Inveneo

On the Road with Inveneo

On the road with Inveneo’s Senior Software Engineer Michael Meisel

Written by: Anita Deshpande, Inveneo Volunteer

When he first walked into the computer lab at Kyambogo Secondary school in Kampala, Uganda, Michael was faced with a nearly empty room and two rows of aging, unused computers. In a country constantly plagued with power shortages, the bulky computers were collecting dust. In Uganda, standard desktop computers can be expensive to operate and are infrequently used due to unpredictable outages and the cost of electricity, not to mention the destructive power of dust.

In two whirlwind weeks, Michael and Inveneo’s certified local ICT partner, Linux Solutions, led the transformation of the quiet classroom in Kampala, and two other classrooms in the more rural towns of Kasaala and Bukuya, into active learning centers alive with the buzz of power and technology. At every location the locals embraced the computer labs, with local children avidly watching as the team set up computers, networks and battery backup systems. “Even in the more remote locations, Ugandans already have some exposure to technology. They are eager to learn more about what computers and the Internet can do for them and their community,” said Michael.

The installation of these three, 30-computer learning centers was completed through a partnership between Inveneo and the AMD NEPAD Consortium to support the New African Partnership for Development (NEPAD) e-Schools Initiative. The objective of the e-Schools Initiative is to provide ICT tools and training to school teachers and students, which will enable them to better function in the emerging information society and knowledge economy. NEPAD, a pan-African government alliance, is working with several leading technology companies to design Internet labs in urban and rural schools across 20 countries. Their goal is to identify vibrant, sustainable ICT and learning solutions to be implemented in over 600,000 primary and secondary schools in Africa by 2010.

In the classroom at Kyambogo, the installation was completed with 30 AMD Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) devices. The PIC is an easy-to-install, low-power computer designed with a friendly looking yet strong, gray-and-green outer case that makes it ideal for a rugged school environment. These devices, paired with educational software designed by AMD’s partners in South Africa, make a complete education solution for the teachers and students.

At the two more remote locations of St. Andrews Kasaala Secondary School and Bukuya Secondary School, Michael and the team from Linux Solutions installed power systems and Inveneo Communication Stations – Inveneo’s ultra-low power, resilient computers.

For these locations, the Inveneo Communications Station runs off of the Ugandan power grid and is connected to a battery backup system that charges while the power is on. The backup system is designed to run 10 computers for two days without power. In these remote locations, where the power is off for a day or more at a time, these computers provide a solution for consistent learning that was not achievable before. The response from the headmaster at Bukuya charmed Michael immediately, “The headmaster accepted the computer lab thankfully and offered overwhelming hospitality to our team. He fed us with local food like matoke (plaintains), rice and fresh meat stews, and presented me with a gift of locally made handicrafts when we completed the project."

Bushnet, a Ugandan ISP, was in the process of bringing Internet access to all three schools as Michael was set to leave. As Michael started the long, dusty drive home to his hotel on the last day, he shared his thoughts with me. “I hope that with these computer labs, the school children will see the power that the Internet can give them to answer any question they can think of. Just think back to when you first discovered Google. Think about how much easier it is to find any kind of information now… and most of us live in places that already had telephones, phone books, libraries and TVs. We can only imagine how the world will open up to these children who don’t have access to any of these tools today.”

Read the AMD press release about this project here: here.