Nortel has become a corporate member of the ‘One Laptop per Child’ (OLPC) initiative. OLPC, a non-profit organization, was formed earlier this year by Nicholas Negroponte and other faculty members from the MIT Media Lab. By joining OLPC, Nortel, an existing sponsor of the Media Lab through its University Interaction Program, extends its long-standing relationship with the Lab. As a corporate member, Nortel will provide an annual fee for purposes of funding OLPC initiatives. The objective of OLPC is to develop a fully functioning, connected laptop to give the largest number of the world’s children – especially those in developing nations – an innovative learning tool for independent interaction, revolutionizing information delivery to schoolchildren globally. According to OLPC, the laptop, currently in the early stages of development, is designed to be the size of a standard school notebook and will use wireless networking capabilities to allow children to interact with each other and access the Internet and community resources. It is expected to leverage built-in wireless capabilities that support WiFi and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and be used as a conventional computer, electronic book, handheld game console and even function as a TV. The laptop price target is US$100.
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