Re: [GKD] RFI: Computer Donations To The Third World

[Roland Lubett]

I've been following with interest the discussion about sending computers
to the Third World.

The rationale is clear:

* many countries are desperate for computing power, for schools,
training, productivity, but cannot afford the latest hardware and
software

* literally millions of computers are being trashed in rich economies,
that still have years of life in them. As Daniel Makundi has said,
Windows 95 plus Star/OpenOffice can run fine if slowly on anything
faster than a 486 machine.

* So the "obsolete" hardware of richer countries could, with care and
planning, be well used in the Third World. It may cost more financially,
to recondition and fit-out used computers than to buy new ones (at least
in the US), but it would certainly cost less if environmental and social
costs and benefits were factored in. So you have a potentially valuable
asset available to marginal, disadvantaged groups or economies.

The problem is, with computers as with any donated equipment, that we
well-meaning donors think we are doing such a great thing to send
hardware - any hardware - without looking at local needs, compatibility
issues, and local capacities for maintenance in recipient countries.

If we were to do a good survey (physical or virtual) of the needs and
the capacities country by country, then work on all the exported
machines to make sure that they were compatible with those
needs/capacities, then we might be getting somewhere. Even better,
establish relationships with local groups. The success stories mentioned
in other postings - Swaziland's Computer Education Trust, and the Goa
Computers project - have clearly involved longer-term capacity-building
together with equipment donation: but I know from experience, that for
each of these success stories there might be 10, 50, 100 failures.

And yes, it's not much use sending "free" computers if local governments
just see computers as something to tax. There is much that local users
can do to change the official climate and lobby for fairer conditions
for computer and Internet users.

This all needs a much more holistic approach to bridging the digital
divide, and some very un-technological, fuzzy skills and capacities in
human relations, organising, and training. Surprise, surprise.


Roland Lubett
Last-First Networks
Armidale, Australia

http://www.lastfirst.net

--- linking practitioners  ï  activists  ï  organisations ---
-- in holistic development --






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Re: [GKD] RFI: Computer Donations To The Third World

[Raju Dev Acharya]

I totally agree with Guido Sohne. In Nepal I can buy a new PIII for
US$300. Also importing PC for distribution into the country takes a lot
of time and effort  due to the never ending red tape and can take
months. This increases the cost of the PC if the cost incurred in the
host country is added to the total cost of the donor.


 "Guido Sohne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> I was in a thread elsewhere that discussed this same issue and I also
> thought that shipping used PCs makes perfect sense. The problem is the
> actual cost of the used PCs when other overheads are taken into account.

..snip...



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Re: [GKD] RFI: Computer Donations To The Third World

[Timothy Anderson]

I write to correct some errors in the discussion related to our current
costs.  www.WorldComputerExchange.org sources and tests donated
computers for partners in developing countries.  Based on the current
amount of computers we ship, the share of costs we must receive per
donated Pentium is US$57.50 ($40 for Power Macs). Our per-computer
costs will decrease as we continue to grow to scale. The e-deal "blue
book" value of the average working computer that we ship is about US$300
so we report on our website that they are "worth" that.  We find that
our current average shipping cost to an ocean container port in Africa
is about US$12 per computer - less to South Asia and South America.  Of
our first 21 shipments, only one has had to pay customs - the rest have
been able to get waivers of the duty because of their educational and
charitable goal or with the assistance of their government or of the
UNDP.  There are many other costs for tech support, teacher training,
and content that we and our allies work to help reduce for our partners
in developing countries.

Best wishes,

Timothy Anderson
www.WorldComputerExchange.org



"Guido Sohne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> I was in a thread elsewhere that discussed this same issue and I also
> thought that shipping used PCs makes perfect sense. The problem is the
> actual cost of the used PCs when other overheads are taken into account.
> Appended is an excerpt from an email I wrote concerning this:-
>
> 
> I've done a little research to put this issue in perspective ... The
> website of the World Computer Exchange claims that:
>
> "WCE has shipped 6,434 computers in 21 shipments worth $1,931,200 to
> connect 784 schools with 306,200 students in the following 15 countries:
> Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Cameroon, Georgia, Guatemala, India, Kenya,
> Lithuania, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda".
>
> I pulled out a calculator and assessed the above figures.
>
> It works out to about $300 per PC. 21 shipments implies that there are
> 306 PCs per shipment. Seperately, it was mentioned that it costs $20,000
> per container to ship the PCs over which works out to $65 per PC.
>
> With those figures, it appears that shipping Walmart PCs at a cost of
> $65/PC (assuming it costs the same to ship them as the used PCs) on top
> of the *retail* price of $199 is still below the cost of shipping the
> used PCs.





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