Frequently Asked Questions

It is a separate, and quite different, program. Our education initiative is based on extensive research that suggests the difference to a child's exponential learning capacity is made during early childhood. It is for that reason that we target primary school-aged children (aged 4-15).

The XO laptops have been specifically designed for the harsh outback conditions in Australia and will compliment the Federal Government's program as the laptops they intend to use simply would not survive in these conditions.

The XO laptop has been specifically designed to engage students in the process of learning. Through the specific software programs that are preloaded on to the laptops, the user-friendly interface, and the design of laptops themselves, the child becomes engaged in the learning proce

If you replace word laptop with education, the answer becomes clear. The key to solving many of the problems experienced in these communities lies with the children. Providing children with education empowers them to solve their own problems – and break the cycle of dependency.

The success of this program is dependent on support from all levels of the corporate community, concerned individuals, and all levels of Government. Support can be provided in the form of monetary donations and volunteered time and expertise.

Thanks to the support provided by The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) has been engaged to conduct a comprehensive evaluation on the impacts of the XO laptops on our first three communities.

Our current focus is to provide every child in remote communities with an XO laptop. At this stage we are engaging metropolitan children through our Window of Opportunity Initiative

As Australians, we have a window of opportunity to enact change not only in the lives of remote children, but also in how we interact with remote communities, steeped in rich and diverse culture.

The XO provides a window for all Australians to witness the ways in which others live and learn.

To capture this, we created the Window of Opportunity Initiative to allow corporations and philanthropic foundations to saturate entire remote communities with XO laptops – and at the same time empower city children to share in the experience with their remote peers.

Representatives from the donor organisation are able to join us at the deployment and directly participate in XO handover ceremonies. The donor organisation also has the opportunity to facilitate the introduction between the remote school and the city school. Paving the way for children from the city school to become actively involved in their own fundraising efforts to help sustain the deployment and communicate with their remote peer

Quanta Computer Inc. of Taiwan has been chosen as the original design manufacturer (ODM) for the XO project. The decision was made after the OLPC board reviewed bids from several possible manufacturing companies.

Quanta Computer Inc. was founded in 1988 in Taiwan. With over US $10 billion in sales, Quanta is the world's largest manufacturer of laptop PCs; the company also manufactures mobile phones, LCD TVs, and servers and storage products. In addition, in 2005, Quanta opened a new US $200 million R&D center, Quanta R&D Complex (QRDC), in Taiwan. The facility, which opened in Q3 of 2005, has 2.2 million square feet of floor space, and a capacity to house up to 7,000 engineers.