Microsoft, Intel donate to the developing world

Since the dawn of the OLPC project, we've seen a flurry of activity in the world of high-tech philanthropy. While efforts to bring PCs to the developing world are unquestionably a good thing, such programs provide major corporations with more than just good PR. As we've discussed before, tech philanthropy can be good business too, helping hardware and software manufacturers establish their standards in markets that might someday become major consumers of technology. This has become especially important in the face of recent advancements in open-source software, which is increasingly popular in developing nations.

That's not to cast these programs in too negative a light, however. The developing world will need to adopt technology quickly if it is to join the global economy and hardware/software donations are nothing if not sorely needed in classrooms around the world. To that end, both Microsoft and Intel have announced major initiatives that will provide hardware to those in need. Microsoft has partnered with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to send millions of used computers to Africa where they will be reconditioned, loaded with Microsoft software and resold to African businesses and individuals. Microsoft and UNIDO have already announced that the first refurbishing center will be located in Uganda with more, presumably, to follow.

Meanwhile, Intel has donated over 1,000 laptops to schools in Vietnam. According to reports in the Vietnamese media, the majority of these machines will land in ethnic minority boarding schools, with the remaining lappies being distributed in junior and senior schools across Vietnam. It looks like Intel is continuing what it started with the Classmate PC, trying to beat the OLPC to the punch in deploying units to classrooms. Still, when philanthropists and major corporations compete to see who can donate more computers, it is the recipients who ultimately benefit.

For more on tech philanthropy:
- see this Ars Technica article on Microsoft's efforts in Africa
- and this Inquirer article on Intel's recent donation