“ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD”, the 14th Lecture Series of the Americas
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, August 10th, 2006

The possibility of every child having a laptop computer, as a way to help bridge the digital divide between developed and developing countries, was the focus of the fourteenth conference in the Lecture Series of the Americas.  Nicholas Negroponte, founder and Chairman of the non-profit organization “One Laptop Per Child”, shared his vision and his efforts to revolutionize education worldwide through the development of low-cost computers.

In introducing the topic, OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza reiterated the central theme of the recent OAS General Assembly in the Dominican Republic: “Good Governance and Development in the Knowledge-Based Society.” He noted that information and communication technologies are “crucial to strengthening good governance and the promotion and protection of human rights.”

Negroponte explained how the laptops—which will be produced on a large scale at a cost of around $100—will be used by children throughout the Americas and the world, improving education and eventually aiding economic development. “Perhaps the biggest thing the $100 laptop will do on this planet is to change education,” said Negroponte, who described how children who have never even seen computers tend to learn quickly and intuitively how to use them. In a slide presentation, he explained how the efficient, weatherproof computers he plans to distribute are operated with a manual crank and capable of creating wireless networks in remote regions.

In the Dominican Republic, the videoconference was transmitted in FUNGLODE's headquarters in Santo Domingo, and was followed by a discussion panel of local experts which included: Domingo Tavares, Director of the Communication and Information technology Presidential Office (OPTIC for it’s name in Spanish), José Armando Tavares, Director of the Technological Institute of the Americas (ITLA for its name in Spanish), and José Alfredo Rizek from the Dominican Telecomunications Institute (INDOTEL, for its name in Spanish).   The panel was moderated by Paula Rodriguez representative of the OAS in the Dominican Republic.

This presentation is part of the Lecture Series of the Americas of the OAS, which Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD),  and its sister organization in the Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), have been supporting and promoting in the Dominican Republic.