Malta

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Malta

 Country Information
 ISO Country Code MT
 Wikipedia Article Wikipedia Link
 Government Support Low and not OLPC Priority
 Deployment Demonstration (under 50 machines)
 Languages
 Keyboard Layout English QWERTY / Maltese
 Written Maltese/English
 Spoken Maltese/English
 Secondary Written Maltese/English
 Secondary Spoken Maltese/English

)

... and thanks for visiting the Maltese "OLPC" related Wiki-Pages, for the One Laptop Per Child Universal Primary Education project. This is an "Open Commmunity" project, similar to the Wikipedia and Open Source Community projects, like Linux, OpenOffice, etc. and it is working along Agenda 21 and Millennium Development Goal nr.2: Bringing Universal Primary Education.

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The aim of this educational project is to bring Universal Primary Education by 2015 as - anno year 2000 initiated - United Nations Millennium Development Goal nr.2. For this and above approach, - and also a lot of lobbying by the right persons on the right places and time - the United Nations is a Partner in this Open Community project! It is the largest educational project undertaken by Humanity ever... and deemed by many as one of the most inspiring projects out there ... and things are moving very fast indeed: over 86.000 eBooks available, all education disciplines covered, 2008 saw the first 3 developing countries with full coverage, i.e. with all kids age 5 to 12 equipped with these smallest schools in a box-laptops.

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OLPC is a not for profit that tries to remain as small as possible and is focussed on making sure the One Laptop Per Child initiative and hardware stays open source and open hardware. OLPC offers tools for the community to collaborate in working on the soft and hardware and helping out with deploying OLPC projects. OLPC soft and hardware is free to be used by all. OLPC has not opened and will not set-up any legal OLPC Malta entity in Malta. OLPC is sure that there are competent individuals that will come together in an organization or that some existing organization will take up the lead in building a dynamic community that will take the OLPC initiative into Malta. It is not possible in making a profit on the laptops. The prices are open and the same to everybody and merely depend on massive numbers. The only way to eventually earn money is by providing assistance to deploy - get through the different phases - and accompany the project, assisting the government in deploying One Laptop Per Child, assisting with training teachers, collaborating in making dedicated ebooks, etc.

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Malta is a very multi-cultural society with a very diverse diaspora. We hope that this diaspora will work their way to these pages and that the Maltese society will benefit from these citizens with one leg in Malta and another still in their countries of origin to develop leadership for OLPC, Agenda 21, the MDG's and accelerate bringing the level that our planet can be a nice place for all humans to new and inspiring heights for generations to come.

Please feel free to create sub-categories or list or start collaborating, teaming up and expanding our and your projects, existing and new ones in one of these sub-categories:

Compettition OLPC
How many of specifically these laptops have you actually sold? A couple of thousand? Note: propriety software, version x and hardware component y will react differently to e.g. printers/internet/etc. than a twin copy laptop with propriety software, version x+1 and hardware component y or propriety software, version x and hardware component y+1. Let alone all other combinations. The fact is there isn't a single producer that comes near the numbers as OLPC: OLPC has NATION wide deployments! How many of specifically these laptops have you sold? A couple of thousand? OLPC: The fact is there isn't a single producer that comes near the numbers as OLPC: OLPC has NATION wide deployments! Hundreds of thousands of laptops, not made for making a profit, but where the child and the education comes first and is the only place. The children are not "a market", they are OLPC's mission!
How many different screws are there in the laptop? 8 Different types, needing 3 different and difficult to find screwdrivers and some other tools to lift things! How many different screws are there in the laptop ? OLPC laptops/ebooks have 1 type of screws, can be unscrewed easily with the same easy to find standard screwdriver. OLPC laptops are made to be repaired, even by kids !!! Again, kids nor the ministry of education is to be considered as a market, they are OLPC's mission !
Are you an open hardware and software project? No. Are you an open hardware and software project ? Yes. OLPC is just like the wikipedia, like linux and open office ... we combine the power of massive collaboration with massive orders to get minimum prices.
What are your ideals? Make as much profit as possible. E.g. use tiny little hidden screws, so that when you want to repair the laptop, you break something beyond repair and you void the warrenty. We sneak in a laptop very cheaply and we don't tell you we're actually going to make money by selling you all kind of "services", proprietary soft and hardware that's programmed to fail and things you don't need afterwards. We make you good consumers. What are your ideals ? Millennium Development Goal nr. 2: Bringing Universal Primary Education. The OLPC laptop is both an open hardware as software project. The hardware and operating system is dedicated to kids. Hardware: the keyboard is made for children's fingers. They are no use to adults to prevent stealing. They are also the greenest laptops in the world. They consume very little power. No toxic elements have been used. There is a special recycling program. The little energy the laptop needs can be provided by a PV panel. Kids are not our market, kids are OLPC's mission. Connect with the largest educational initiative ever undertaken by Humanity ! Don't go for anything less! Another laptop has a little nifty something? Wait until we place an order of 1 million of these components and leave competition behind us. Laptop deployments in education are not just hardware projects. It's about developing the highest average speed: open and free soft and hardware where everybody in the educational sector in the WHOLE WORLD can collaborate. It's about allowing kids to collaborate, not about one kid having the latest / fastest gadget at 3 times the price because one parent can pay for it. They are not match to a world wide community continuously improving, building, exchanging. The kid with his high-tech machine will be just left out of that crucial topic what it is all about actually: collaborating, sharing, building improving. And how much technological advance does he/she actually have? It's just a matter of a couple of months when OLPC shifts gear again - continuously - in speed and other characteristics. Sometimes OLPC is a bit faster, sometimes a bit slower. But it's average speed in implementing new things is unmatched. How is any other distributor going to get better prices than whole governments worldwide ordering laptops that can be folded to ebooks all together and all the time?
Can your laptop be powered straight by a PV panel? No Can your laptop be powered straight by a PV panel? YES, OLPC laptops are quoted to be the greenest laptops around. They need very little power and the little they need can be provided by plugging in a light flexible PV panel. The screen is so that kids can read them even when they are in direct sunlight.
Is your laptop designed for kids? No Is your laptop designed for kids? Yes, OLPC laptop are very tough and can stand rough handling, falling, etc. Basically it's a strong box that can be flipped around, like a laptop but also like an ebook. 2 for the price of one ! You need a keyboard for serious working. A tablet for reading or playing games. Here you have both. The keyboard is made for kids hands and of no use for adults. This helps preventing theft by adults.
What experience to you have deploying your laptops nation wide? None What experience to you have deploying your laptops nation wide ? In all over 2,5 million laptops have been deployed. Several countries have nation wide OLPC deployment. Many island states, but also countries like Peru and Uruguay. More: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Deployment
Does your laptop's vision aligns and helps the Ministry of Education / Schools / Principles / Educators / Kids connecting with Open Source collaboration projects? No Does your laptop's vision aligns and helps the Ministry of Education / Schools / Principles / Educators / Kids connecting with Open Source collaboration projects? Yes, that's one of OLPC's founding principles. With connected laptops, learners are liberated to actively engage with others with similar missions and harnassing the free power and intelligence that is available world wide: connecting teachers to collaborate in making the BEST book for their discipline, connecting to wikibooks, a sister project of the wikipedia, and many many more. "What anti-theft strategy do you have?' None ... buy software to prevent and relocate laptops? "What anti-theft strategy do you have?' Theft has been taken into account from the concept. After all OLPC was meant for the poorest first. Every laptop is unique and can be switched-off from a distance. All parts are logged. Apart from that there's some other factors: OLPC goes for region wide deployments, every kid gets a laptop, no one gets left out. So why steal one when you have one of your own. An adult running around with these very distinguishable OLPC laptops? You'd make a fool out of yourself. Everybody knows they're for kids only. Besides your adult fingers don't fit on the keyboard. You'll get very annoyed very quickly. And who are you going to sell it to? Everyone has one. And it's switched off from a distance anyhow. And we CAN trace you .. it's all networked after all, isnt' it? "Do you have an open platform for collaboration among users?' No "Do you have an open platform for collaboration among users?' Yes, several. OLPC offers a wiki, discussion mailing lists an even chatrooms for instant feedback and solution providing. More and more schools and governments make financial resources available to be present in these chatrooms to feedback governments / ministries / teachers and kids that have questions; be they organizational, hardware, software, or whatever.


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