Computer Aid International

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Students in Swaziland using Computer Aid PCs

Computer Aid International is the world's largest non-profit organization working to overcome the digital divide by supplying high-quality, refurbished computers to developing countries. The charity was founded by its chief executive officer, Tony Roberts, in order to bridge the gap between the surplus of used computers in the UK and the increasing demand for affordable computers from economically disadvantaged communities.

Founded in 1997 the company has sent over 85,000 computers to over 100 countries. Computer Aid supplied over 21,000 refurbished computers in 2006 to hundreds of educational and community organisations all over the world from its warehouse and headquarters in New Southgate, North London.

1 Organisation
2 Strategy
3 Projects
4 References
5 Related links

[edit] Organisation

The people behind Computer Aid are a mixture of employed staff and volunteers, including techies, fundraisers and language specialists. The organisation also has a number of programme officers based in Nairobi, Kenya and Johannesburg, South Africa who liaise with local non-profit organizations seeking affordable PCs. The charity will be celebrating its 10th birthday in October 2007 and it is hoped that it will have sent its 100,000th computer by this time.

[edit] Strategy

To maximise the useful life of its PCs to end-users, Computer Aid places minimum specification requirements on the computers it supplies. At the time of writing, the minimum processor was a Pentium III or Pentium IV or equivalent AMD. The computers have at least 128MB of RAM. A CD-ROM is also supplied as standard. The PCs can be supplied with open-source software (including Ubuntu and OpenOffice) as well as proprietary software. For every PC that is given away Computer Aid International charges 39£ (76$) and additional shipping costs. A Pentium lll Notebook can be ordered for 199£ (387$).^[1]

Computer Aid International is getting a competitor through the One Laptop per Child Project, which sells a self-developed low-cost notebook for currently 140$. Tony Roberts from Computer Aid International criticized that the OLPC project sells non-standard and poorly tested computers. ^[2]

[edit] Projects

In Rwanda, Computer Aid has sent thousands of PCs to secondary schools, complementing the Government's budget which has financed 4,000 new PCs for the sector. Another recipient is the British Council in Eritrea, which has installed PCs refurbished by Computer Aid to every public library in the country. The project is now rolling out to every school library in Eritrea.

This year, the UK alone is expected to decommission over two million Pentium IIIs and Pentium IVs as individuals, companies and the public sector upgrade their PCs.