 |
Welcome!
It’s been quite a year. That’s the only way to summarize all the wonderful progress AMD has made in its quest to enable 50 percent of the world’s population with affordable Internet access by the year 2015 – the primary goal of our 50x15 initiative. I have personally traveled the world and have seen the effect our technology has had on students in South Africa, job hunters in Brazil, families in India and in the Caribbean, and citizens across China. They come from very diverse backgrounds and uniquely challenging circumstances. But everyone who is using AMD’s Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) today shares one very important thing in common – the technology AMD has developed has allowed people everywhere to fundamentally rewrite the rules of their lives in profound, even surprising ways. Many of them see hope and opportunity where neither had previously existed.
One year ago, at this very forum, we committed ourselves to ramping up our efforts and working as hard as possible to delivering our PIC and other devices to as many people as possible. I am proud to say that the PIC is now up and running in every major region of the world. Even now, we receive hundreds of emails every day from people all over the world asking for the PIC – they want to help make it, sell, use it and experience it.
The good news is that AMD is by no means standing still. We are moving forward on all fronts. We are now intimately involved with the MIT labs and Nicholas Negroponte on the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative, sometimes referred to as the $100 laptop initiative. I’m pleased to bring you an exclusive conversation with Mr. Negroponte in this special WEF issue of 50x15 Connections. AMD is also putting the finishing touches on the establishment of a 50x15 Foundation. When it’s up and running, the Foundation will provide the full range of necessary services to people and organizations looking to make digital inclusion a reality. Look for a formal announcement about the Foundation very soon. And there is much more. We have a growing partner program that includes some of the world’s most prominent and thoughtful business leaders who are bringing enormous amounts of energy and resources to the challenge of digital inclusion. We are now producing the PIC in Latin America, Asia and soon even more places. We have just announced plans to bring the PIC to Turkey, and we are working hard on a new line-up of even more compelling digital inclusion products. Thank you for your continued support and interest. Here’s to an even more prosperous 2006!
Sincerely,
Dan Shine
Program Director, 50x15
Return to Top »
|
|
|
 |
|
Q&A with Nicholas Negroponte, MIT Media Lab Chairman and Co-Founder
The $100 laptop is a joint project of the MIT Media Lab and the One Laptop per Child association (OLPC), which plan to distribute the computers to schoolchildren around the world, starting with people in developing regions of the world. The initiative was first announced by Nicholas Negroponte at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland in January 2005.
What specific goals do you have for the OLPC initiative as it exists today? (For example, are you hoping to connect a specific number of children, or is your vision more open-ended?)
The goal of "one laptop per child" is expected to launch the product for primary and secondary school students in seven countries (India, China, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria, Brazil), starting one year from now. Shortly afterward, we anticipate seeing a steady rise in our global run-rate. Read More »
Image and illustration credit: Design Continuum, from the $100 Laptop Website
|
|
|
|
Return to Top »
 |
|
“I now exist, and I’m connected to the world”
– ITAFE Caça Emprego Pilot Program customer, São Paulo, Brazil, 2005
IT Access for Everyone (ITAFE) member organizations can celebrate the initiative’s two-year anniversary at this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) by knowing that its eco-system approach to digital equality not only works in the real world, but that it has the power to transform lives.
Partnering with Brazil’s largest education foundation, Fundação Bradesco, ITAFE launched its first Internet access and computer education program in the Osasco community of São Paulo, Brazil during the fourth quarter of 2005. ITAFE selected Brazil for the pilot after extensive studies of more than 50 ICT projects in emerging growth countries. Read More »
|
|
|
|
Return to Top »
* Certain links within this newsletter will take you to third-party Web sites that are not under the control of AMD. When you access third-party Web sites, you do so at your own risk and acknowledge that AMD is not responsible for any content, advertising, products, or other materials available from such sites. User also agrees that AMD shall not be liable for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of using any third-party Web site. The views and opinions found in third-party Web sites do not necessarily reflect those of AMD. The links are provided for your informational purposes only.
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD Micro Devices, Inc. One AMD Place, P.O. Box 3453, Sunnyvale, California 94088-3453 USA
AMD Homepage |
Copyright 2006 |
Privacy |
Trademark Info |
Unsubscribe
|
|
|
