Talk by Michael Hutak, Australian Institute for International Affairs, Sydney, 29 March 2011 From the perspectives of humanitarian aid, human development and human rights, contributing to global efforts to bridge the digital divide should be an urgent and central priority of Australia’s aid program. http://bit.ly/1yNeUyr

1. Closing the ICT Gap
in Australia's Aid Program
Bridging the Digital Divide in Aid Delivery
Michael Hutak,
Regional Director, Oceania
One Laptop per Child Foundation
Australian Institute of International Affairs
Sydney, 29 March 2011

2. “As the world grows smaller,
our common humanity
will reveal itself.
Pres. Barack Obama,
Inauguration Speech, 2009

3. Freedom to connect
• “…governments
should not prevent
people from
connecting to the
internet, to websites,
or to each other…
• “The freedom to
connect is like the
freedom of assembly,
only in cyberspace.”

4. ICT as a
standalone sector,
not an input to
other sectors

5. Goal 8, Target 8.F:
“In cooperation with the private sector,
make available the benefits of new
technologies, especially information
and communications“.
Indicators:
8.14 Telephone lines per 100 inhabitants
8.15 Cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants
8.16 Internet users per 100 inhabitants
Millennium Development Goal 8F

6. Benefits of providing access to the Internet
• Every 1% increase in access to the
Internet, exports increase by 4.3%
across a wide range of developed and
developing countries.
- World Bank 2009

7. Benefits of Investment in Education
• Increases national and lifetime
individual earnings and
productive output
• Less crime, slower population
growth, reduced poverty,
a cleaner environment
• Positive relationships between
education and:
 Health
 health of family members
 schooling of one’s children
 life choices made
 fertility choices
 infant mortality
SOURCE: OECD
AFGHANISTAN

8. Benefits of Investment in ICT for Education
• builds income-generating skills
• realises productive potential
• stimulates economic development
(esp. Infrastructure – power, communications , internet)
• fosters the digital economy, e-governance, transparency
• ensures future long-term competitiveness
in an interconnected, globalised world
• SOURCE: OECD

9.  Search in Jan 2011: Latest reference to Digital Divide:
Speech by Alexander Downer in 2003.

15. PIF Leaders’ Pacific Plan
In their Communiqué, Pacific leaders noted:
“the potential utility of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)
initiative and the need for education authorities, where
appropriate, to assess the priority to be accorded to it in
their countries as a tool for education and disseminating
information to rural and remote communities…”
They ALSO “noted the launch of the Pacific Rural Internet
Connectivity Scheme (PacRICS) with a view to assessing the
usefulness of Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)
technology in bridging the communication divide in rural
and remote areas;”

16. One Laptop per Child

17. One Laptop per Child • Global non-profit organisation
• MIT Media Lab
• First project in Senegal in 1982
• XO laptop launched at WEF in 2006.
• First deployment Feb ‘07
• Mass production Nov ’07
• 2.4m laptops to children & teachers
• Projects in 40 countries
in 19 languages

18. One Laptop per Child
OLPC Foundation
• 1-to-1 computing
• constructionist learning approach
• bridging digital divide
• champion for children and joyful
learning
OLPC Association
• develops and manufactures the XO
• manages supply chain
• works w/ Govts, MOEs and partners
on deployment

19. One Laptop per Child Partners
• Governments
• IGOs
• NGOs
• Private Sector

20. OLPC global private partners

21. OLPC global public partners

23. “An education project,
not a laptop project…
…children are our mission, not our market.”

24. The XO laptop
• Connected, rugged,
low-cost, low-powered,
Indoor/Outdoor screen
readable in sunlight
• E-book reader
• Loaded with content and
software to foster joyful, self-empowered learning
• Created expressly for the world's poorest children,
living in its most remote environments;
• Suitable for all children, with utility for all families, for
all communities

25. The XO 1.5 (from Feb 2010)
Rugged, no moving parts, VIA processor, provides 2x
the speed, 4x DRAM memory and 4x FLASH memory.
Runs both the Linux and Windows OS.
• VIA C7-M 1GHz Ultra Low Voltage Processor
• 1GB DDR2
• 2GB/4GB/8GB NAND Flash Storage
• Compressed JFFS2 file system: ~1GB
• Integrated Wireless
• Audio and Video Support
• USB 2.0 Ports (3)
• SD Card slot
• US$209 unit cost
• US$250 TCO
SIERRA LEONE

26. XO ships with >100 approved applications
19 address literacy
22 address numeracy.
• Documents
• Chat, mail and talk
• Media creation (music,
images, video, audio)
• Programming
• Maths & Science
• Maps & Geography
• Media players
• Games
• Teacher tools
• Collections
Dual boot: Sugar (Linux) and WindowsXP PALESTINE OT

27. • Children lack opportunity not capability
• Learning to learn; learning by doing
• Inquiry beyond school, school hours
• Reaching the poorest, most isolated kids
• Using ICT to learn, not learning to use ICT!
a child-centred
approach
SOLOMON ISLANDS

28. Five core principles
1. child ownership*
2. low ages
3. saturation
4. connection
5. free & open source
* In the Pacific,
child is custodian
SOLOMON ISLANDS

29. 2
Source: Plan Ceibal – Uruguay deployment 2009; 400,000 students received laptops and took part in survey.

30. 3
Source: Peru deployment of 500,000 laptops to children in Peru; 80% of students included in survey results.
Extending the time for learning

31. Educational impact
Afghanistan:
across six schools, an
average improvement of
21.33% in standard test
results after just
2 months classroom use.
Evaluations to date*:
• Haiti
• Uruguay
• Nepal
• Solomon Islands
• Ethiopia
• Australia
• MTC
* Evaluations of One Laptop per Child,
OLPC Learning Group, 2010
PERU

32. SIG Evaluation: Recommendations
1. more teacher training
2. more guidance for parents
and communities
3. adapt curriculum for
digital delivery
4. train local community in
tech support
5. address power solutions
6. provide peripherals:
printers, ‘mice’, servers
7. close involvement MOE
8. sufficient laptops for new
enrolments
9. install M&E at outset;
establish baseline data

33. 2.4m kids, 40 countries, 19 languages

34. The Pacific
• World’s largest ocean –pole to pole
• 46% of Earth's water surface
• 32% of Earth's total surface area
• Larger than all of the Earth's land area combined.
• approx. 25,000 islands

35. Pacific education & development
• c. 1.7m children aged 6-12
• 40% 6-12yos attend no school
• Church sector has more skills and capacity
• Movement to preserve indigenous languages
• Challenges from poverty, climate change, globalization,
disasters, rapid population growth and urbanization

36. Pacific dev partners
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Japan
• China
• Taiwan
• USA
• European Union
• SPC, PIFS
• ITU
• ADB
• UNESCO
• World Bank
• UNDP
• UNICEF
• Corporates, HNW

37. Regional Partnership
provide every child
with a rugged, low-cost,
low-powered, connected
laptop, loaded with content
and software for collaborative,
self-empowered learning
Target: 700,000 kids
in Basic Education in
22 Pacific island nations.
One Laptop per Pacific Child
SOLOMON ISLANDS

38. OLPC requested by the governments of:
• Fiji • Samoa*
• FSM* • Solomon Is.*
• Nauru* • Tokelau
• Niue* • Tonga*
• Palau • Tuvalu*
• PNG* • Vanuatu *
• RMI • Fr. Polynesia
• Cook Is.* • Kiribati
• New Caledonia * = active projects
Funds expended – US$2.5 million:
• OLPC donates 5000 laptops to Pacific worth US$2m
• OLPC and SPC assign resources worth US$500k.

39. >6000 XOs in 41 schools in 10 Pacific countries.
Funds expended – US$2.5 million:
OLPC donates 5000 laptops to Pacific worth US$2m
OLPC and SPC assign resources worth US$500k.

40. Pacific Education Development
Framework (2009-15)
“Preliminary results from
OLPC trials show Pacific
countries can make a
quantum leap forward in
realising goals of access,
quality and equity in education…”
SOLOMON ISLANDS

41. OLPC Policy touchstones
1990 – Convention on the Rights of the Child
2000 – Dakar Framework on Education for All
2000 – Millennium Development Goals
• MDG 1 – poverty and hunger
• MDG 2 – universal primary education
• MDG 3 – gender equality
• MDG8f – “In cooperation with the private sector,
make available the benefits of new technologies,
especially information and communications.”
2005 – Tunis Commitment to bridge the digital divide,
WSIS

42. OLPC Policy touchstones
2007 – The Pacific Plan, Pacific Islands
Forum
2007 – Pacific Regional Digital Strategy,
Pacific Islands Forum
2009 – Pacific ICT Ministerial Forum
Communique
2010 – Pacific Education Development
Framework
2010 – Framework for Action on ICT for
Development in the Pacific

43. One Laptop per Pacific Child
• Focus on partnership
• Empowerment of communities
• Country-led national programmes
• Regional coord & tech assistance
• Country-to-country exchange
• Collaborative, inclusive approach
NIUE

44. OLPC Oceania
• a coalition of global, regional, national, local and individual actors
• governments, donors, civil society, educators, academics and volunteers
• TA to countries to establish 1-to1 computing as a sustainable reality.
SOLOMON ISLANDS

45. ‘Every PACRICS site
is an OLPC hub’
• Small 1.8m satellite
dishes and ‘network-
in-a-box’ server
allows Internet
connectivity, WiFi
networking
• SPC’s Rural Internet
Connectivity System
(PACRICS)
programme is highly
complementary with
OLPC.
SOLOMON ISLANDS

46. Pilot Phase: lessons learned
• OLPC adds value for children, communities,
countries
• aligns with Pacific goals and plans, inc. the MDGs
• High country-level demand in the Pacific
• Strong support at both political and community
• Small pilots provide an insufficient evidence base
• M&E integrated at the outset
• Broader-based TA needed to build country capacity
PAPUA NEW GUINEA

47. OLPC Oceania: project drivers
Strong
Partnerships
Sufficient
Planning

48. OLPC Oceania 2008-15
Country
Programs
Trials
Pilots
2008 –09
Pilots in 5
countries
2009-11
OLPC
introduced
and
assessed
for scale-
up 10 PICT
countries
2012-15
OLPC scaled
up to
deliver by
2015 one
laptop per
every child
in basic
education

49. Pacific deployment strategy supports sustainability
Develop Community Awareness
•Educate population on program benefits and XO functionality
•Develop social inclusion campaigns to achieve local support
•Launch training programs to promote XO usage, including teachers
Customize XO platform to address local needs
•Meet with officials from the minister of education to align on curriculum requirements
•Develop customized applications
•Digitize textbooks, perform translations
Train the core team
•Government to select 'Core Team' for execution of local program (IT expertise, etc)
•Train core team in all learning and technical elements of the product and program
•Train a set of local trainers who will be sent throughout the country
Develop infrastructure
•Provide advisory/ support for government in development of infrastructure (Electrical, IT, network mgmt)
•Local capacity building (inventory management, logistics, distribution, maintenance, financial tracking)
•Development of Internet access and connectivity infrastructure
Monitoring & Evaluation
•Initial field assessment baseline study
•Monitor initial program roll out; evaluate social, academic impacts annually
A
B
C
D
E

50. Coord Model: National Core Team
PoliticalTeam
Prime Minister
Min. Foreign
Affairs
Cabinet
• National
leadership
• Strategy, Policy
and Partnerships
• Donor Relations
PlanningTeam
Min. Treasury &
Finance
Min. National
Planning & Rural
Development
Min. Community
Development
• planning and
project
management
• identifies
schools and
sequence of
roll-out
PedagogyTeam
Min. Education
• teacher training
• content,
curricula
• localisation
• monitoring &
evaluation
LogisticsTeam
Min. Public
Services
• Supply chain
• shipping,
distribution,
• security,
• repairs,
maintenance
• Sweat Equity
TechnicalTeam
Min. National
Planning and Rural
Development
Min. Info and
Communications
• Deployment
• Infrastructure
• Power
• Communications
• Connectivity
Cross-cutting “whole of government” approach
• Cabinet sub-committee, led at Ministerial level
• Reports to National Planning Committee
• Workplan developed at Dept Secretary level
• Five core sub-teams...

51. • Catalytic effect on governments to deliver better quality education
• (by) creating community demand for better quality
• (while) mobilising resources and partnerships to meet demand
• adds value for children, countries, communities and donors
Better quality, value-adding
COOK ISLANDS

52. We need to know...
 Will it work in the
region?
 Will it work in my
country?
 Will it work in my
village?
We need to gather the
evidence to answer
these questions
We owe it to our children –
and to their future – to
find out
SOLOMON ISLANDS

53. OLPC in Asia
• Afghanistan (4k)
• Cambodia (1k)
• China (1k)
• Indonesia (550)
• Philippines (200)
• Armenia (3.5k)
• India (800)
• Sri Lanka – WB (3.6k)
• Malaysia (100)
• Mongolia (14.5k)
• Nepal – WFP (6k)
• Pakistan (500)
• Philippines (100)
• Thailand (500)
• Kyrgystan (>100)
• Kazakhstan (10k)
SICHUAN, CHINA

54. Painting created on the XO by child from Gaire, Papua New Guinea, 2008.

55. Thank you.
www.laptop.org