NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Efforts to get information technology into the hands of people in Third World nations are a huge cultural imperative and a significant business opportunity. But what form those efforts should take is a matter of debate, if a keynote panel discussion Wednesday at Sand Hill Group’s Software 2005 conference in Santa Clara, Calif., is any indication.
Much of the discussion, which provided a welcome respite from all the talk of business processes and product strategy, revolved around two initiatives designed to propagate laptops throughout the Third World. Nicholas Negroponte, the noted MIT professor and chairman of MIT’s Media Laboratory, was on hand to share details of a project he’s spearheading that’s designed to put laptops in the hands of elementary-school students by driving the cost of a barebones machine down to less than $100. Meanwhile, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., a partner in Negroponte’s project, is promoting its $185 personal Internet communicator as a key device in the company’s campaign to ensure that half of the world’s population has access to the Internet by 2015.
Both efforts are somewhat out of touch, said Teresa Peters, executive director of Bridges.org, a nonprofit group that’s taking a close look at what technologies are the best match for people in developing nations. Peters maintained that even at $100, laptops are too complex and cumbersome to be effective for Third World children. She also stressed that the U.S.-centric nature of Internet content is a barrier to adoption that needs to be addressed. “My recipe for success is it has to be small, cheap, simple, and local.”
Story found here.