Friday, November 30, 2012

Samsung Africa launches Solar-powered Internet schools

Watch it Malaysia.

Because we can definitely do this and we can even surpass what they did in South Africa. We have the talents (experienced designers and installers), we have many remote areas, and most of all, we have the social obligation - and the leaders pledge - to extend similar services to the rural folks. The hilly terrain should not be too much of a challenge to transport stuff anymore nowadays. The implementation of the promised Internet Village should be intensified and do away with too much hassle.

We do not have to wait for Samsung to do CSR for us, do we?

A 40-foot shipping container-turn-school.


They did it in South Africa

Samsung has built the first-of-its-kind solar-powered internet schools in the remote rural areas of South Africa, with design specifically to thwart theft. The schools are understood to have been equipped with Samsung's tablet PCs, laptop computers, internet connection, wi-fi cameras.

Samsung reckon that, on average, less than 25% of rural areas on the continent benefit from electricity, resulting in isolated communities with limited access to education and connectivity.



The solar-powered schools are built for energy scarce environments, harsh weather conditions, and for transportation over long distances. The solar panels, made from rubber (not glass) provide enough energy to power the classroom’s equipment for up to nine hours a day, and for one and a half days without any sunlight at all. The selection of rubber material over glass is to withstand long journey into the rural areas.


KK Park, President and CEO of Samsung Africa, on the initiative:
    “We have set an ambitious goal for ourselves in Africa: to positively affect 5-million lives by 2015. We believe that this can most effectively be achieved if we connect our CSR initiatives with our history and core business. With the goal to grow our business on the continent, we also know that we have to sustain our level of innovation. This can only be achieved if we invest in education to facilitate African thought leadership and to ensure we have access to a large workforce of skilled engineers in the future. The Solar Powered Internet School is a great example of this strategy at play.”



The classroom can accommodate 21 student. It is also equipped with a 50-inch electronic board.


The classroom is equipped with a smart power consumption monitor that detects if people use the solar setup to power anything that they are not supposed to, such as television sets. I think this is a good idea but being in a remote area, Samsung should provide some socket outlets for the community to charge their electric lanterns, communication tools, etc. This should serve the general public even further.

If 'power theft' is a concern, Samsung can always password-protect the power sockets.


Source: designboom and Samsung Tomorrow.

2 comments:

thomas said...

Wow!This concept look nice,looks good if used as a home in rural area in Malaysia.

OnlyAfrica said...

Is this a one off from Samsung? More should be forthcoming from other tech giants, esp with the falling cost of internet data.