I have just this morning discovered an interesting gadget called the Koolu W.E Apliance (pictured left). Essentially, the gadget is a small desktop CPU (tiny really) that is quiet and eco-friendly, very energy efficient (uses only ten watts) and comes with a 512MB RAM and 80 GB hard disk.

The main challenge in Africa is getting the wider rural community to get in touch with computers and to develop their literacy so that they are more competitive. I see Koolu appliance as a key tool that can swiftly achieve this.

At 10 watts usage, the gadget can be battery band solar powered and I can therefore see institutions of learning, community centres and others going online and making their presence felt globally. the cost is certainly lower because of its use of Ubuntu and Google Apps.

Koolu was founded by Andrew Greig 

The challenges here that must be addressed for the widest possible uptake  in Africa include:-

  •  The cost: at $299 (minus powerpoint e.g. solar panel and battery, monitor and keyboard) that cost is still prohibitive for many of the rural folk in Kenya and many other parts of Africa.
  • Availability and Support: The magic of getting some significant uptake – and therefore solve Africa’s uptake and utilization to and of ICT is availability and support (for maintenance) of the gadget widely. For this in fact I would go so far as to suggest that it would be a strategic imperative for the company Koolu to assemble the gadget in Africa.

All in all, the main and urgent challenge for Africa and therefore opportunity for Koolu and such solutions is not space nor is it eco-centrism as one would have it (important as these issues are): The challenge is access to computing. Koolu can solve this.

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