Aid Effectiveness and

ICT for Development

in the Pacific

Bridging the Digital Divide in Aid Delivery

Michael Hutak, Regional Director, OceaniaOne Laptop per Child Foundation

Asia‐Pacific Regional Forum on ICT Applications

18‐21 May 2011, UNCC, Bangkok, Thailand

“As the world grows smaller, our common humanity our common humanity

will reveal itself.

Pres. Barack Obama,

Inauguration Speech, 2009

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 • Positive relationships between education and:

� Health

� health of family members

� schooling of one’s children

� life choices made

� fertility choices

� infant mortalitySOURCE: OECD

AFGHANISTAN

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

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• Mass production Nov ’07

• 2.4m laptops to children & teachers

• Projects in 40 countries

in 19 languages

One Laptop per ChildOLPC 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

2.4m kids, 40 countries, 19 languages

400,000 XOs• 100% saturation• 2nd (and largest) country in the world to achieve OLPC*

• Increased 1st grade registration levels

URUGUAY

levels• Lower instance of school violence

• Decreased number of children sans papiers

• Societal transformation project

PERU

800,000 XOs in primary and secondary schools

•Challenging geography with •Challenging geography with cultural diversity

• Remote small communities with no access to electricity

RWANDA

120,000 XOs

• Established in 2009 the OLPC Regional Learning Center Regional Learning Center

• 'Feed the mind, feed the body' –partnership with OLPC and World Food Program to distribute food and laptops

OLPC global private partners

OLPC global public partners

“An education project, not a laptop project…

…children are our mission, not our market.”

The XO laptop

• Connected, rugged, low-cost, low-powered, Indoor/Outdoor screen readable in sunlight

• E-book reader• 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

The XO 1.5

Rugged, no moving parts, VIA processor, provides 2xthe 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• Integrated Wireless

• Audio and Video Support

• USB 2.0 Ports (3)

• SD Card slot

• US$209 unit cost

• US$250 TCO

• available Feb. 2010

SIERRA LEONE

XO ships with >100 approved applications

19 address literacy

22 address numeracy.

• Documents

• Chat, mail and talk

• Media creation (music, • 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

• 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

approachSOLOMON ISLANDS

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

2

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

3

Extending the time for learning

Source: Peru deployment of 500,000 laptops to children in Peru; 80% of students included in survey results.

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*:

PERU

• Haiti

• Uruguay

• Nepal

• Solomon Islands

• Ethiopia

• Australia

• MTC

* Evaluations of One Laptop per Child, OLPC Learning Group, 2010

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

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

Pacific education & development

• World’s largest ocean –pole to pole

• 32% of Earth's total surface area

• > Earth's land area combined.

• Challenges from poverty, climate change,

globalization, disasters, rapid population

growth and urbanization

• approx. 25,000 islands

• 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

Pacific dev partners

Australia

New Zealand

Japan

China

Taiwan

USA

European Union

SPC, PIFS

ITU

ADB

UNESCO

World Bank

UNDP

UNICEF

Corporates, HNW

One Laptop per Pacific Child

Regional Partnershipprovide every child with a rugged, low‐cost, low‐powered, connected laptop, loaded with content and software for collaborative, self‐empowered learning

Target: 700,000 kidsin Basic Education in 22 Pacific island nations.

SOLOMON ISLANDS

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.

>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.

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

OLPC Global 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 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

OLPC Pacific policy touchstones

2007 – The Pacific Plan, Pacific Islands

Forum

2007 – Pacific Regional Digital Strategy,

Pacific Islands Forum

2009 – Pacific ICT Ministerial Forum

CommuniqueCommunique

2010 – Pacific Education Development

Framework

2010 – Framework for Action on ICT for

Development in the Pacific

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

OLPC Oceania

SOLOMON ISLANDS

• 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.

‘Every PACRICS site

is an OLPC hub’

• Small 1.8m satellite dishes and ‘network‐in‐a‐box’ server allows Internet connectivity, WiFiconnectivity, WiFinetworking

• SPC’s Rural Internet Connectivity System (PACRICS) programme is highly complementary with OLPC.

SOLOMON ISLANDS

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

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

A

B

C 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

D

E

Coord Model: National Core TeamP

oli

tica

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am

Prime Minister

Min. Foreign

Pla

nn

ing

Te

am Min. Treasury &

Finance

Min. National

Pe

da

go

gy

Te

am

Min. Education

• teacher training

Log

isti

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ea

m

Min. Public

Services

Tech

nic

al

Tea

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Min. National

Planning and Rural

Development

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...

Po

liti

cal

Tea

m

Min. Foreign

Affairs

Cabinet

• National leadership

• Strategy, Policy and Partnerships

• Donor Relations

Pla

nn

ing

Te

am

Planning & Rural

Development

Min. Community

Development

• planning and project management

• identifies schools and sequence of roll‐out

Pe

da

go

gy

Te

am

• teacher training

• content, curricula

• localisation

• monitoring & evaluation

Log

isti

cs T

ea

m

• Supply chain

• shipping, distribution,

• security,

• repairs, maintenance

• Sweat Equity

Tech

nic

al

Tea

m

Min. Info and

Communications

• Deployment

• Infrastructure

• Power

• Communications

• Connectivity

• 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

OLPC in Asia

• Afghanistan (4k)

• Cambodia (1k)

• China (1k)

• Indonesia (550)

• Philippines (200)

• Armenia (3.5k)

• India (800)• 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

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

Thank you.

www.laptop.org