One Laptop per Child India: What can we do to change the world of our children and teh future of our nation

1. A Laptop for Every Child in India
Satish Jha
President & CEO,
OLPC India
At India Development Coalition of America
Chicago
Oct 31, 2009
Satish Jha, OLPC, satish@laptop.org

2. A Laptop
for
Every Child:
Learning “Learning”
Satish Jha, OLPC, satish@laptop.org

3. A Billion questions..
A billion children have little access to computing
A quarter of them live in India
They are falling further behind the rest of the world..
Everyday
− A Huge DIVIDE .
− A Huge OPPORTUNITY

4. A worm’s eye view..
Challenges of
Electricity Cost of computers
Internet Software costs
School buildings Curriculum
Climate Basics of life
Teachers Resources
Maintenance

5. A bird’s eye view
Laptop for the poorest???
− Too large a challenge to handle??
− Poor have little interest in education??
− Give the poor children food first??
− Let the children read and write first??
− A luxury we cannot afford..??

6. Our response
Technologies afford us an opportunity
− Making learning fun
− To overcome infrastructure challenges
− Making learning affordable

7. Design a laptop for learning
That takes little power, any source of power
That can connect with or without internet
That is village friendly or “village proof”
Rugged
Zero Maintenance
No software costs
Affordable
Makes learning fun

8. What brings us together?
We are here because
we are passionate
about education as
an agent of change
Quality education for poor and rural population is central to the economic and social development –
Source – World Bank

9. Poor have aspirations beyond survival
They recognize that
only education can
help achieve
aspirations.
And they are willing to
invest in the future.
Can our current educational eco-system alone deliver on these aspirations?

10. Significant progress in reducing out of school children
But challenges of
Quality
and
Adequacy
of current education format
remain .
Can more of the same really make our children compete for opportunities in 2020?

11. A solution needs to not just address challenges
of today but adjust to opportunities of
tomorrow.
What kind of education do we need to take 1% of our children into the service economy?

12. The solution needs to be
Future ready – ‘the cell-phone of
education’
Transformational – generational leaps
Doable – practical, implementable and
accepted by the stakeholders
Financially viable – entrepreneurial
thinking to make it available at $ 1 a
week
An idea originated in villages of India, Africa, South America..
….. spreading across the globe

13. What is OLPC [one laptop per child]
A project designed to help
underprivileged children access
sustainable education that is in sync
with today’s needs.
A rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for
collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.
It is a tool for education that creates skill sets that can transform lives

14. What can we do today?
Opportunity to pilot the project in several schools
At a cost of $1 a week
− Educating a million children will cost less than one half % of annual
education budget
Anyone can adopt a village school for
− Rs $10,000 in total or
− Rs $2000 a year or
− Rs $200 a month
One can become a Social Entrepreneur with an investment of $2000
earn $200 a month or scale it up as you please
One can raise money through e.g., ICICI’s Social Venture Fund and
several similar Funds available through various other FIs

15. What is the Potential?
We have 600,000 villages
Roughly 500,000 have the population averaging 1000
− They typically have less than 50 children in primary school
Aggregating at 10 villages offers
− About 500 students
− Up to $3000 pm gross revenue
Aggregating Village Level SEs
− About 5000 coordinators or second order SEs
− Revenue potential :$6000+ pm
And so on..

16. A modern “Shantiniketan” “XO Outside”
Learning under a Tree
•For the Child
•Sun-friendly
•Rain-proof
•Dust-proof
•Shock-proof
•A couple Watts of power
•Solar powered
•Tablet – like
•Open Source - Sugar
•Free Microsoft Windows
•And MS Office

17. Mechanical Design
No moving parts
− No hard drive, no fans
Droppable
− Extra rigid shell
− Bumper (replacable)
− Shock mounted LCD
Moisture/dust/dirt resistant
− Keyboard
− USB, microphone etc - protected
Connector reinforcement
Transformer hinge

18. Internet Every Laptop
connects to
Internet
With a built-in Wi-Fi
Optional
distribution
network
Cellular
packet-data link
(2.5G, 3G)
802.11s
Terrestrial
wireless links
(wifi, wimax)
Every Laptop
802.11s Connects
802.11s With Each Other
Without a Server
or Wi-fi

19. Environmental
vs
1 laptop
5 years of text books * RoHS compliant ++
* deforestation * 2W power (human recharge)
* chemicals to make paper * 5 year life (including batteries)
* distribution costs * recyclable

20. Financial Model .
To reach the least developed countries and get laptops
into the hands of the poorest children, a new model
of partnership (and funding) is needed.
To reach the least developed countries and get
laptops into the hands of the poorest children, a
new model of partnership (and funding) is
needed.

21. “Give” Model
Options ..
1. Give to a child
2. Give Many
3. School Giving (Min. 100 Laptops)
4. Corporate Giving
5. Adopt a Village, a Block, a District

22. Progress so far
LAUNCH COUNTRIES in ‘07/’08:
• Argentina 100 K
• Turkey 100 K
• Uruguay 750 K
• Ethiopia 50 K
• Peru 1000 K
• Mexico 250 K
• 1200 K built and
deployed to date
Milestones
Nov 2006 Laptops first available (beta)
Nov 2007 Mass production ramp
Year 1 1.2 Million units shipped
Year 2 3-5 Million units - > OLPC/United Nations collaboration

23. Challenges ahead..
Changing the mindset
Persuading the leadership
Cajoling the Corporations
Informing the Socially Oriented
Requesting the Affluent
Empowering the motivated..

24. The Book of the Future .

25. Sharing in the Future

26. Key Partners from Private & Public Sectors