An interesting meeting at OLPC Europe
By Cédric Pierre-Louis on Wednesday 2 September 2009, 19:53 - Computer & High-Tech - Permalink
For writing my thesis, I managed to schedule some interviews with people who
are working on or promoting ICT as an enhancer for development. Consequently, I
had the opportunity to meet very passionate and fascinating people. My meeting
with Thierry Devars, Responsible of the international relations at the
Information Society and Media DG (European Commission), was one of the most
informative and transparent I ever had. M. Devars was a very good
educationalist and we talked almost two hours about development issues. I thank
him for all his advice, and for his frankness. Listening to him convinced me
more than never, that ICT and development were very relevant topics, and that
the future of emerging countries, specially Africa, will be closely related to
these issues.
The other meeting I would like to talk about, was the one which allowed me to touch and use the controversial XO computer, made by the One Laptop Per Child foundation. As you may know, the main mission of this NGO founded by Nicolas Negroponte (MIT), consist in bringing education to rural areas in developing countries, thanks to a low-cost computer, initially priced at US$100. Finally the XO is more expensive than expected US$180, but it is a great educative tool. I wanted to personally test it to make my one opinion on this device.
So, I contacted the OLPC Europe headquarter to plan an interview and a review of this amazing computer. It is Giulia D’Amico, Development Director at OLPC Europe, a very bright (she worked for the World Bank) and friendly person, who answered all my questions and proposed me a meeting at OLPC Europe to use the XO. I have to admit that I was impressed by this little device, which is designed to resist to dust, heat and humidity. The Graphic User Interface (GUI) was not the best I knew, but the XO educational potential is not a myth. The possibilities of learning new languages, reading books (100 ebooks in each device), expressing creative skills are huge. The connectivity seems good to me, and the performance correct. And last but not least, the XO is very, very simple. I just think that the content and all the environment around this project (teachers education, services, maintenance, etc.) should be more localized and conceived according to what final users (children in developing countries) really need.
Thanks to all the OLPC Europe team and specially to Isobel Amonoo Neizer, Africa Liaison Officer, who explain me during my guided tour how works the XO.