Close the Gap coming to Uganda

Close the Gap, an international not-for-profit organisation that assists in developing local knowledge and putting local talent and potential to use by offering cost-efficient IT solutions in Africa, is exploring ways of making its entrance into Uganda.
The Belgium-based organisation is currently carrying out preliminary inquiries about the possibility of working in Uganda.
If the results, which will be ready in December, are positive, the organisation, which is dedicated to help reducing the digital divide, will come to Uganda.
“We have sent a request for information. This is a preliminary exercise before making the critical steps to be active in Uganda,” Olivier Vanden Eynde, the general manager of Close the Gap said in a phone interview.
“Whether in the future we will be active in Uganda depends a lot on the due diligence that we are currently carrying out. “As from October to December we will know whether we will do something in Uganda.”
“Close the Gap, through the Ugandan non-profit organisations with whom it wants to partner, wants to give young people the tools they need to invest in their education in order to build on their future; therefore having access to vital information is crucial!”, Olivier said.
Olivier said that the charity is at present looking for possibilities of finding partners that can help build capacity for quicker and easier take-up of the solutions.
Basic infrastructure, local IT knowledge and proficiency need to be at hand and agreements with local governments must be in place before a prospective partner is taken on board.
For a project proposal to be successful it must focus on the needs and requirements of the target audience like primary and secondary schools and health centres are ideal.
In essence, Close the Gap does not offer direct aid to any project, but rather provides tools to local non-profit partners in Uganda which can be put to good use and which enhance the further growth of their program and vision in the country.
Close the Gap believe ICT should trigger social and economic development as it embraces enormous potential to accelerate growth in efficiency and accessibility.
At present, Close the Gap has sent proposals to logistics companies that are active in Uganda and that have the capacity to handle the type and volume of shipments they make.
Close the Gap works demand-based and also ensures that matters concerning maintenance and self-sustainability are met before recognising a project application.
“We work on demand from as low as two computers to a local orphanage in Nigeria to more than 1,000 computers to South Africa’s University of the Western Cape,” Olivier said.
The organisation envisages partnerships with different stakeholders in order to come to all-embracing IT solutions to socio-educational projects in developing countries.
Olivier said Close the Gap takes care of software agents in place and the PCs are ready to use with new peripheral equipment and new software.
Close the Gap is active in 27 countries among which Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Namibia, Malawi and Burkina Faso.
Initial contact with logistics providers has been made and they will help importing and implementing the computers. Afterwards they will also take care of the on-site management of the computer classes.
If the preliminary work should give rise to concrete plans, Close the Gap will start partnerships with local committed organisations for distribution of desktop PCs to primary and secondary schools in Uganda.
“Furthermore Close the Gap sets up several conditions towards its partners, to make sure environmental concerns regarding the handling of e-waste are handled by a capable local company.”
Interestingly, even before the project gets off the ground, technology enthusiasts are rounding on it saying it is another dumping project.
“……..proposal by the organisation Close the Gap, which has plans to distribute computers to Ugandan institutions. When I read through the proposal it seems to me like it is the just another ploy to dump yet again more computers in Uganda,” Emmanuel Mulo wrote on the knowledge sharing platform run by I-Network.
Those that see the project in a positive light argue that Close the Gap is welcome as it will help change the lives of Ugandan school-going children by helping to bring them at par or thereabout with their advantaged counterparts in expensive schools.