OLPC Oceania/Community participation guidelines

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Community Participation Guidelines for deploying the XO laptop in communities

Developed at OLPC Asia Learning Workshop, Bangkok, August 2008.
adapted for the Pacific context by OLPC and SPC
  • The XO laptop should be deployed through a process of community consultation; deployment should only proceed with assent of the community, taking account of their needs and concerns; and should be fully integrated into existing systems andtools.
  • Without compromising child ownership or education, access to the XO Laptop should be available not just for the child, but the family and the community.
  • Communities should develop their own principles and guidance for coordinating communal use of the XO.
  • Where appropriate, children should be included and encouraged to activelyparticipate in using the technology for whole-of-community actions and projects.
  • The technology should be available to contribute to community efforts and solve community problems and not be leveraged for private personal profit or commercialgain.
  • Knowledge and data generated with the laptop is in the public domain, and needs tobe freely available and shared.
  • Without discouraging community-level market activity which supports sustainability – such as microfinance, technical services, spare parts repairs and maintenance – communities should put in place disincentives to the emergence of a secondarycommercial market for the XO.
  • Communities should share local knowledge, best practices and lessons learned with like communities and within their sub-regional, national and regional contexts.
  • Deployment should, wherever possible, proceed in alignment and harmony with existing regional and national efforts on education for sustainable development, andshould be designed to strengthen and enhance those efforts.
  • An "end of life" program should be put in place to recover derelict laptops to avoid environmental damage and hazard.
  • An Internet Safety program should be established wherever the XO is deployed.