Niue becomes first country to issue OLPC laptops to every child
By Dave Parrack
The tiny South Pacific island of Niue has become the first nation to make the OLPC programme live up to its name, with every child now owning one of the charity’s donated laptops. Coupled with free Internet access already available on the island, it means youngsters in Niue are probably better off than a lot of children in more developed countries.
The OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) initiative, set up by Nicholas Negroponte, stems from research and development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, and is a charity aiming to help children in developing countries be educated by gaining access to a computer. The XO laptops are cheap, small, virtually waterproof and unbreakable, and green.
According to BBC News, 500 computers have gone to Niue, which has a total population of less than 1,500 people. The 500 XO laptops are part of the 5,000 set aside for the Pacific region. While the laptops are designed for primary schoolchildren, due to the small size of Niue, every high school student has also been issued with one.
Niue isn’t new to being ahead of the technology curve. In 2003, it became the first country to offer free wireless Internet access to all of its inhabitants. The children will now be able to surf the Web, and due to the support for mesh networking included in the XO laptops, they will also be able to communicate with each other and access their studies without having to connect to the Net.
According to Times Online, Uruguay were the first country to place a full order with OLPC for 100,000 laptops back in 2007, with a further order of 200,000 laptops expected to be made in 2009 in order to cover all primary schoolchildren.
The OLPC programme has had its fair share of ups and downs, but it now seems to be coming good, with children in developing countries actually being issued with the $100 laptops. If the initiative means even a small percentage of youngsters in poor countries can get access to a computer and the Internet then it will surely have succeeded in its aims.
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August 24th, 2008
Niue’s a small country but not a poor one – the country has a huge surplus of international aid. Most of the families on Niue already have one or two computers. Also, the island’s free wireless service is only available in a few places, not in most people’s homes.