IXL Social Enterprise Case Studies Education March 2010 | Page 4

One Laptop per Child: Taking the Next Step to Realizing Nicholas Negroponte’s Vision

With this purchase, Uruguay has given
every child in public education between
1st and 6th grade, as well as all of their
teachers, one XO laptop.

The examples of Rwanda and Uruguay illustrate
OLPC’s experience selling directly to Ministries of
Education (or equivalents) in large quantities. This
model depends on personal relationships with influential government officials.
Rwanda. As part of Rwanda’s Vision 2020 campaign, the country has begun embracing information
technology as their main strategy for economic and
social development. This is the long-term country
development plan that aims to transform the country into a medium-level income country by 2020.
Even before OLPC started their project in the country in January of 2007, bringing computer literacy
to primary school students was an important part of
Vision 2020.
President Paul Kagame has committed to deploying
120,000 laptops across the country. This is partly
supported by collaboration between the wealthier
city schools and the poorer rural schools. OLPC
has also set up a major learning center in Rwanda,
the Center for Laptops and Learning, which aims to
serve the educational and learning needs of countries across Africa.17 Success and experience in
Rwanda is encouraging other African countries to
follow suit, such as Mali.
Uruguay. Uruguay represented the first large-scale
governmental buy-in to reach 1:1. It was called the
“Plan Ceibal” — “Ceibal” being the national flower
of Uruguay as well an acronym for the project.
President Tabaré Vázquez was very enthusiastic
about the XO’s potential role in the education of
Uruguay’s citizens and publicly announced the plan
in December of 2006. With about 400,000 units
included, this plan represented the largest purchase
by a single country of the XO laptops18. With this
purchase, Uruguay has given every child in public
education between 1st and 6th grade, as well as all
of their teachers, one XO laptop.
By 2009, around 70% of the XO model laptops
were given to children who did not have computers at home. The director of the Plan Ceibal, Miguel
Brechner, described the goals of the program: “This
is not simply the handing out of laptops or an education program. It is a program which seeks to reduce
the gap between the digital world and the world of
knowledge.”19 In one of many encouraging signs
about the Plan Ceibal, the government reported
in 2009 that close to 80% of economically disadvantaged children said that using the XOs made
classroom assignments more enjoyable.20 Success
in Uruguay is also making neighboring states, such
as Argentina, more enthusiastic about OLPC’s mission. Like Rwanda in Africa, Uruguay’s OLPC
efforts have encouraged neighboring Argentina to
look into OLPC — the La Rioja Province recently
purchased 60,000 XO laptops21.
Both the Rwandan and the Uruguayan experiences
illustrate another key success factor for OLPC: creating successful relationships with lead customers in
Global regions. By demonstrating success in Uruguay, for example, Argentina is encouraged to give

the XO a try. Likewise success in Mali, Cameroon
Burundi and other African countries using financing with third parties is fostering experimentation
in Nigeria. This model builds on large regional successes — their experiences and publicity — to grow
the XO distribution in nearby regions.
The case of Sri Lanka demonstrates another successful business model: setting up a high profile pilot
that demonstrates success on a small scale and creates the possibility for expansion on a broader scale
within the country.
Sri Lanka. The small island country, just off the
southeast of India, has been struggling with internal
strife for years, and is still recovering from the devastation of the 2004 tsunami. One of the main goals
of its Ministry of Education has been to provide the
younger generation with skills in Information Technology and the English language. This was one of
the key drivers for the collaboration with OLPC and
launch of the program that was planned to bring
1,250 new laptops to students in thirteen separate
schools around Sri Lanka as a pilot project. This
pilot program has received a strong support by the
World Bank
In early 2008 a non-profit foundation called Lanka
OLPC Foundation was established. The Sri Lanka
Ministry of Education (MOE) pilots the One Laptop
per Child (OLPC) program by purchasing laptops
from the OLPC Foundation, with funding from the
World Bank , and distributing them to students in
selected primary schools throughout the country.
The Ministry of Education has chosen 9 primary
schools around Sri Lanka for the pilot project and
is working in cooperation with a coalition of corporate donors (such as the Chart Foundation, Hatton
National Bank and mobile provider Tigo) to get the
project up and running. On December 10, 2009, Sri
Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Education Minister Premajayantha presented the first 400
laptops at a public ceremony announcing the pilot
program.22
Another business model with which OLPC has been
experimenting is local development partnerships.
In Brazil, for example, OLPC works in partnership
with a Brazilian manufacturer to assemble parts for
the XO for Brazilian distribution. This is an example
of a win-win partnership. Currently, OLPC has submitted a bid to sell 1 million XOs. If OLPC wins
this bid, the funding for purchasing the laptops will
be provided by the country’s National Development
Bank (BNDB).
This bid has been preceded by many positive interactions between OLPC and Brazil. Building on
very good relationships with government officials,
OLPC has already begun pilot projects in Porto
Alegre and Sao Paulo. Swift has donated 3,000
XOs that are now being distributed by the government. Also, following a bid won in 2008, 250,000
classmates will be delivered during 2010 in 300
schools countrywide.23

17 Interview with OLPC staff, March 1, 2010.
18 David Hatch, “Laptop Program has Struggled to Power Up,” National Journal, April 11, 2009, p, 4, accessed via Lexis Nexis, March 1, 2010.
19 Verónica Psetizki, “Laptop for every child,” BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8309583.stm, accessed March 5, 2010.
20 Ingacio Salmano et al., “Monitoreo y evaluacion educative del Plan Ceibal,” p. 14, Plan Ceibal web site, http://www.ceibal.org.uy/docs/presentacion_
impacto_social221209.pdf, accessed March 5, 2010.
21 Dergarabedian, César, “La PC barata de Negroponte desembarca en la Argentina para pelear contra Intel,” iProfesional.com, http://tecnologia.iprofesional.com/notas/93943-La-PC-barata-de-Negroponte-desembarca-en-la-Argentina-para-pelear-contra-Intel.html, accessed March 10, 2010.
22 Sources: http://blogs.worldbank.org/edutech/node/551, http://blog.laptop.org/2009/09/13/updates-from-sri-lanka/, http://blog.laptop.org/2009/12/10/srilankan-president-launches-a-national-xo-program/
23 Information compiled by OLPC staff, March 10, 2010.

P. 4