Wikimedistas de Ecuador/OfflinePedia(en)

OfflinePedia device

Around 4 billion people do not have internet access, and roughly other 3 billion do not even have a computer. In Ecuador, according to the Insituto de Estadisticas y Censos INEC on 2016, people in rural zones have a 16.3% of internet access. Thousands of parents on those areas cannot afford a computer and/or internet access for the tele-education of their children, hurdle that has become harsher on this pandemic times.

OfflinePedia focuses on granting access to the entire human knowledge to vulnerable people, no matter geographical, infrastructural or economic obstacles. By recycing electronic components, such as CRT TV screens that are continuosly going to landfills, we construct low cost computers based on Raspberry Pi and Kiwix free software. This setup allows us to load those computers with the entire Wikipedia, all the WikiMedia project branches, thousands of public domain literature books from Gutenberg Project, didactic simulations for kids using the free version of Wolfram Mathematica, documentaries, and so on; with a budget of around 150 USD.

Main Objectives

• Reduce the digital divide that afflicts rural zones.
• Provide technological tools with offline educational content for kids unable to attend to school.
• Recycle unused electronic components and old computers to construct low cost devices.

Methodology

• Make contact with a rural community (already done. Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest Kichwa community: San Virgilio - Puyo, Pastaza)
• Organize science fairs to encourage learning motivation into the community (already done)
• Look for funding and donations of old CRT TV screens or old computers to construct OfflinePedia devices.
• Buy the components required and ensamble the OfflinePedia device.
• Install the devices on a public place inside the community and give tutorial sessions for people to learn how to interact with the device.
• Perform ethnographic studies of the user experience for further research and upgrades.

How are we related to the Sustainable Development Goals

By installing our devices, we give the communities an affordable solution to reduce their economic and technological inequalities. This provides them educational tools, turning their communities to be sustainable by having academic contents without the need of internet connection. The usage of recycled components fosters the responsible consumption and production of tecnology.

Short and long term goals

In the short term, we expect to solve the lack of access to quality of education that the pandemic lead to. Giving the community a local device with abundant offline knowledge will allow them to facilitate their education. In the long term we aim to turn our devices into a global standard of minimalistic computer that can be used to educate all the people around the world, whatever it takes and wherever they are, because our solution is greatly preplicable and scalable.  

Publications

• Implementing Low Cost Digital Libraries for Rural Communities by Re-functioning Obsolescent Television Sets: The Offline-pedia Project (VIEW Journal of European Television)

Further information

Spanish full version of the page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedistas_de_Ecuador/OfflinePedia