OLPC Switzerland

Interested people

• Michele Notari
• Yvonne Buettner
• Martin Hofmann
• Beat Doebeli Honegger
• Jacqueline Peter
• Martin Lehmann
• Rainer Fischer
• Lorenz Schori
• Niklaus Giger
• Alexis Favre
• François Brutsch --Fbrutsch
• Michael Vorburger (see User:Vorburger))
• José Formaz
• Matthias Stürmer
• Norbert Bollow

News from Switzerland

First Meeting of OLPC Switzerland on January 15 2008 on 9:15 AM; in Bern - Report

OLPC Europe

We recognise that in certain situations a European platform can make life easier for local OLPC grassroots, including the newly starting ones, and for the people at MIT. This platform shall under no circumstances be meddling with the local grassrouts but instead help them to grow and flourish.

We propose the following simple and basic common guidelines that shall help in forming this platform:

1. OLPC Europe is

• a forum for exchange between local groups with MIT, EU institutions and other groups worldwide
• helping in organising XOs for the local groups
• supporting and cherishing the autonomy of local groups
• focusing on rough consensus and running code

2. OLPC Europe is not

• going to do a local pilot in your country
• going to tell you what you are allowed to do
• going to act as a political instrument

3. Strucure

For being successful we propose the following minimalistic structure:

• a yearly rotating chair
• a secretary
• members

4. Benefits to members

• Better information
• Calendar of events
• Help in getting XOs

5. Obligations of members

• Send out a regular newsletter of your achievements and your activities
• Companies shall pay for membership

6. Conclusions

We do hope that this minimalistic structure combines best of both worlds: a little bit of structure for being effective and the highest degree of autonomy of local groups.

Objectives of OLPC Switzerland

1. Demonstrate that the concept is worth promoting by using OLPCs in Switzerland
2. Show that OLPC is not just a cheap PC for developing countries by using OLPCs in one of the world's wealthiest countries
3. Promote the dissemination of OLPCs in German, French and Italian speaking regions by adapting OLPCs to these languages.
4. Promote the programming environment Squeak in the German speaking area by adequate examples and ideas developed in Swiss paedagogic universities and tested in Swiss schools.
5. Emphasize the importance of basic concepts in contrast to product knowledge by using non-commercial hardware and software.
6. Demonstrate the possibilities of digital learning tools to the Swiss education environment.

Events

• OpenExpo in Bern 12. und 13. März

Blogs

• http://mobileatschool.kaywa.ch/mobile-blogging/erstes-treffen-der-olpc-switzerland-community.html
• http://wiki.doebe.li/Beat/OLPCnunAuchInDerSchweiz
• http://www.greenpit.ch/blogwordpress/?p=235
• http://www.vorburger.ch/blog1/2006/02/one-laptop-per-child-olpc-via-100.html

Press

• http://www.domainepublic.ch/files/articles/html/9725.shtml
• http://www.lematin.ch/pages/home/actu/economie/actu_economie__2?contenu=354155