JonCamfieldBlog: World Bank webcast: How much does it really cost to introduce and sustain computers in schools?

Program Description

"Total cost of ownership" (TCO) is often underestimated, sometimes grossly, when
calculating costs of ICT in education initiatives in developing countries.
Estimates of initial costs to purchase equipment to overall costs over time vary
widely; typically they lie between 10-25% of total cost. That said, there is a
dearth of reliable data, and useful tools, to help guide education
decisionmakers in their assessments of the true costs of educational technology
initiatives.

A recent whitepaper from Vital Wave Consulting, "Affordable Computing for
Schools in Developing Countries: A Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Model for
Education Officials", and accompanying case study of ICT in education
initiatives in India, provide further insight and perspective on this important
and often controversial issue. The white paper discusses key issues related
to technology use in education and presents several major findings, including:

Academic research and private-sector investment decisions indicate that
computers in schools contribute to improved academic outcomes, boost a nation?s
economic competitiveness, and attract job-creating economic investments.

Governments need to consider the entire cost of school computing solutions,
rather than merely the initial expenses. A total cost of ownership model takes
into account recurrent and hidden costs such as teacher training, support and
maintenance, and the cost of replacing hardware over a five-year period.
Support and training are recurrent costs that constitute two of the three
largest costs in the total cost of ownership model. They are greater than
hardware costs and much higher than software fees.

Ultra-low cost computers and Linux-based solutions are relatively equal in cost
to traditional hardware and proprietary software solutions because they require
higher labor and replacement costs over a five-year period.,
The total cost of ownership for different computer types and software platforms
is relatively consistent.

Please note that this independent study was commissioned by Microsoft.

For more information:

Affordable Computing for Schools in Developing Countries: A Total Cost of
Ownership (TCO) Model for Education Officials
Affordable Computing for Schools in India: A Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Case
Study
http://www.vitalwaveconsulting.com/insights/articles-presentations.htm

infoDev Knowledge Map: ICTs in Education: Costs
http://infodev.org/en/Publication.159.html

GeSCI TCO Tool.
http://www.gesci.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=43

Speakers: Karen Coppock, VP of Consulting Services, and Brendan Smith, Senior
Consultant, Vital Wave Consulting

Discussant: Jon Camfield, Director of ICT, Youth Service America

Come join what we hope to be a lively presentation and discussion of the
findings of this study, their potential implications, and the underlying
methodologies and assumptions underpinning the models explored in this work.

We will initiate the discussion with comments from Jon Camfield, Director of
Information and Communication Technologies at YSA (Youth Service America), who
has co-authored an update to the TCO Tool for schools developed by the Global
e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI). This tool, "Deploying 1:1
educational models in large scale: a practical budgeting tool based on TCO", is
available for free use under a Creative Commons License and is currently being
utilized as part of planning processes in Rwanda, drawing on lessons learned
from its earlier use elsewhere in Africa, most notably in Namibia.

To participate in Washington DC please send an email to mlacdao@worldbank.org

You can also watch a live or recorded webcast. To register for live webcast,
send an email to edevelopment@worldbank.org and mbunchuk@worldbank.org
Questions? Please contact Michael Trucano (+12024739841)