IT entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth's Shuttleworth Foundation has opened the first of three open source learning centres in the Western Cape.
The centre, at the Nooitgedacht Primary School in Bishop Lavis, takes computer access to nearly 1 000 children for the first time.
In addition to R50 000 spent on this computer lab, R150 000 has also been invested in the establishment of the Shuttleworth Linux Computer Bank initiative, which will enhance computer access for community members.
Nooitgedacht was provided with 22 computers, network equipment and infrastructure, as well as temporary funding for the Linux server. The Shuttleworth Foundation also provided the technical expertise for the completion of the project.
It will soon establish two more computer centres at local schools, to serve as pilot projects for the perfection of the open source model.
In future, the Shuttleworth Foundation hopes to partner with school IT implementation groups to provide them with the information they need to implement open source labs themselves - so giving schools a cost-effective and efficient IT solution.
Thomas Black, the Shuttleworth Foundation's open source programme co-ordinator, says the foundation is a firm believer in the use of open source as an effective economic solution to providing people with affordable access to information and communications technology.
The enthusiasm generated by the first Shuttleworth open source learning centre has also resulted in the creation of the Shuttleworth Linux Computer Bank initiative to help establish similar labs at other schools.
The Linux Computer Bank initiative has been launched at Nooitgedacht in collaboration with Hilton Theunissen, a volunteer project manager on the Nooitgedacht project, and the ZUZA Software Foundation and Pentech E-Computer Club, aimed at refurbishing donated computer equipment and then deploying these in open source learning centres similar to that at Nooitgedacht.
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