Technology & Learning - March 2009 - (Page 12) news trends THE XO IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE XO! What's next for the One Laptop per Child Foundation? For those inspired by Nicholas Negroponte’s vision of bringing affordable computing to every child on the planet, it was a sad day in January when the One Laptop Per Child Foundation he founded announced it was laying off half its staff and undertaking a significant reorganization. Negroponte himself isn’t crying, though—he is working on plans for the future: OLPC 2.0, you might call it. His passion for the project and its importance appears as strong as ever. But he says the foundation is at a turning point in its evolution and must focus better on where it can make big differences. “That’s the thing to keep in mind, and to make sure we don’t just perpetuate ourselves for perpetuation’s sake if some aspects of OLPC have run their course— and to recognize that and not try to be an incrementalist.” The foundation’s reorganization this month was designed to focus on opportunities in new international markets. Negroponte says the foundation is poised for big payoffs in the Middle East, where he is exploring partnerships with a number of organizations to help get XOs into the hands of children—including Palestinian refugees—who otherwise have little opportunity for computer access. OLPC also has operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Negroponte is talking with officials in Iraq AP PHOTO/PAUL SAKUMA Nicholas Negroponte speaking at the CES show in Las Vegas. as well. “I expect it to gel over the next month,” he says of the overall MiddleEast effort. Another big area of focus is Africa, especially Rwanda, where OLPC is deploying a full-time staffer. “Rwanda really is the poster child,” Negroponte says, describing President Paul Kagame as “very much behind” the OLPC program. The Rwandan leader initially ordered 10,000 XOs, then upped it to 100,000. The program now makes up a large fraction of the country’s education budget, according to Negroponte. Beyond pursuing plans for XO 2.0, three other “technology initiatives” were “We don’t [want to] just perpetuate ourselves for perpetuation’s sake if some aspects of OLPC have run their course.” 12 | TECH & LEARNING highlighted in Negroponte’s restructuring announcement: no-cost connectivity, shedding development responsibility for the XO’s Sugar graphical interface, and a project to create a million digital books. No-cost connectivity refers to finding a way for XO laptops to access the Internet free of charge. On the Sugar front, OLPC officials last spring announced plans to make a version of the laptop that runs Microsoft Windows rather than its original Linux-Sugar software stack. The decision highlighted a visible split between Negroponte and Walter Bender, the onetime OLPC president of software and content, who left the organization to continue development of the interface independently. The last technical initiative involves the creation of a vast library of one million digital books that can be read via open-source reader software that works on the XO. —Robert Buderi Editor’s Note: This article is adapted from an article published Xconomy.com. http://www.Xconomy.com
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