Never mind the technology, where’s the learning?

The remote South Pacific nation of Niue (pronounced “new way”) is the first country to provide a laptop for each of its children. A landmark for the OLPC project, each pupil of school age will receive a laptop, around 500 machines. The world’s smallest independent nation, the total population of the island is under 1600. In 2003, Niue also became the first country in the world to offer free wireless internet access to all of its inhabitants, financed by the sale of its internet suffix ‘.nu’ on the open global market. The story of how a nationwide wifi cloud was created using solar power and penetrating dense jungle is an interesting one in itself.

Like many remote island nations, depopulation is a problem in Niue. The self-governing coral atoll is trying to encourage some of the 20,000 overseas Niueans to return. Many of these were born in New Zealand, where they have the right of citizenship and residency. Chronic de-population was aggravated in 2004 when Cyclone Heta devastated the island.

Image credit: Pia Waugh