There has been a great deal of media attention on the 'One Laptop Per Child' (OLPC) project since the announcement of a "$100 laptop" over five years ago. Most of this attention focuses on its potential to address the educational challenges in developing countries. Much less is known about what is actually happening on-the-ground with the various implementations underway around the world - including in South America, which is home to the largest OLPC roll-outs.

Christoph Derndorfer, co-editor of OLPC News, co-founder of OLPC Austria, and Sugar Labs volunteer has just arrived from an extended tour of One Laptop Per Child deployments in Uruguay, Paraguay, and Peru. His independent investigation of XO-1 laptop usage is unique - he brings an insiders perspective of OLPC success yet an outsiders viewpoint on it's challenges.

Christoph will present his impressions of educational innovations in the context of South America and in relation to OLPC activity in Nepal and Europe. Christoph will be joined by Wayan Vota, publisher of OLPC News and moderator of the Educational Technology Debate, and Cristian Aedo, an expert on Uruguay and Argentina for the World Bank.

Their talk will shed light not only on issues specific to OLPC, but, more broadly, highlight practical issues related to the use of educational technologies to help meet a wide variety of educational challenges and goals in developing countries.

OLPC in South America Update
Monday, August 30th, 12:30-2pm
World Bank
Room I 1-200, 1750 I Street NW
Washington DC (map)

Note the location and time change. This event is being organized by the World Bank and will be mid-day at the I Street office. Please RSVP to confirmed attendance and arrive early to pass security in time.

With the explosion of mobile handsets and the faltering of the "$100 laptop" idea, the international development community is focusing on the mobile phone as an empowerment tool, while questioning investments in computers. Is this wise? Is there a data continuum that includes both? Or should development dollars really shift to one platform at a loss to the other?

Please join us for a spirited debate where Troy Etulain of USAID will push us to envision a future where development objectives are achieved on mobile phones, while Wayan Vota will back computers, desktops even, as the true tool of choice to accelerate development with technology.

Katherine Townsend of State will moderate the discussion with an eye to finding realistic recommendations for the development community.

Our gracious host is the UN Foundation and I'll have coffee and donuts for a good morning sugar rush to wake everyone up.

Mobile Phones vs. Computers: a False ICT4D Choice?
February Technology Salon
Thursday, February 12th, 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.

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 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"

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.

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)

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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?

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.