Technology Took Me to Another Level:
From Presenting a Paper to Meeting the President of Uganda
by
Carole I. Smith
Page
3 of 3
I recommended the implementation of these programs indicating that they would address the issues of education and training to improve the technical skills of their workforce and in a reasonably short period of time and have the potential of providing verifiable evidence of human capital development capable of enhancing and supporting sustainable economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
With over 20 years in the U.S. Army Reserves, Amicitia
Maloon-Gibson is the Territory Manager, EEO and Diversity
Field Services, Internal Revenue Services, Baltimore,
MD. A 21st century worker for real, she works in Baltimore,
drills in Atlanta and lives in Florida. As a Lt. Col,
in the Army Reserves, Cita, as she likes to be called,
is Chief Engineer of a command that supports military
operations and exercises, while also serving as supervisory
EEO and diversity manager for the command. Enlisted in
1975, next year she is eligible, and shooting for, full
colonel.
To facilitate implementation and address their problems of connectivity, access and technical resources, I provided information on:
- The One Laptop Per Child program launched by Nicholas Negroponte, a professor at MIT, with the assistance of a cadre of geeks. They have produced a laptop that costs only $176.00, expected to go down to $100 in two years.
This laptop is designed specifically for poor children in rural areas. This machine has a built-in-camera that takes stills and video and also has WiFi. It is also durable. Water, sunlight or won't hurt it. The battery is expected to last 10 -12 hours with heavy use, and when it does run down, it can be charged up with a crank or a salad spinner.
- The Microsoft Corporation $3 software package to governments that subsidize student computers used at home and at school. This new program is designed to provide governments around the world with inexpensive versions of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system and other educational programs for students to use on laptops or other mobile computers.
The new software package, called Microsoft Student Innovation Suite, is part of an expansion of Microsoft's Unlimited Potential and Partners in Learning programs. The suite consists of Microsoft's Windows XP Starter Edition, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Microsoft Math 3.0, Learning Essentials 2.0, and Windows Live Mail desktop.
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Interest in my presentation was high. I met with a number of individuals, including the Special Presidential Assistant in Charge of Information Communication Technology, Kaliisa Ibrahim, Kin; and President Museveni's Private Secretary for Education and Social Services, Faith Katana; Member of Parliament, Jinja Municipality, Nathan Nabeta Igeme; Assistant Director, Library Services, Parliament of Uganda, Simon Joseph Engitu; Rutakyengyerwa Emmanuel; |
the Executive Director, Uganda National Action on Physical Disability, Mary Mukisa; and Associate Professor Waswa Balunywa, Vice Chancellor of Makerere University Business School (MUBS), co-sponsor of the conference. All were interested in following up to discuss program implementation.
As a follow up to this extraordinary trip, I will be working with the Commerce Department to explore the possibility of establishing a Sister City relationship with Kampala, Uganda as well as linking potential development opportunities through the Advisory Council of the Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs, and the Congressional Black Caucus.
To stay abreast of what's going on in Philly and who's doing what in technology, tune into Carole's Corner on Technology each Wednesday from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. on 900 AM WURD, and Philadelphia's Got It on the School District's Cable Channel 52, City Government Cable Channel 64 and Comcast Cable 66. PGIT is also viewable on the Mayor's Commission on Technology's (MCOT) website 24/7 at http://mcot.phila.gov.
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