3's, creating documents, and doing light calculations. These activities do not require high processing resources. In fact, the more progressive Internet cafés are using thin clients sharing a single processor.

What people do want is easy-to-use hardware and software that does not need constant maintenance. Specifically, software that resists viruses, the bane of any beginner user who doesn't understand the real malice lurking online. Oh and software that is essentially free.

Yet, speed is not a major concern when Internet speeds are measured in Kbs, not Mbs. In addition, many cultures measure time in days or even seasons, so microseconds and even seconds are not fretted over. For all those that bemoan Sugar's speed, the usual response I hear overseas is: "What's your hurry?"

Portability

This type of computing device must be portable. That means both lightweight and small enough to carry around in a backpack or under a child's arm, and yet rugged enough to survive such portability on a daily basis.

Ruggeness extends from a strong physical design, down to water and dust resistant cases, solid-state memory, and screens that can be read in daylight. Yet weight cannot exceed a few pounds with 2 kilograms the maximum upper limit. At that point both the physical effort to carry the machine and its mass if dropped, make it impractical for developing world environments where dedicated computer rooms or home offices are rare.

There, most activity happens in a communal setting, be it the living room, dining room table, or front porch. Computing will need to bend to this model.

Happy $400 Asus Eee PC users

Price

Why did Nicholas Negroponte start with the "$100 laptop" moniker? Because people understand price, they respond to a barrier breaking move, and $100 is a nice number to dream about. While $100 is still a dream for OLPC, even the $400 G1G1 reality has set a new price point.

At $400, the growing middle class in Africa, Asia, and South America can buy their first computer, no matter what Annette Jump at Gartner says, $400 may be a month's salary to many, but computers were a month's salary in the US until not too long ago, and that didn't slow adoption. Add in computing as a way to improve children's education, and as any parent will tell you, price becomes secondary.

But price still matters. At $400 or less the developing world makert will expand rapidly and a whole other market emerges. As G1G1 proved first, at least 81,000 people in America and Canada will buy a laptop, if only to tinker with it. Asus has taken that idea and expanded it with the Eee PC to about 500,000 laptops last year with a 3.1 million goal for 2008.

4P Computing Players

Borrowing liberally from the Laptop Mag low-cost laptop cheat sheet, I've made the following comparison of the current 4P Computing players:

4PC Name	Power	Perform	Portability	Price
Asus Eee PC	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Classmate/2Go PC	No	Yes	No	Yes
Elonex One	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Everex Cloudbook	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
HP Mini-Note PC	No	Yes	No	No
Norhtec Gecko	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
OLPC XO-1	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

No matter if you agree with my new 4PC tag line, I think we can all agree that this ever-expanding list of computing options realizes one of the dreams that both Nicholas Negroponte and I share: showing technology companies that there is both a mission and a market in the developing world.