[OLPC-Chicago] OLPC policy challenges

[Andrew Harrington]

Dear Scott,

OLPC has commitments to initial countries and short deadlines.  That is 
where they want initial help.  We should give them what they say they 
need in the short term.  Once they have a basic program in place and 
fewer fires to put out  and fewer immediate deadlines, Ivan has 
indicated that other forms of distribution, particularly those that 
would subsidize third-world distribution are reasonable.

We could, in parallel, look forward to future developments -- getting 
people thinking who may take a long time to move. 

The OLPC hardware is not designed for the 1st world.  The contortions 
for constraints on expense and power consumption are not realistic here, 
but in lots of 1M, the XO can be customized, and that lot size is 
presumably only to maintain the lowest price point.  It certainly still 
makes sense to show off the prototype -- it can only get better, and 95% 
of what goes into the 3rd world machines probably makes sense here.

Google sounds like an interesting partner.   It is not clear where the 
hype ends and the commitment to real change in Chicago begins.  And we 
will have to deal with the fact that really empowering everyone is a 
scary thought to many in authority.

The indications from the invited talks at Pycon was that the MIT media 
folks had largely given up on the mainstream 1st world education 
bureaucracy.  I am not sure how much it might be serendipity or part of 
a larger vision, to get a buzz around a 3rd-world offering and when that 
is visible enough to those in the 1st world, get a grassroots demand to 
overhaul what we have here. 

One side issue for 1st world distribution is that community is important 
in the OLPC model, and some students will have more powerful 
conventional machines.  It will be a big plus, possibly essential, that 
conventional Windows and Mac machines be able to add an environment to 
use the same software.  Of course there are the development simulators, 
but I am talking from a 6-year-old users perspective, not a developer 
environment.

Andy

Scott Van Den Plas wrote:
> I have a feeling that the initial pilot programs using the XO hardware 
> are going to have a number of difficulties.  Between lack of buy in 
> from educational institutions, government corruption, and a black 
> market for the machines... I fear that the problems with the laptop 
> are not even remotely technical in nature.
>
> I think that it would be wise to push the OLPC program in areas where 
> these policy problems are less of a risk.  The program should focus on 
> areas that already have infrastructure in place, stable governments, 
> and political will to make the program work, in order to increase the 
> momentum of the program overall.  First world buy in is absolutely 
> required to fuel third world progress.  From the OLPC wiki, the 
> program is not opposed to a first world roll out, they are just 
> looking for government buy in.
>
> The city of Chicago is a great place to start.  We are an education 
> focused city, with politicians who are actively seeking inventive 
> education reform.  We are not afraid of technology, and the city 
> itself has a massive amount of momentum right now.  Over the last 
> couple of years, Chicago has been seeking RFP's for building out 
> citywide wifi (I am unsure of the status of this right now).  Google 
> is actively seeking to expand their wireless reach (not only through 
> build outs, but also through a consortium lobbying the FCC).  It seems 
> to me that there could be an incredible opportunity right here, for 
> both Google and Chicago.  Chicago needs the machines for children and 
> the infrastructure to support them.  Google is looking to expand their 
> wireless foothold and gain users/market share.  It seems to be a match 
> made in heaven.  Its possible that Chicago could grant Google rights 
> to build out the network, and in return, Google could subsidize the 
> OLPC program locally.
>
> Harper and I are planning on meeting with at least one local alderman 
> to demo the XO-1 and talk about the program.  I would love to hear any 
> input from all of you.  Is this a good idea?  Can this program work?  
> How can we increase the visibility of the machine to the city council?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Scott Van Den Plas
> www.morefishthanman.com <http://www.morefishthanman.com>
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>
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-- 
  Andrew N. Harrington
  Computer Science Department      Director of Academic Programs
  Loyola University Chicago        http://www.cs.luc.edu/~anh
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