Women and Mobiles

Watch interviews with some of the presenters from MobileActive.org's Women and Mobiles Tech Salon. How can mobile phones help women around the world improve their lives? And who are some of the women working in this amazing field? The tech salon looked at both questions, bringing together women in the M4D field to present their work.

Ghana Internet and Mobiles Entrepreneurs Forum‏

The PearlRichards Foundation and the University of Ghana Business School, Ghana , are organizing a one day forum on Internet and mobile entrepreneurship in Ghana. The forum seeks to showcase the innovative use of new media – internet and mobiles – by entrepreneurs to address the socio-economic and development challenges in Ghana. This year’s theme is Building Ghana through Internet Enterprises and Mobile Innovations.

The forum has two interrelated objectives, namely:
1. To offer participants an opportunity to share, discuss and learn from individual career experiences and profiles of Ghanaian Internet and Mobile entrepreneurs.
2. To educate participants on how to use Internet and mobile resources and applications to support and promote their creative ventures.

The forum will take place on November 5, 2010 at the University of Ghana Business School. GIMEF 2010 will encourage open minds, critical thinking, self-examination, creativity, and sharing ideas.

Technology entrepreneurs presenting at the forum include: Excelle Ghana, Silky Productions, Mobile Content Ghana, Txt Ghana, Funeralsinghana and Esoko Ghana. Visit TESS Africa, www.tessafrica.org to read more.

The forum is a pre-conference towards the Africa Internet and Mobile Entrepreneurs Conference in Uganda, December 10 (www.afiec.com). GIMEF and AFRIEC are both events organized by the Technology Entrepreneurs Seminar Series (TESS Africa www.tessafrica.org). TESS aims at inspiring African Youth and Graduates into Technology Entrepreneurship and it is supported by the PearlRichards Foundation (www.pearlrichards.org), PC Tech Magazine (www.pctechmagazine.com) and Uganda Telecom.

We look forward to your participation.

Richard Boateng, PhD and Longe Olumide, PhD
Forum Conveners

Click here to read online.

Bursary for ICT4D Masters from University of Manchester

FYI:

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The 2010 ICT4D Bursary, worth £6,000, is available exclusively for developing country applicants to the University of Manchester's one-year MSc ICTs for Development degree programme (www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/courses/06237/index.asp).

Application and eligibility details can be found at: www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/funding/idpmbursaries.htm.

Details on other funding sources and on part-time employment opportunities while studying in Manchester can be found at:
www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/postgraduate/taught/funding.

Richard Heeks
Director
Centre for Development Informatics
University of Manchester, UK
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/cdi

PhD/DBA in Development Informatics (inc. Scholarship Info.) at Manchester University

Here's another:

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The Centre for Development Informatics at the University of Manchester is seeking high-quality PhD and DBA candidates to research topics on ICTs/information systems and socio-economic development. Some scholarships are available for those starting in September 2010. Deadline dates vary but many require application before end February or end March 2010.

Only very high-quality candidates will be considered. We are typically looking for: - Candidates with a distinction-level Masters degree from an internationally-recognised university in an appropriate topic (which includes but is not limited to information systems, management, or development)
- Good English skills
- Relevant topic for study backed by a proposal that demonstrates an ability to work with academic theory

Candidates may choose to study a PhD, for which they will typically be based in Manchester during much of their study, other than a period of fieldwork in a developing country. Those already in employment may choose the DBA route, taken over a four-or-five-year period and requiring roughly two two-week periods of intensive study/supervision per year in Manchester. (Scholarships are not available for DBA study.)

Selected candidates will join the Centre for Development Informatics, the largest academic group working on issues of ICTs in developing countries.

CDI will consider any topic related to development informatics although we have particular priorities at present for work on:
- m-finance
- ICTs and small/micro-enterprise
- Gender implications of ICTs
- IS methodologies in developing countries
- E-government
- ICTs and civil society organisations
- ICT policy
- ICT-based offshoring

Further details about application and scholarships can be found at: www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/research/cdi/postgraduate/.

Richard Heeks & Brian Nicholson
Directors
Centre for Development Informatics
University of Manchester, UK
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/cdi

Call for Concept Notes: Radio, Convergence and Development in Africa

Deadline: January 8, 2010

Carleton University’s Centre for Media and Transitional Societies (CMTS), in collaboration with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is pleased to launch a call for concept notes, in French or English, outlining proposed research examining the impact of convergence between traditional radio and new information and communications technologies (ICTs) in sub-Saharan Africa.

For full details on the research competition, the call for concept notes and the submission process, please visit the project website at www.cmts-cmst.org.

Harvard & IDRC Conference on ICT4Development

Follow the Communication and Human Development: The Freedom Connection? conference taking place today, and organised by Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Speakers include world-renowned thinkers and writers: Amartya Sen, Michael Spence, Yochai Benkler, Clotilde Fonseca

Follow the conversations:
Free and open to the public: Live video and audio-only streams will be available starting at 19:00 (EST) with archived video available after the event

**Ethan Zuckerman and Jen Brea of Global Voices will be live-blogging

Discussion: Ask a question via Berkman's live Question Tool, or join in an IRC conversation (IRC client, e.g., Chatzilla for Firefox, required)

Optional RSVP via Facebook or Upcoming

Twitter: #idrc09

Learn more about the conference: cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/2009/09/idrc

Digital Bridge Institute organises ICT and NGO Forum

I was invited to participate yesterday in a forum organised by the Digital Bridge Institute in conjunction with Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Georgia Tech University and the MacArthur Foundation.

The meeting started on Tuesday, but the first two days were limited to MacArthur grantees and some close colleagues of Harvard and Georgia Tech. On Thursday, the forum was opened up to heads of up to 100 Nigerian NGOs.

It was my first time at the Institute and I was impressed by how smoothly the registration process proceeded (unlike a certain IT regulatory body's meeting, which I attended recently). And also unlike many other meetings, it started (almost) on time.

The objective of the day's meeting was to explore the ways in which NGOs can employ ICTs to work more efficiently. Colin Maclay of the Berkman Center kicked off the day with a review of the Information & Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) field. He outlined that he found this area interesting because:
- ICTs are a catalyst for change;
- ICTs offer innovative approaches to change;
- ICTs distribute and decentralise power

As a result, people become the drivers of change because they are the experts on their local issues. This means that it is important for NGOs to learn to engage with the technology available, rather than defer to 'experts' and 'consultants.'

His recommendations for NGOs seeking to use ICTs included:
- Adopting a wider mindset i.e. rethinking how we do our work
- Collaboration between and within sectors, because problems can be tacked from different angles
- Meetings of leadership and working towards consensus. This includes not being afraid to step-up to leadership positions.
- Dialogue and experimentation to see what tools work and to learn from past failures
- looking at how ICTs can be adapted to local needs

Ethan Zukerman (also of Berkman) gave a rousing and engaging presentation on web 2.0 tools and how they were designed to enable non-techies contribute content to the Internet. While this means, that a lot of the content will be fun and light-hearted or 'silly' stuff, that is no indictment on the tools. The user-friendliness of these tools means that can be as easily appropriated for more serious change-making. Examples are the use of Google Earth to track the movements of the Tunisian presidential jet as it carried the First Lady around the world on shopping expeditions; Fixmystreet.com; Ushahidi; Vote Report India.

Key questions to think about for NGOs are:
- How do NGOs get everyone paying attention and watching? (especially using new technologies like blogs, social networking sites; Twitter; bridge blogs)
- How can NGOs filter (to identify what voices should be heard) and amplify (to ensure people hear about it) content?
- How do NGOs use the technology to talk to different audiences? (think online vs. offline audiences; using local languages; using personal stories)

Next up, came the presentations by the Nigerian IT Development Agency (NITDA) and Galaxy Backbone reps. I probably shouldn't slag either of these off too much, as I might want to seek funding from them at some point (see my Twitter feed for more info).

Next, Eric Osiakwan (of africanelections.org), Juliana Rotich (of Ushahidi) and Ethan Zukerman spoke about various uses of new technologies in promoting political participation.

Things got a bit hot when Wale Goodluck (Corporate Services Executive of MTN Nigeria) took the floor. He raced through a presentation on MTN Foundation's community service projects and took questions afterwards. These ranged from angry diatribes about the network's poor service to complaints about unsuccessful grant applications. Others lobbed accusations of Goodluck's inaccessibility to NGOs outside of forums such as these. All through, Goodluck's face was immobile, but I have to say that he responded to these questions and criticisms with good humour.

Fantusam Foundation, the Kafanchan-based NGO which started operations in 1996 in response to the local needs of financial empowerment and has since grown into a thriving organisation was held up as a model for other NGOs seeking to do development work. Although Fantsuam started off with 1 laptop, it has now adopted an integrated approach to development by offering ICT training, ISP services, micro-finance, health awareness and education programmes.

Gbenga Sesan (of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria and Ajegunle.org) and Y.Z. Yau (of the Centre for IT and Development - CITAD) talked about applications of IT to education and health.

The day was capped off with guidance on finding donor funding. This was led by Adam Thompson of the University of California - Santa Cruz and John Bracken of MacArthur Foundation. MacArthur does have a presence in Nigeria, though their programme focus is on Reproductive Health and Human Rights.

Hard truth #1: They turn down 90% of the applications they receive.
Hard truth #2: Most of the NGOs in the room are too small to qualify for funding from the big foundations like Ford
Hard truth #3: There will unlikely be that one big funder who takes care of all your expenses. More likely, you will have to develop multiple income streams and seek ways to offer products or services for a fee.

A member of the audience shared that he ran his organisation for 8 years out of his pocket before being approached by a funder. Bottomline in his opinion: other NGOs need to be willing to do this too.

Ethan Zukerman has detailed posts on his blog and maybe I should just have linked to those instead of writing this lengthy epistle: Post 1; Post 2; Post 3:.

World Information Society Day 2009

May 17 is World Information Society Day. To understand its significance in history, it is important to journey back 144 years ago. That same day in 1865, the first International Telegraph Convention was signed and the International Telegraph Union (the second-oldest international organization in existence) was established. That same institution became the International Telecommunications Union in 1947 – the same year that the transistor was first demonstrated, with the solid-state computer soon to follow. Since 1969, May 17 has been celebrated as the World Telecommunication Day. Thirty-seven years later, following the World Summit on the Information Society, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution which identifies 17 May as World Information Society Day. The day is intended to remind the world of the vision of the World Summit on the Information Society, which promised to build “a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society” based on fundamental human rights. According to the UN resolution, the Day will "help to raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide".

The Nigerian telecommunications industry – which started with the postal system – is now over 100 years old, but it was only in 1999 that the National Policy on Telecommunications was launched. A National Policy on Information Technology followed in 2001, along with the establishment of the National Information Technology Development Agency, under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. Fortunately, Nigeria’s participation in the World Summit on the Information Society process helped shed more light on the need for Nigeria to benefit from the undeniable convergence that has brought Information Technology, telecommunications and content together for good. At about the same period in Nigeria’s history, a telecommunication revolution was born – with the number of telephone lines growing from 450,000 in 2000 to over 14 million lines in 2005, and now 66.6 million, thanks to independent regulation through the Nigerian Communications Commission, private sector participation, broadened competition, and consumer spending. Many benefits have come to the Nigerian Information Society since then, including a rapid rise in the number of Internet users from 200,000 in 2000 to 10 million today! Many of these users are also contributing to the growth of local content on the World Wide Web, which was previously lacking in content from Nigeria. The private sector and civil society (including the media) also continue to add immense value, using varied models to work towards the task of bridging the digital divide.

Building a strong and vibrant information society that is accessible to all Nigerians is at the heart of W.TEC and PIN’s work. The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) is a Nigerian non-governmental organization helping to empower Nigerian girls and women socially and economically using ICTs. This is done through technology literacy training, technology-based projects, mentoring, work placement and research. Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN) is a social enterprise that connects young people – especially those in underserved communities – with the opportunities that ICTs provide. We do this through our Ajegunle.org initiative, Information Society research, capacity building sessions for youth across Nigeria and the Internet Safety, Security and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria, among others. PIN’s program graduates have gone on to demonstrate the impact of ICTs on their small-scale businesses and through inspiring career progress!

This year, W.TEC and PIN wish to commemorate the World Information Society Day by appreciating ongoing initiatives in various sectors and calling on all stakeholders (government, private sector, civil society, media, individuals, etc) to act faster on efforts that will improve Nigeria’s opportunity to maximise the benefits of the Information Society. Please join us to spread the message, “Nigeria’s Information Society is making progress but we call on stakeholders to act faster. Our ‘20:2020’ vision depends on our ICT prowess!” on May 17 by:
- Lending us your Twitter or Facebook status message;
- Changing your email signature to reflect this message;
- Sending this article to 5 friends;
- Discussing the impact of ICTs in your life with friends and family;
- Volunteering for a non-profit ICT initiative before the next WISD anniversary.

Ore (for W.TEC) & 'Gbenga Sesan (for PIN)

Ada Lovelace Day: Celebrating Nancy Hafkin

Today is Ada Lovelace Day, which is an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology. And to celebrate the day, I'm blogging about women in technology who have influenced me in some way. It's especially important to celebrate the achievements of women, because research shows that having role models and mentors greatly motivates younger women seeking to participate more in technology.

Now what does being "in technology" mean? It could be as varied as working as a programmer to a database developer to a researcher to a vendor and even to a writer.

Over the last few decade or so, I have been fortunate to meet several women who I have learnt from or been inspired by in some way. And initially, I was going to attempt to write about all of them, but that plan is a little ambitious for now, so I have selected the woman who was one of my earliest guiding lights, who gave me an idea of the realms of possibilities, which existed for me.

She is Dr. Nancy Hafkin. I was introduced to her when I was job-hunting in the U.S. This was in 2001 and it was a particularly bad time to look for a job, because a few months before the dot-com bubble had burst, which resulted in the folding up of many internet-based companies and the loss of many information technology jobs. I was given Ms. Hafkin's number because she was considered to be very knowledgeable about the gender and technology cross-discipline. I had not heard of her then, but I Googled her, as was my practice.

I was so impressed and rather awed by what I read. Nancy Hafkin led the research on ICT for development (information and communication technologies) and gender and ICT issues since the early 1980s. She had worked on the African continent on ICT4D issues for approximately 20 years, including positions at the UN and the Economic Commission of Africa. However she had recently returned to the Boston area.

When I got in touch, by email and then phone, she was extremely warm and helpful. She asked me about my interests and shared advice on organisations to try and people to get in touch with. I was particularly humbled because coming from Nigeria, I know all about the "Big Man/Woman Syndrome" where you could not get audience with most accomplished or influential people without going through layers of protocol first and despite that, still having to deal with a patently dismissive attitude from said person.

A couple of months later when I got a job offer, I emailed Ms. Hafkin to share the news with her. It was about four years later at a conference I attended just before moving back to Lagos that I finally met her face-to-face. She was one of the speakers and I could not wait to introduce myself to her after the panel.

I started off "You don't know me, but I am ....."

"Ore XX", she completed.

I was stunned and bowled over.

"How did you know? I stammered.

She smiled. "I just knew."

She was thrilled to hear that I was moving back home (one of the few who didn't immediately assume that I was having visa problems or being deported).

When I mentioned in an off-hand manner that I was thinking about getting a PhD but was not so sure anymore, she beamed and encouraged me to do it. Then, she reeled off a list of Ivy League schools that she thought I should apply to.

"Hmmm, this lady really thinks A WHOLE LOT of me. Ivy League? I don't know about that...."

Shortly after the conference, I moved back home and haven't had the opportunity to see her again. However, her encouraging words, accomplishments and her spirit left an indelible impression on me and have propelled me on in my career choices ever since.

I remember when I was thinking about topics for my Masters degree thesis and after dancing around various subjects, circled in on women and IT. I wasn't quite sure if it was a viable area for exploration and it certainly didn't have that ring of prestige that some of my colleague's topics did. I wasn't sure where it would lead, if truth be told aside from a vague plan that I would "work with women and girls" in a role where technology met society.

However, now because of women like Dr. Nancy Hafkin, I feel like I made a series of alright choices after all. While her work is about technology, it is centered on the people who use the technology: how they use it, how they can use it more efficiently and also on the people who are not using the technology: why not, what technology has to offer them and how user challenges can be addressed. This has been a good guide for me and I know because she was helped pioneer a new field, I'll be better than okay doing something unconventional, as long as it is something I feel called to do.

Learn more about Ada Lovelace Day: http://findingada.com/

Read the other posts on the Ada Lovelace mash-up

Info-Activism Camp, Bangalore

The Info-Activism Camp is an initiative of Tactical Technology Collective and taking place this February in Bangalore, India. It promises to be a hugely exciting event.

What is Info-Activism, you might ask? According to TTC, "info-Activism is an approach which helps rights advocates tactically utilise information, communications and digital technologies to enhance advocacy work."

The event blog features interviews with many of the participants, where they share their thoughts and experiences using ICTs for their advocacy work. Check it out: www.informationactivism.org/blog/.

Here Ms. Christiana Uyoyou Charles-Iyoha, executive director of Nigeria's Centre for Policy and Development (PolDeC)
shares a bit about her work, including research undertaken by PolDec exploring uses of mobile phones for activism.

Ushahidi - Tech in the hands of the people

As we continue to explore the role of ICT - and the Internet, in particular - in fighting against violence against women, it's interesting to read about a woman who is using these tools to report violence.

Ory Okolloh, one of the co-founders of Ushahidi, a mash-up used by Kenyans to report the post-election violence and which has since been used in the DRC, is featured in this Forbes article.

National ICT Youth Rally – Nov 7, 2008

The 2008 edition of the National ICT Youth Rally is scheduled to hold on Friday, November 7, 2008, at the National Stadium, Surulere in Lagos. The theme is "Nigerian Youth: Plugging into the ICT Revolution".

The National ICT Youth Rally is the principal gathering by and for the Nigerian youths for the purpose of bridging the digital divide. It offers a unique opportunity for brainstorming, sharing of ideas, interaction, mentoring and display of ICT projects/works by young people in the country.

Activities at the National ICT Youth Rally 2008 include the finals of the ICT Quiz Contest, ICT debate, SMS competition, workshop/special project exhibition, scholarship/sponsorship opportunities and special guest appearance from Nollywood and the music industry.

Ernest Ndukwe, executive Vice Chairman, NCC, is billed to deliver the keynote address while Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele, commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Lagos State, a seasoned technocrat and youth development enthusiast would serve as chief host.

Read more about the event.

Do We Still Need Telecentres?

Here's an article based on a report commissioned by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). The report, written by wireless expert Ian Howard, explores sustainable ICT and the need for wireless internet access for development (W4D).

The article "Rural communication: Is there still a need for telecentres now that there are mobile phones?" is also available in French and Spanish.

Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants

I attended a talk today at the ongoing CTO2008, a yearly technology forum organised by the United States Commercial Services.

First off, Shina Badaru editor of Technology Times presented the top 100 websites visited by Nigerians. Topping the list was Yahoo (perhaps no surprise there), closely followed by Google.com.ng, Google and Facebook. The highest ranking Nigerian-owned website was Nairaland, which came in at number 13, showing perhaps how much Nigerian love to talk.

Then, Ayo Atobatele, founder of Nigeria.Com, spoke about how the Internet is influencing how we do business in a presentation entitled Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants. Hmmm, interesting ideas on how the Internet has changed so much about how we get information, communicate, do business, etc and how most people are either drigital natives or immigrants. Digital natives are born into the technology of now and grew up integrating it into all facets of their lives. Digital immigrants are forced to learn how to use these tools later in life as a result of professional needs or personal interest. Most of us (I should say, most of us in the late 20s and over) are digital immigrants, while anyone younger could be a digital native.

There must be a 3rd group not identified in his presentation at all; the group of people for whom these Internet-based technologies have no impact at all, the digital aliens?

Anyway, he goes on to say that most tools we use now were developed by digital natives; usually to meet a personal need or just for fun. However, the profit-making or impact-generating angle was spotted and developed by digital immigrants, who tend to have more business experience.

The bottom-line is:
- If you want to reach out to this younger, tech-savvy group, you need to be sending out your message through channels where it will get to them e.g. blogs, social networks, discussion groups, SMS, etc.
- Don't forget about the digital immigrants while you're at it
- This also means providing services that both groups will appreciate. How about online banking that actually is, and not just limited to checking balances, for example?
- You will most likely need the digital natives to develop the tools, but have digital immigrants use them to create competitive advantage and address business needs

To this, particularly the last point, it's important to:
- Create a process that encourages the creativity of digital natives (apparently, most Google products were initially employees' personal project and Google allows employees time to work on these projects). Okay, I laughed at this, sure that NO Nigerian company would do this, until he said that GTB's GENS SMS service is based on an application created by a GT employee.
- Create digital native mentoring programs with digital immigrants as the mentors
- Since most of us listening to his presentation were at best digital immigrants, we would need access to some digital natives to give insight on proposed products, services, and information delivery channels

It was good to see some interesting ideas, as well as some things that we intuitively know pulled together so cohesively. Download the presentation.

The Internet is definitely having a big impact in our lives, however limited access (availability and low bandwidth) continues to curb what we could be achieving with it.

ICT and Democratic Empowerment

This is an interesting article I read on African Path on how two Kenyan women are making a difference to peoples' lives in Kenya using ICTs.

Scholarships for ICTs for Development Masters Study in Manchester

I seriously hope that I am not getting to be such a slack blogger that I'm recycling old posts. This one, in particular, looked kind of familiar...... Ah well.

The University of Manchester is offering scholarships to succesful candidates for the one-year MSc ICTs for Development degree, which aims to create "ICT4D champions" who combine technical competencies in information systems and project management with an understanding of development context and practice:
http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/courses/06237/index.asp

Applicants who have applied, received and accepted a formal offer by 30 June 2008 will be considered for two fee-waiver scholarship opportunities. The IDPM Golden Jubilee Scholarship, worth £11,000, is available on a competitive basis for applicants from developing countries to any of IDPM's Masters degrees. The IDPM ICT4D Scholarship, worth £5,500, is available exclusively for developing country applicants to the MSc ICT4D programme. There is no specific application process for the scholarships but candidates are welcome to include a scholarship statement when applying for the MSc programme.

Details on other funding sources and on part-time employment opportunities while studying in Manchester can be found at:
http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/postgraduate/taught/funding/

Today

I attended the Titans of Tech's Women in ICT forum today at the MUSON Centre. It was interesting and, as it is with these things, I finally met someone who I've corresponded with many times by email and have spoken to on the phone. I was really tripped that she gave me a shout out after I asked a question and introduced myself. Woohoo! I'll have to blog about the event later; including the 'well-meaning' but sometimes off-the-mark comments on women working in technology.

Anyway, I've spent what looked like it would be a promising evening in front of my computer trying to figure out how to convert a TIF file to a PDF document. I mean, really, how hard can it be? Well, VERY trying as I was to find out. After several hours spent cruising the web for software that could do such conversions, downloading different applications and trying them out, I finally ended up with 3 that were able to do the job - albeit it with ugly watermarks across them. Ah well, they were trial versions, so I took what I could get. So, that was my 'relaxing' evening. Technology helps and yet it can really stress you out sometimes. Now, I'm going to really relax with a very, very late dinner, Top Chef and Project Runway.

An Overview: Local Participation in Nigerian ICT Sector

This Technology Times article gives a good overview of indigenous participation in the Nigerian ICT sector.

It highlights the lack of skilled manpower and the need to address this in order to keep the industry growing and developing as it should.

nGOmobile Competition: 8 More Days!!

nGOmobile is a text message-based competition aimed exclusively and unashamedly at grassroots non-profit organisations working for positive social and environmental change throughout the developing world. NGOs from developing countries are invited to submit a short proposal outlining how text messaging could make their job easier.

Deadline is December 14, so get those proposals in if you're interested. Check the website for more info.

CMPC vs. OLPC

Intel has supplied its Classmate PC (CMPC) to students in an Abuja secondary, as part of its World Ahead programme, an initiative designed to "bring technology to people around the world."

According to the school's technical manager, Mr. Dennis Etsuke, "The pilot project consists of 280 computers, 8 teacher laptops, digital content, Wimax for internet access, and a repository where we can view content offline." Impressive, given that a generator was also installed so that the school could actually power the laptops.

Check out the photos.

In March this year, another Abuja area school was signed-up to participate in the One Laptop Per Child initiative, the brainchild of Nicholas Negroponte, MIT's Media Lab co-founder.

Although both iniatives have roughly similar objectives of helping to bridge the digital divide, there of course has been a less than harmonious working relationship. Negroponte accused Intel of developing the CMPC because the OLPC computer uses an AMD processor, which is the rival technology to the Intel chip.