Vision - September/October 2008 - (Page 28)

CEAnewsline Connecting International Youth to Technology By Joanne Sonenshine C EA’s goal of making technology available to every individual on the planet is both challenging in its enormity and premise, yet fully attainable in due time. Through its inaugural Technology and Emerging Countries (TEC) program at the 2008 International CES®, CEA highlighted the challenge faced by industry and ministers of technology worldwide, and especially in emerging countries, of ensuring that reasonably priced, high-quality technology products for populations in need are available. By helping each person attain access to technology and the Internet, technology leaders can promote market-driven solutions to create jobs, expand markets, improve the rate of education and raise standards of living by allowing greater access to medical care and other forms of assistance. Timothy Anderson, an attendee of the 2008 TEC program, is president and founder of World Computer Exchange (WCE), a nonprofit aimed at connecting youth in 65 developing countries with used computing equipment, computer skills and lessons on understanding the Internet. Anderson has been working to bridge the digital divide since he began the organization in 2000. Anderson explains how organizations like WCE are ensuring that people worldwide obtain access to information and knowledge through the use of technology. two. Our volunteers work like management consultants online and on-site to strengthen the capacities of our partners in project planning, partnership development, fundraising, tech support, content development and teacher training. We also have teams of volunteers advised by consortia of leaders that work together on issues like establishing small responsible recycling centers in developing countries. What are your biggest challenges providing technology products? Lack of funds! The demand for product is very strong in each of our partner countries. We have heard from more than 200 groups interested in getting computers from WCE. Yet they lack the funds to fully cover installation, maintenance, training and connectivity costs along with our sourcing and shipping costs. It also is a challenge connecting interested companies with those groups already working in developing countries largely because of trust. That said corporate donations of both product and funding is crucial. In order to bridge the trust gap, we have built relationships with many local groups and have set up systems for due diligence. Half of our shipments are with repeat groups. WCE aims to bring the benefits of technology to people worldwide. important to work with the local grassroots groups to prepare for the arrival of products and staff. It is important that these grassroots groups raise a matching part of the needed funds locally to show the families’ and villages’ priority in getting these computers for their children—but also so that these communities feel real ownership in the computers they receive. This way the products are maintained and used effectively. How does WCE determine the biggest need areas? We have thousands of groups contacting us and the organizations that work with us to develop sustainable implementation plans become our partners. In many countries, the cost of new and used equipment is prohibitive, and we can provide computing equipment at one-fourth or one-fifth of the cost of used computers available in their country. Our determination is based on readiness. We currently have 200 approved projects waiting for final funds, so the next partner to reach 100 percent funding will receive our next shipment. We do not place a higher priority on geography or rural versus urban areas. We do require, however, that youth have direct access to most of the computers we ship, and that when the equipment is no longer working, it must be disposed of in a responsible, environmentally safe manner. How does WCE go about achieving its mission? We have chapters of volunteers in 25 cities in the U.S. and Canada who gather, test and ship donated working computers from businesses and individuals. These volunteers make it easy for donors to do the right thing—that is, to make sure that a perfectly functional computer is not hauled off to a landfill. We also have hundreds of volunteers in dozens of countries who help our 465 formal grassroots partner organizations plan and prepare for the arrival of containers of computers. For some of our larger partners, this process takes a month or two. For groups who are newer to using the Internet, this process can take a year or What is needed to overcome these challenges, both in terms of public sector involvement and private enterprise? Government donors have been good at providing funds for policy and infrastructure improvements in developing countries. Both are very expensive. With this increased capacity, smaller investments are still needed to provide computers to schools, libraries and centers in non-urban areas and in urban slums. Large-scale, multi-lateral approaches also are still not resulting in expansion of access to the Internet. WCE works with companies to sponsor these incremental costs. We often hear concerns about shipments of computers arriving in developing countries and sitting idle and unused. We see it as What happens to the computers once they reach developing country communities? When a group applies to become a partner, it must answer 25 implementation questions. www.ce.org 28 September/October 2008 http://www.ce.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Vision - September/October 2008

Vision - September/October 2008 Contents Shapiro's Spectrum In this Issue The Economist Visionary C4 Trends Coming to a Neighborhood Near You IPv6: Connecting People and Things Israelis Spend Big on the Latest CE Devices Tech Speak Tech Policy CEA Newsline Going Global Eye on Business Market Insider Just the Stats

Vision - September/October 2008

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