OLPC INDIA DAY

4TH AUGUST 2008

ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD

EDUCATION CONFERENCE

DIGITAL BRIDGE FOUNDATION

EMPOWERING EDUCATION

One Laptop per Child: A mission to create educational opportunity for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.

OLPC INDIA DAY will bring together people from diverse disciplines across India and abroad who believe that "children do not lack capability, they lack opportunity" and who are also committed to supporting all efforts in the area of primary education in India

Mr. Nicholas Negroponte founder and chairman of the One Laptop Per Child non-profit association will be in India to share with us his vision for the world about the project.

A virtual workshop will be held by David Cavallo co-head of the Media Lab's Future of Learning group which focuses on the design and implementation of new learning environments and on the design of new technologies that will change the way we think about “learning” and “school.”

Sessions will provide information on the Operating System, technology, design features of the XO, new learning methodologies and will bring together the Open Source community that supports this worldwide initiative in India.

Several individuals, organisations and State Governments have indicated their interest in this project and we have started a few pilot projects across the country that have been a source of inspiration for us to continue. We would like to ensure that this programme reaches the far corners of the country especially rural areas where educational opportunities do not exist.

We would like to invite you and your colleagues and friends who are directly or have interest to get involved in education projects in India.

We intend to connect various parts of the country via means of video conferencing. The registration to the same would open soon.

Kindly contact us at olpc-india@laptop.org for further details.

About OLPC

OLPC was founded by Nicholas Negroponte with a core of Media Lab veterans, but quickly expanded to include a wide range of exceptionally talented and dedicated people from academia, industry, the arts, business, and the open-source community. Each individual involved brings a unique skill set, and a deep personal passion, to the project.

Nicholas Negroponte
Chairman

Nicholas Negroponte is founder and chairman of the One Laptop Per Child non-profit association. He is currently on leave from MIT, where he was co-founder and director of the MIT Media Laboratory, and the Jerome B. Wiesner Professor of Media Technology. A graduate of MIT, Negroponte was a pioneer in the field of computer-aided design, and has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1966. Conceived in 1980, the Media Laboratory opened its doors in 1985. He is also author of the 1995 best seller, Being Digital, which has been translated into more than 40 languages. In the private sector, Nicholas Negroponte serves on the board of directors for Motorola, Inc. and as general partner in a venture capital firm specializing in digital technologies for information and entertainment. He has provided start-up funds for more than 40 companies, including Wired magazine.

David Cavallo
Director, Central and South America

David Cavallo is the co-head of the Media Lab's Future of Learning group, which focuses on the design and implementation of new learning environments and on the design of new technologies that will change the way we think about “learning” and “school.” Prior to joining the Media Lab, he led the design and implementation of medical informatics at Harvard University Health Services, was a software engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation's Artificial Intelligence Technology Center, founded and led the Advanced Technology group for Digital's Latin American and Caribbean region. Cavallo has advised numerous heads of state and ministries of education on the adoption of advanced technologies for learning and the reform of educational institutions. He received his BS in computer science from Rutgers University, and MS and PhD in media arts and sciences from MIT.