One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)

One Laptop per Child is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to “empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child”. In 2007, OLPC founder Nicolas Negroponte gave a moving speech at Sibos which touched the heart of the financial community. The response was overwhelming, and the SWIFT Board decided to allocate a portion of the annual rebate generally given to our customers to the OLPC programme. The OLPC initiative complements SWIFT’s social values and IT skills, and our support for OLPC has grown significantly. SWIFT hosts the OLPC Europe Foundation at its headquarter premises in La Hulpe and is an active catalyst, making the OLPC’s mission a reality in several countries around the world.

In accordance with OLPC principles, SWIFT has helped change the educational future of children by deploying over  twenty thousand laptops in countries where others would not venture: 6,600 in Rwanda, 2,200 in Cambodia, 4,200 in Nepal, 4,000 in Paraguay and 2,600 in Brazil. An additional 6,000 SWIFT-donated laptops will be deployed in early 2010 in Burundi and Mozambique.

The OLPC XO is a rugged, low-cost, low-power, interconnected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, fun and self-empowered learning. One XO laptop has been issued to every child and every teacher at a given primary school. The surrounding primary schools will follow, creating and fostering learning communities.

By giving children their very own connected XO laptop, we are giving them a window to the outside world, access to vast amounts of information, a way to connect with each other, and a springboard into their future. And we’re also helping these countries develop an essential resource—educated, empowered children.  Effectively, they are active creators of their own knowledge.

More information on OLPC.