students using Raspberry Pi-based computers in a village school in cameroon.
a slick GUI by default, with the entire
operating system and user files stored
on a swappable SD card.
Users can “see into” the underlying
mechanics of the technology—quite literally since the basic Pi comes as just a
case-less board. Users must build their
own computer by connecting monitor,
keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals to the motherboard; and load their
own operating system and applications if they want to word process, web
browse, and so forth. Open design and
an open innovation approach have encouraged a whole set of further developments, such as a hardware interface (
Pi-Face) that can connect the computer to
a variety of sensors and peripherals.
But can Pi break out of its computer
science teaching and design project
ghetto to address the needs of developing countries?
Photogra Ph by geert maertenS
ULCC’s promise is that it will
match the explosion in digital com-
munications with an explosion in data
processing capacity—bringing the
“I” of information and communica-
tion technologies to the mass of the
world’s population just as cellphones
are bringing the “C.”
As we noted in a recent blog, 1 three
application opportunities come to mind:
˲ Micro-enterprise and household
computing: providing access to stan-
dard computing applications for the
individual enterprise and household.
Add a mobile Internet connection,
and we might finally move beyond
the “telecenter” model of community
computing, to something much more
integral to the lives of those on lowest
incomes.
the spread
of computing
applications for
the poor has
been limited by
design-reality gaps.
˲ Data collection and automation
applications: there’s a trickle of new
electronic applications for development—smart motor controllers that
save power and extend motor life, low-cost health monitors, water quality and
climate change measurement devices,
field-based agricultural sensors. Raspberry Pi might turn that trickle into a
steady stream.
At root, though, the transformational promise of ULCC may not be about
a specific application, but about a new
approach to innovation and design.
The spread of computing applications
for the poor has been limited by design-reality gaps. Applications are developed by those external to poor communities, with designs that mismatch
local realities, and thus often fail.
If ULCCs can become widespread,
they can enable a new computing design paradigm: grassroots innovation
in which local users are also designers; creating designs that match local
needs, resources, and context. ULCC
will also allow a new model of collaborative IT innovation: working alongside base-of-the-pyramid users. Large
firms, university departments, and
social enterprises could now afford
rapid, mass prototyping—trying out
and iterating quickly through many
different models until they find one
that works.