Public private partnerships to build low cost rural access
Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society
ISSN: 1477-996X
Article publication date: 1 May 2003
Abstract
Every year thousands of computers deemed obsolete by companies upgrading to newer models are kept out of landfills by organizations like World Computer Exchange (WCE)1 which recycle them to schools in developing countries. It is possible to set up at a very low cost, clusters of recycled PCs, using Linux software to substantially reduce the cost of establishing school‐based community Internet centers. In the case of such an implementation in Goa, India by a WCE partner‐NGO the key to its success has been collaboration between the NGO and the private sector to encourage the growth of local Linux support skills and with the government sector ‐ the Goa State Education Department ‐ to ensure the acceptance of Linux in the curriculum, and the provision of teacher training. The Goa Schools Computers project (GSCP)2 project provides an example of how low initial costs of infrastructure and linkages between different stakeholders can result in cost savings of up to 60% over a conventional community Internet center thereby increasing their chances for financial viability.
Keywords
Citation
Martyris, D. (2003), "Public private partnerships to build low cost rural access", Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 81-86. https://doi.org/10.1108/14779960380000228
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited