contributed articles

doi:10.1145/1516046.1516063 Although some developing coun- The vision is being overwhelmed by the reality tries are indeed deploying OLPC lap- tops, others have cancelled planned of business, politics, logistics, and competing deployments or are waiting on the interests worldwide. results of pilot projects before decid- ing whether to acquire them in num- by Kenneth L. Kraemer, Jason Dedrick, and Prakul Sharma bers. Meanwhile, the OLPC organiza- tion (www.olpc.com/) struggles with son

key staff defections, budget cuts, and s Ol ideological disillusionment, as it ap- pears to some that the educational One mission has given way to just getting out the door. In addition, low- cost commercial from Acer, Asus, Hewlett-Packard, and other PC Per Child: vendors have been launched with great O LP C , 15. N ie l 14. a G ome z M onroy, early success. So rather than distributing millions of laptops to poor children itself, OLPC Vision vs. has motivated the PC industry to devel- op lower-cost, -oriented PCs, providing developing countries with low-cost computing options directly in competition with OLPC’s own innova- Reality tion. In that sense, OLPC’s apparent failure may be a step toward broader success in providing a new tool for children in developing countries. How- ever, it is also clear that the PC industry cannot profitably reach millions of the poorest children, so the OLPC objec- tives might never be achieved through

At the in Davos, Switzerland, the commercial market alone. A rce, 12. O LP C , 13. ar l l d rake, 11. R o fo l Drake, 7–9 O LP C , 10. Danie , 6. Danie Here, we review and analyze the January 2005, unveiled the idea OLPC experience, focusing on the two

of (OLPC), a $100 PC that would most important issues: the successes p er chi ld to transform education for the world’s disadvantaged and failures of OLPC in understand- ing and adapting to the developing- schoolchildren by giving them the means to teach country environment and the unex- themselves and each other. He estimated that up pectedly aggressive reaction by the PC to 150 million of these laptops could be shipped industry, including superpowers and , to defeat or co-opt the 4 annually by the end of 2007. With $20 million in OLPC effort. startup investment, sponsorships and partnerships OLPC created a novel technology, the XO laptop, developed with close at- l Drake, 3–5 O ne La 2. Danie p a G ome z M onroy, with major IT industry players, and interest from tention to the needs of students in poor developing countries, the nonprofit OLPC project rural areas. Yet it failed to anticipate generated excitement among international leaders the social and institutional problems that could arise in trying to diffuse that and the world media. Yet as of June 2009 only a few innovation in the developing-country hundred thousand laptops have been distributed context. In addition, OLPC has been stymied by underestimating the ag- (they were first available in 2007), and OLPC has been gressive reaction of the PC industry to

forced to dramatically scale back its ambitions. the perceived threat of a $100 laptop 1. C ar l p h by: p l eft Photogra from the to

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Worldwide distribution of XO laptops. being widely distributed in places the industry sees as emerging markets for its own products. The case of OLPC can be seen as a study in the general diffusion of in- novation in developing countries. Our X analysis draws on diffusion-of-innova- tion theory, exemplified by Rogers,18 and illustrates the difficulty in getting X X widespread adoption of even proven X innovation due to misunderstanding X X X X X the social and cultural environment X in which the innovation is to be intro- X X X duced. We also bring to bear specific X insights from the literature on adop- X tion of IT in developing countries,2,25 using them to analyze the OLPC experi- ence and draw implications for devel- opers and policymakers.

Actual Date of Actual Deployment The original OLPC vision was to Country OLPC Web sitea Deployments Information/Detail change education through the develop- 202,000 150,000 November 2008b ment and distribution of low-cost lap- Peru 145,000 40,000 100,000 in distributionc tops embodying a new learning model to every child in the developing coun- Mexico 50,000 50,000 Starting to be shippedd tries. Despite shifting over time, it can e Haiti 13,000 Dozens Pilot began in summer 2008 be characterized by the following text Afghanistan 11,000 450 Expected to rise to 2010f from the OLPC charter: “OLPC is not, Mongolia 10,100 3,000 G1G1 laptops beneficiaryg at heart, a technology program, nor is Rwanda 16,000 10,000 Arrived, not deployed; the XO a product in any conventional infrastructure issuesh sense of the word. OLPC is a nonprofit Nepal 6,000 6,000 Delivered April 2007i organization providing a means to Ethiopia 5,000 5,000 Three schoolsj an end—an end that sees children in even the most remote regions of the Paraguay 4,000 150 4,000 planned next quarterk globe being given the opportunity to l 3,200 1,040 January 29, 2009 tap into their own potential, to be ex- Guatemala 3,000 — Planned before posed to a whole world of ideas, and third quarter 2009m to contribute to a more productive Colombia 2,600 1,580 January 25, 2009n; and saner world community” (www. agreement to buy 65,000 XOso olpcnews.com/people/negroponte/ p Brazil 2,600 630 February 6, 2009 new_olpc_mission_statement.html). India 505 31 January 20, 2009q Conceived and led by Nicholas Ne- a OLPC numbers include “XO’s delivered, shipped, or ordered” but do not groponte, a former director of MIT’s distinguish between these categories; wiki.laptop.org/go/Deployments Media Lab, OLPC aimed to achieve its b tabare, V. Uruguay: When education meets technology. Miami Herald (Nov. 22, 2008), A21. vision through extraordinary innova- c Peru on the up and up, lessons to be learned. Business News Americas (Dec. 18, 2008). d www.bnamericas.com/story.xsql?id_sector=1&id_noticia=431002&Tx_idioma=I&source= tion in hardware and software that e www.olpceu.org/content/xo_stories/haiti/Haiti.html fosters self-learning and fits with the f www.olpcnews.com/countries/afghanistan/olpc_afghanistan_first_school_day.html often-harsh environment in develop- g www.olpceu.org/content/xo_stories/mongolia/Mongolia.html ing countries. The hardware was to h www.olpceu.org/content/xo_stories/rwanda/Rwanda.html be a $100 laptop that would make af- i www.olpceu.org/content/xo_stories/nepal/Nepal.html fordable the large-scale deployment of j http://www.olpceu.org/content/xo_stories/ethiopia/Ethiopia.html computer networks in their schools. k bucaramanga computers, OLPC, Gemalto. Business News Americas (Feb. 9, 2009). l wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Cambodia The XO laptop developed by OLPC m wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Guatemala reflects hardware innovation in the n wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Colombia power supply, display, networking, o PIlar Saenz, OLPC Volunteer in Colombia (email) keyboard, and touchpad to provide a p download.laptop.org/content/conf/20080520-country-wkshp/Presentations/OLPC%20Country%20 durable and interactive laptop (see the Meeting%20-%20Day%204%20-%20May%2023rd,%202008/Brazil%20-%20Jose%20Aquino%20 -%20Govt%20of%20Brazil.ppt#266,8,Slide 8 figure here). The shell of the machine is q www.olpceu.org/content/xo_stories/india/India.html resistant to dirt and moisture, with all key parts designed to fit behind the dis- play. It contains a pivoting, reversible,

68 communications of the acm | june 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 6 contributed articles dual-mode (monochrome for outside, ers in the villages and support from the color for indoors) display, movable rub- national education ministry and re- ber WiFi antennas with wireless mesh gional governors who have requested networking, and a sealed rubber-mem- 500,000 more laptops.9 However, re- brane keyboard that can be customized ports from the classroom suggest that for different languages. For low power Expecting a laptop teacher training is limited, and willing- consumption and ruggedness, the XO to cause such ness to adopt a new approach to teach- design intentionally omits all motor- ing is questionable. Children are excit- driven moving parts. It was developed revolutionary ed but somewhat confused about the jointly by the MIT Media Lab, OLPC, change showed use of the machines, and educational and Quanta, a -based original software is lacking or difficult to use. design manufacturer, and is manufac- a degree of Also, if a machine fails, it is up to the tured by Quanta in Songjiang, China. naiveté, even for family to replace it or the child must do The software for the XO consists of without.20 a pared-down version of the Fedora Li- an organization nux and specially de- Targeted Cost signed graphical user interface called with the best Despite its considerable innovation, or . It was developed by the project to intentions and perhaps because of it, the OLPC proj- explore naturalistic concepts related to ect has been unable to achieve its $100 learning, openness, and collaboration.a smartest people. targeted cost. The current cost of each unit is listed on the OLPC Website as Pilot Implementation $199 (www.laptop.org/en/participate/ High-level officials, including even ways-to-give.shtml). However, this does prime ministers and education minis- not include upfront deployment costs, ters, in some developing countries are which are said to add an additional enthusiastic about OLPC, committed 5%–10% to the cost of each machine to purchases and/or trial-distribution (wiki.laptop.org/go/Larger_OLPC), projects. OLPC pilots in a half-dozen and subsequent IT-management costs. countries report positive changes (such Nor does it include the cost of teacher as increased enrollment in schools, training, additional software, and on- decreased absenteeism, increased going maintenance and support. OLPC discipline, and more participation in initially required governments to pur- classrooms), but it is not clear if these chase a million units, then reduced changes are directly related to OLPC, the number to 250,000 in April 2007. as many evaluations are neither inde- Such large purchases are difficult to pendent nor systematic. Independent justify for governments in developing evaluations in Ethiopia and Uruguay countries, and the requirement was ul- cite a positive effect on the availability timately eliminated. of learning material via the laptop but Some countries eventually lost inter- also problems with buggy input devic- est due to the higher costs of the XO. es, connectivity, software functionality, For example, Nigeria failed to honor a and teacher training.8,12,13 pledge by its former president to pur- As of June 2009 the largest ongoing chase a million units, partly because pilot project is in Peru, which planned they no longer cost $100 apiece.21 to distribute 140,000 XOs in 2008, even Meanwhile, other countries, including into rural areas high in the Andes where Libya, have opted for the Intel Class- electricity is often limited and Internet mate, which is priced at approximately connections are not available. There is $250 for the PC alone. Officials in Libya, enthusiasm among students and teach- which had planned to buy up to 1.2 mil- lion XO laptops, became concerned that the machines lacked Windows, and that a Chief among them are collaboration and ex- service, teacher training, and future up- pression (such as Web browsing, email, on- grades would not be provided directly line chat, word processing, drawing, music sequencing, and programming); groups and by OLPC. Subsidies from Intel, includ- neighborhoods to signify other users in physi- ing donated laptops and teacher train- cal and logical proximity; a view-source-code ing, also helped persuade the Libyan key to encourage users to tinker with the code; government to choose the Classmate.21 replacing files and folders with “journals” that store activities performed by users; and tag- ging, clipping, sharing, and searching as sys- Production, Sales, Distribution temwide features.22 OLPC originally estimated that it would

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ship 100–150 million XO laptops by the depend only on the nature of the in- end of 2007, but the program has clear- novation itself. Often, more important ly fallen far short. Under more mod- is the social and cultural environment est goals, production was supposed to in which it will operate.3,26 Informa- reach five million laptops by the end tion technologies are not standalone of 2008. By contrast, industry analysts PC makers across innovations but system innovations, report that Quanta’s manufacturing ef- the board are still the value of which depends largely on fort began only in December 2007 and an ecosystem that includes hardware, reached a total of 370,500 units by third seeking a formula applications, peripherals, network quarter 2008.16 for well-designed, infrastructure, and services (such as Early commitments for a million installation, training, repair, and tech- XOs each from Brazil, Libya, and Nige- low-cost computing nical support). Deployment involves ria evaporated, but relatively large pur- devices, along with training teachers, creating software chases were made by Uruguay (200,000), and digital content, delivering main- Peru (145,000), and Mexico (50,000). a complementary tenance and support, and sustaining a In November 2007, OLPC launched a long-term commitment. Such capabili- philanthropy program called Give One delivery value ties are in short supply in developing Get One (G1G1, www.olpcnews.com/ chain, market countries,7,26 and OLPC simply never countries/usa/olpc_xo_laptop_sale. had the resources to provide them. html) where people in the U.S. could strategy, and The OLPC plan was to rely on gov- buy two machines for $399, with one business model. ernments to buy its machines, provide being sent to a child in a developing distribution and support, train teach- country. The first program was success- ers to use and maintain them, and even ful, with about 167,000 units sold, but sponsor development of local-language a second G1G1 program in November software. OLPC established its own dis- 2008 resulted in only 12,500 units sold. tribution network or worked with local Lagging production and sales mean voluntary organizations in some coun- that distribution has also lagged. The tries to help with implementation. For table here lists distribution as reported global distribution, OLPC reached (in by OLPC, but many units have yet to be 2007) a comprehensive agreement deployed to their intended recipients. with cellphone distributor Brightstar What has the project accomplished? of Miami, FL, to help manage the com- Why is it so short of its original goals? plexities of entering diverse markets.23 To answer, we look in more detail at However, none of these institutions where OLPC succeeded and failed in had the ability to scale up to deploy- understanding the developing-country ment of millions of machines. This environment and how it was being con- situation is common in developing fronted by the PC industry. countries where endemic problems of infrastructure, financial resources, Analysis technical skills, and waning political OLPC dedicated a great deal of effort to support “hinder both the completion designing a laptop that would function of IS innovation initiatives and the re- well in a developing-country environ- alization of their expected benefits.”b ment. OLPC’s technologist culture en- IT innovation is also part of socially couraged innovation, showing a good embedded systems, the use of which understanding of what was needed in cannot be isolated from the social and developing countries. For example, the cultural environment or from local XO is sealed to keep out dirt, has a dis- norms of practice.1,25 In some cases, play that can be read in bright sunlight, teachers and the educational estab- runs on low power, and is rugged. lishment have resisted innovation that At the same time, the decision to use the /Sugar operating system and interface was driven by a combina- b Negroponte seems to question whether teach- ers are needed at all. Speaking about provid- tion of pragmatic considerations and ing the rural poor a solid educational basis for open source ideology. From a pragmat- development at the 2007 Digital, Life, Design ic point of view, Linux doesn’t require conference in Munich, Germany, Negroponte the computing power of Windows and said: “It’s not about training teachers. It’s not about building schools. With all due respect has a price tag (zero) compatible with [to Hewlett-Packard’s e-inclusion efforts], it’s the goal of minimizing cost. not about curriculum or content. It’s about le- Diffusion of IT innovation does not veraging the children themselves.”24

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requires a significant change in peda- XO features. gogy and that might reduce teacher status.b Even when the laptops are ad- Antennae opted, they are not always used as en- Indicator Light visioned by OLPC or by education min- Microphone isters. One Peruvian teacher said, “The USB Port

ministry would want us to use the lap- Speaker top every day for long periods of time. Indicator Light Directional Pad But we have decided to set rules in our Camera school and, really, the laptop, it’s only Screen Rotate USB Ports 10 a tool for us.” Storage Access Speaker Such resistance is no surprise to Wi-Fi Access students of innovation diffusion or of Game Buttons IT for development. Rogers18 pointed Battery Light Power Button to examples where innovation dif- Power Light fusion failed due to cultural norms SD Slot and the effects of such innovation on Stylus Area/ existing institutional arrangements. Touch Pad 2 Avgerou noted that attitudes toward Mouse Buttons hierarchy are particularly problematic in developing countries. An example illustrating both themes is that the Pe- Latch ruvian experiment was initiated with- out being explained to the national schools) that existing PC makers were is marketing it aggressively against the teachers’ union.10 OLPC has strong not serving raised the prospect that XO worldwide. It secured deals to sell support from the Peruvian Education OLPC might gain a foothold in emerg- hundreds of thousands of Classmates Ministry, but ultimately teachers must ing markets more generally. Moreover, in Libya, Nigeria, and Pakistan, some actually use the machines in the class- the XO’s ultra-low price raised the like- of the very countries OLPC was count- room, and they are likely to see the lihood of a new price point for note- ing on. Intel launched a series of pilot union as an ally while possibly mis- books, potentially forcing PC makers projects in these countries, saying it trusting the ministry. to cannibalize existing low-end prod- will also test the Classmate in at least The fact that OLPC was much stron- ucts in order to compete (and is what 22 others while donating thousands of ger in developing innovative technol- ultimately happened). machines.21 Intel briefly joined OLPC ogy than in understanding how to Branded PC makers have always in July 2007 but got into a nondispar- diffuse it may reflect the engineering faced competition from cheap local agement dispute with Negroponte and orientation of the organization and its brands and clone makers in develop- dropped out only seven months later.14 lack of understanding of the needs or ing countries, but OLPC threatened In 2007, Microsoft offered to make interests of the nontechnical people to grab a share of education budgets available Windows, a student version who will ultimately buy and use the in- worldwide that PC makers hoped to of Microsoft Office, and educational novation. This is illustrated by David tap for themselves. Negroponte’s high- programs to developing countries for Cavallo, OLPC’s chief education archi- profile announcement of the project $3 per copy when used on computers tect, saying, “We’re hoping that these and the publicity he garnered quickly in schools. OLPC then decided to allow countries won’t just make up ground caught the industry’s attention. Windows on the XO, a choice driven by but will jump into a new educational Leading companies first responded demands from some governments for environment.”9 Expecting a laptop by disparaging the XO as a useless toy. Windows-based PCs. Even in countries to cause such revolutionary change Intel’s Craig Barrett called it “a gadget,” with very low levels of PC penetration, showed a degree of naiveté, even for an saying people want the full functional- officials who make purchasing deci- organization with the best intentions ity of a PC.17 said “...geez, get sions may favor a technology standard and smartest people. a decent computer where you can actu- (the Wintel design) they are familiar ally read the text and you’re not sitting with or believe children must learn on Competitive Response there cranking the thing while you’re systems they will encounter later in the from the PC Industry trying to type.”11 Before long, however, work force. The OLPC project was a potential threat the industry began to respond with ac- The OLPC project also stimulated to the PC industry in emerging markets. tion, not just words. innovation in low-cost, low-power PCs. OLPC’s use of an AMD microprocessor In 2006, Intel introduced a small Seeing OLPC’s success in developing and Linux operating system was a po- laptop—the Classmate—for devel- a sub-$200 notebook, Asustek intro- tential threat to the dominant position oping countries that today sells for duced the EeePC notebook in 2007 for and historically high profit margins $230–$300. Intel has since licensed the the educational and consumer mar- of Intel and Microsoft. Its targeting Classmate reference design to PC mak- kets in both developed and developing

h by M ike Lee p h by Photogra of a new market (developing-country ers to manufacture and distribute and countries, selling more than 300,000

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with a deep understanding of the local environment to ensure commitment leads to money and action. Likewise, social, economic, and cultural environments vary greatly across and even within countries, and deploying new technologies requires understanding these environments. Innovators must consider the need for expertise in sociology, anthropology, public policy, and economics, as well as for engineers, and establish coher- ent criteria for selecting countries to target based on social, economic, and political characteristics. Success in a few developing countries is critical to broad diffusion, as potential adopters look to their peers for evidence of the value of the innovation.18 Innovative technology can be disrup- tive and trigger a backlash from incum- bents. Some innovations pose a threat The 2010 version of the One Laptop per Child, the XO-2, will have a foldable e-book form to industry incumbents, who may seek and reduce power consumption to one watt. to undermine the innovator’s efforts. The more visible the threat, the stron- units in four months. It was soon selling them for perhaps $75 each.5 ger the reaction is likely to be. This il- joined by major PC makers, including lustrates a dilemma for developers. A Acer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and many Lessons program less ambitious and less pub- smaller ones in creating a new category The OLPC experience offers lessons for licized than OLPC might not attract of PC known today as netbooks. innovators and others aiming to intro- the attention of industry incumbents While the XO was specifically de- duce and deploy IT innovation to benefit but also might not attract the partners, signed for the poor, rural education the poor, as well as for the governments investors, and other sponsors needed market in developing countries, net- of developing countries. For innovators, to develop and deploy the innovation. book vendors target urban consumer we thus draw three general lessons: As multinational companies direct and education markets in developed, Diffusing a new innovation requires more attention to emerging markets as well as emerging, markets. In 2008, understanding the local environment. and so-called “bottom of the pyramid” the market exploded, with OLPC recognized correctly that lap- consumers, there is more likelihood sales of 10 million units worldwide tops could reach the poorest children of competition but also more opportu- mostly running Intel’s low-cost Atom only if they were subsidized by govern- nity for cooperation as well. PC makers processor and Windows; sales are ex- ment or other funding sources. This across the board are still seeking a for- pected to double in 2009.16 is similar to rural electrification and mula for well-designed, low-cost com- The OLPC has been credited with telephone service, which usually can- puting devices, along with a comple- spurring the netbook market, but the not be provided economically and end mentary delivery value chain, market competition it spurred is now OLPC’s up subsidized by government or by strategy, and business model. own biggest challenge. Developing charges to urban customers who can Innovative information technologies countries today have a wide choice of be served profitably. However, innova- do not stand alone. A technology like vendors offering inexpensive netbooks, tors should understand that govern- the XO is a system-level innovation that and, though not designed like the XO ments are not monolithic entities, nor requires complementary assets to be for the rigors of poor rural villages, they are they the same from one country to valuable. While OLPC was able to deliv- are competitive in large, easier-to-serve the next. In some cases, funding can er high-level design and hand off devel- urban populations. OLPC responded be allocated by an education ministry, opment and manufacturing to Quanta, by announcing in January 2009 that in others it must be approved by the it had no one to handle marketing, its second-generation laptop design legislature, and in others provincial or deployment, and support.15 Unlike the would be licensed freely to PC makers local governments have jurisdiction. commercial PC companies, it was not to manufacture and distribute, hoping Commitments from high-level officials part of any established business ecol- to use the resources of these firms to or political leaders are as binding as a ogy and lacked resources to establish get millions of laptops into the hands politician’s campaign promises.26 Fly- its own ecology. of poor children in developing coun- ing into a country and winning initial For developing countries, interna- tries. Negroponte hopes to have a pro- support is only a first step and must be tional agencies, and philanthropists,

totype in 18 months (from January), followed by a sustained effort by people there are other kinds of lessons: of F use p ro j ect p h courtesy Photogra

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Understand the true costs and risks, cational and societal outcomes of the 8. haertl, H. Low-Cost Devices in Educational Systems: 13 The Use of the ‘XO-Laptop’ in the Ethiopian Educational as well as benefits, of innovation. IT in- project.” Other evaluations argue that System. Report distributed by the Division of Health, novation like the XO may offer great the countrywide deployments envis- Education and Social Protection, Information and Communication Technologies, GTZ-Project, Deutsche benefits but also involves costs and aged by OLPC are simply beyond the Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit, risks. The purchase of a laptop is mere- resources of any , Eschborn, Germany, Jan. 2008; www.gtz.de/de/ dokumente/gtz/2008-en-laptop.pdf. ly the start of a stream of ongoing costs. saying that governments must set pri- 9. hamm, S., Smith, G., and Lakshman, N. Social cause meets business reality. BusinessWeek in The total cost of ownership for a laptop orities regarding goals and the regions, Focus (June 12, 2008), 48; www.thefreelibrary.com/ program could include infrastructure sectors, and schools to be served.8, 12 cial+Cause+Meets+Business+Reality-a01611563648. 10. hansen, L. Laptop deal links rural Peru to opportunity, investment, training, tech support, risk. Weekend Edition. National Public Radio (Sunday, hardware maintenance, software li- Conclusion Dec. 14, 2008). 11. hiser, S. Bill Gates criticises OLPC. PlexNex blog (Mar. censes and upgrades, and replacement The potential significance of the XO, 16, 2006); fussnotes.typepad.com/plexnex/2006/03/ expenditures. Cost can also include as well as of other IT innovations, in bill_gates_crit.html. 12. hooker, M. 1:1 Technologies/Computing in the the opportunity cost or the foregone developing countries calls for system- Developing World: Challenging the . investment in teachers, facilities, or atic, independent evaluation—a true Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative, 7 Dublin, Ireland, May 2008; www.gesci.org/index. other educational materials cited by “grand challenge” for the computing php?option=com_content&task=view&id=75&Itemid India’s education ministry as its main and social science communities. Re- =64. 6 13. hourcade, J.P., Beitler, D., Cormenzana, F., and Flores, reason for not joining OLPC. searchers can provide value by con- P. Early OLPC experiences in a rural Uruguayan There is also a risk that the expected ducting well-designed studies of the school. In Proceedings of CHI 2008 (Florence, Italy, Apr. 5–10). ACM Press, New York, 2008, 2503–2511. benefits might not be realized. Prob- diffusion and results of such innova- 14. kirkpatrick, D. Negroponte on Intel’s $100 laptop lems in implementation could limit ac- tion. The knowledge created promises pullout. Fortune (Jan. 4, 2008); money.cnn.com/ 2008/01/04/technology/kirkpatrick_negroponte. tual use, and the need for ongoing fund- to prevent wasting a great deal of mon- fortune/index.htm. 15. krstic, I. Sic Transit Gloria Laptopi. Ivan Kristic blog ing means that the innovation might ey and effort and lead to quicker diffu- (May 13, 2008); radian.org/notebook/sic-transit-gloria- not be sustainable beyond some initial sion and better use of innovations that laptopi. 2, 13 16. o’Donnell, B. Worldwide Mini-Notebook PC 2008-2012 period. Another risk is investing in a prove beneficial. While OLPC has so far Forecast Update and 3Q08 Vendor Shares. Market technology platform that might not be fallen short of its goals, there is much Analysis. IDC, Framingham, MA, Dec. 2008. 17. reuters. Intel calls MIT’s $100 laptop a supported in the future; for instance, yet to be learned by studying this case ‘gadget.’ CNet news.com (Dec. 9, 2005); news. investment in software, content, and of IT innovation. com/Intel+calls+MITs+100+laptop+a+gadge t/2100-1005_3-5989067.html?tag=html.alert. training for the XO platform could be 18. rogers, E.M. Diffusion of Innovations, Fifth Edition. wasted if OLPC would disappear. Acknowledgments Free Press, New York, 1995. 19. shah, A. OLPC struggles to realize ambitious vision. Policymakers are able to reduce the The Personal Computing Industry Cen- PC World (Dec. 20, 2007); www.pcworld.com/ risk if they make major acquisition de- ter (pcic.merage.uci.edu/) is supported article/140698/olpc_struggles_to_realize_ambitious_ vision.html. cisions only after careful evaluation of by grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foun- 20. simon, S. Laptops may change the way rural Peru pilot projects that enable learning first- dation and the U.S. National Science learns. Weekend Edition. National Public Radio (Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008). hand how the technology fits with their Foundation. Any opinions, findings, 21. stecklow, S. and Bandler, J. A little laptop educational goals and environment. and conclusions or recommendations with big ambitions. WallStreetJournal.com (Nov. 24, 2007); online.wsj.com/public/article/ Learning from other countries’ expe- expressed in this article are those of SB119586754115002717.html. 22. Vota, W. OMG: OLPC just gutted: 50% staff cut rience can be valuable even when the the author(s) and do not necessarily re- & more. OLPC News Forum post (Jan. 7, 2009); context is different; Al-Gahtani1 says flect the views of the Sloan Foundation www.olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?topic=4228. msg28414#msg28414. that successful pilot projects by peers or the National Science Foundation. 23. Vota, W. A Brightstar OLPC give one get one XO in other developing countries help re- computer distributor. One Laptop Per Child News (Oct. duce the perceived risk of adoption. 12, 2007); www.olpcnews.com/implementation/plan/ References brightstar_xo_computer_distribution.html. Adopting organizations need to de- 1. al-Gahtani, S.S. Computer technology adoption in 24. Vota, W. OLPC Nepal creates content while Saudi Arabia: Correlates of perceived innovation Negroponte dismisses it. One Laptop Per Child News velop internal capabilities and set priori- attributes. Information Technology for Development (Jan. 31, 2007); www.olpcnews.com/countries/nepal/ ties. Although governments might re- 10, 1 (Jan. 2003), 57–69. negroponte_curriculum_content.html. 2. avgerou, C. Information systems in developing 25. Walsham, G. and Sahay, S. Research on information ceive outside assistance for trials, they countries: A critical research review. Journal of systems in developing countries: Current landscape must be able to sustain the innovation Information Technology 23 (June 2008), 133–146. and future prospects. Information Technology for 3. avgerou, C. The significance of context in information Development 12, 1 (Feb. 2006), 7–24. in the development of digital educa- systems and organizational change. Information 26. Warschauer, M. Dissecting the ‘digital divide’: A case tional content, training of teachers to Systems Journal 11, 1 (January 2001), 43–63. study in Egypt. The Information Society 19, 4 (Sept./ 4. bbc News. Sub-$100 laptop design unveiled (Sept. 29, Oct. 2003), 297–304. integrate ICT-based educational mate- 2005); news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4292854.stm. rials in the teaching-learning process, 5. bray, H. Cheaper laptop promised; Negroponte Kenneth L. Kraemer ([email protected]) is a research remains determined to realize vision. Boston professor in the Paul Merage School of Business, Co- and design and installation of sup- Globe (Feb. 11, 2009); www.boston.com/business/ Director of the Personal Computing Industry Center, porting IT and power infrastructure. technology/articles/2009/02/11/cheaper_cheap_ and Associate Director of the Center for Research on laptop_promised/. Information Technology and Organizations, all at the For example, one independent evalua- 6. einhorn, B. A crusade to connect children. India University of California, Irvine. tion concluded: “While the Uruguayan criticizes an MIT professor’s quest to provide ‘One Laptop Per Child,’ but he’s forging ahead Jason Dedrick ([email protected]) is Co-Director and government is making a great effort in elsewhere. BusinessWeek.com (Aug. 16, 2006); www. a project scientist in the Personal Computing Industry providing funding for the hardware, businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug2006/ Center at the University of California, Irvine. gb20060816_021986.htm. there is no funding for designing and 7. farrell, G. ICT in education in Rwanda. In Survey Prakul Sharma ([email protected]) is a research associate developing software and content for of ICD and : Rwanda Country in the Personal Computing Industry Center at the Report. World Bank Information Development, University of California, Irvine. use with the laptops or for conduct- Washington D.C., Dec. 2007; www.infodev.org/en/ Publication.423.htm. ing a thorough evaluation of the edu- © 2009 ACM 0001-0782/09/0600 $10.00

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