Old PCs for new uses

Computer Aid bridges the Digital Divide

To date, the supply of computers for Computer Aid has been "effectively infinite", Computer Aid chief executive Tony Roberts says. "This year, the UK alone is expected to decommission two million Pentium IIIs - so our requirements are just a drop in the ocean." There is plenty to go around for other PC refurb charities too, he says.

But demand is rising. SchoolNet Africa, for example, has launched an appeal for one million donated PCs to be refurbished for re-use in African schools. Computer Aid is the largest non-profit organisation contributing PCs to SchoolNet Africa projects, to date supplying 20,000 PCs in 35 African countries. Since Computer Aid installed an order form on its website, requests for PCs have come from all over the world.

This was intended for organisations in the UK to request PCs to support their overseas project, but unexpectedly the website has provided a route to Computer Aid from non-profits. "A typical request would be a development project from, say, Indonesia. They would tell us that they had money to buy two new PCs, but would much rather buy 25 PCs from us. We couldn't find a reason to say no," Roberts says. Upshot, Computer Aid has supplied refurbs to 98 countries, rather more than the four or five that Roberts had envisaged when he set up the charity in 1999.

So with demand growing, will supply keep up? While millions of PCs become obsolete, rather fewer end up be re-used.

Corporates tend to buy higher-specced machines than their public sector counterparts - and they decommission them sooner. But they are markedly more reluctant to release PCs for re-use, according to Roberts. Security fears are to blame for this. The WEEE Directive, which manages to be both very boring and very expensive, should help the cause of re-using - as opposed to trashing or recycling - computers. But two stumbling blocks remain in the way of getting those PCs to development projects.

Stubborn stains

Conservative IT staff are the first hurdle to overcome, says Roberts. “Often we get the support of the CEO or IT director, but then run into some hostile IT people." Computer Aid is a professional PC refurbishing outfit and it uses Blancco to remove all stubborn stains and data from donor PCs. But this is not enough to persuade many IT managers they encounter. "If the CEO is determined enough," Robert says, "we can overcome their opposition, but usually he or she has other things to worry about."

The second barrier is erected by the big PC makers and resellers, which are developing their own elaborate decommissioning schemes in response to the WEEE Directive. The purpose of these is to sweat the residual value of the PCs, and that means fewer PCs may be made available for organisations such as Computer Aid.

"We would much rather companies simply donated their PCs," Roberts says. "Because, otherwise, the PCs don't go to help development projects in poor countries. The companies have already written off the computers' value. And they can still work with their OEM – all they have to do is put a tick in the box, specifying that the PCs should go to the charity of their choice."

So, stubborn IT people and uncooperative hardware suppliers? Sounds like your typical Reg readers, then. But on this score, we are on the side of the angels. Donating PCs for use in development project does make a significant difference.

Tomorrow we'll publish the first of a short series of case studies from Kenya, where Computer Aid has supplied 5,000 PCs to many projects. ®