IXL Social Enterprise Case Studies Education January 2012 | Page 6

Revolutionizing the way to make education affordable for everyone
OLPC wanted to operate as a selfsustaining business
OLPC added leadership to run the business
In May 2008 Charles Kane joined the OLPC
leadership. Kane, who had held a series of
high-level positions in the technology industry,
brought business expertise to OLPC. As Kane put
it, “Profit and high ideas are not a contradiction:
we use the profit for good ends, but we need a
sustainable business.”29

The Education Minister in Nigeria was not
convinced laptops were the answer
According to a BBC report, in 2007, Nigeria
expressed interest in 1 million laptops. However, the
then Education Minister, Dr. Igwe Aja –Nwachukwu
mentioned educational needs that needed to be
addressed first before the laptops could become
successful. “What is essential to introduce one laptop
per child…whether the kids will have seats to sit on,
uniforms to wear, facilities to use…”
Source:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbV0kBfY_
l8&feature=related, accessed December 19, 2011

OLPC split operations to achieve focus
OLPC started to reorganize itself and split into
two in 2009: the OLPC Foundation and the
OLPC Association (See Figure 3). Based in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Foundation,
headed by Negroponte, continued to focus on
fundraising, and developing the next generation
of XOs, such as the XO tablet. The Association,
on the other ha