While most of us in the well developed parts of the world battle attention poverty (I’ve come to peace with the fact that I will *never* be able to keep up with all of my RSS feeds!), we forget that this is actually a luxurious problem to have. Many in the underdeveloped world face the opposite problem: information poverty–the lack of access to information, which in turn means lack of access to knowledge and education, which really feeds back into the cycle of financial poverty.
As more people hop on the internet bandwagon in the developed world at rates that dwarf technology adoption in the poor countries, this will obviously further increase the gap between the rich and the poor–which we all know is a not a good thing. If you are unable to find food to eat or medicine for your baby, would you consider violence and theft? Decision making under those circumstances are difficult. The poor becomes an easy target for people with bad intentions; can you imagine someone walking up to you with a gun and saying, “Fight for me, and I’ll give you food.”
This digital divide is not a newly discovered problem, and is actually one of the initiatives of the World Economic Forum. I’m passionate about technology because I believe it’s an enabler for a better quality of life. I’m excited that I’m not the only one who thinks so, and there is a real startup with real products with that same vision (imagine that!).
Inveneo says it well in their mission page:
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can:
- help save lives (rural healthcare and relief)
- provide better economic opportunities (agriculture, market access)
- help enforce human rights (monitoring/reporting)
- offer a better future for children (education)
Invemeo brings computers, networking hardware, and everything in between that one needs to actually get on to the internet. Everything is tailored towards surviving in the typical difficult environment in such places, such as a non-dependable supply of power, heat, dust, etc. The devices are low-power and use free open source software (Ubuntu fans rejoice! See specs here) The communications component include long-distance wifi with VoIP running on top of it.
This starts to sound like the OLPC project, and I wonder how Inveneo differentiates themselves. For one, OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte constantly reminds everyone that OLPC is an education project, not a just a cool shiny geek toy project. Inveneo’s vision is much broader in scope, and also encompasses education. From their mission page: “serve these rural communities with vital services that include education, healthcare, economic development, relief and telecenters.”
After some sleuthing around on the web, I found some answers. It appears reaffirm that largely, OLPC is focused on solving one “vertical” problem (child education), and Inveneo is tackling a broader problem, such as, among other things, economic development. An example of that is how they enabled a town in Uganda that makes baskets to an online storefront in Portland, and demand for the baskets just increased so much that the town can’t keep up.
Another smart move of Inveneo’s is to develop a local channel for “value added resellers”. It’s a win-win for both–spurring local economic growth and helping Inveneo scale operations and spread the vision.
In each country where we work, Inveneo recruits, trains and certifies local “Inveneo Certified ICT Partners†(ICIPs). Typically, these ICIPs are ICT professionals and small business entrepreneurs. They provide installation and support for the organizations we serve to improve the affordability and increase the levels of local support dramatically, while providing new revenue opportunities to the entrepreneur, building the local ICT economy.