My name is Hans Erickson, I am a 65 year old IT professional that is semi-retired. I still own a small IT support company and have an employee who backfills for me, which allows me to travel.
On a trip to Africa in 2022, I was on a safari and was taken through a remote Botswana village that was the home of our tour guide. He pointed out the school house as we passed through. I had been in Africa once before 15 years earlier participating in a technology conference in Lagos, Nigeria. In my research at the time, I discovered the appalling lack of internet connectivity to the majority of the continent. I asked our tour guide about this, and he confirmed the school had no internet.
I volunteered to set up Starlink internet for the school when the service became available. Just a month ago Starlink officially began service in Botswana. I reached out to my contact and the school administrator that he had connected me to. Because it is a government school, they required formal approval, so I have written letters and responded to questions, but still no approval. I am hopeful now that it is in the hands of their IT administrators that a final approval is coming.
There are approx. 150 students attending the school. My plan is to install the starlink dish, Ubiquiti AP’s and remote monitoring equipment, connect everything, and supply some chromebooks for student and administration use. I will also configure a google school account, which provides robust tools for school administrators and students.
I have volunteered to support the starlink subscription for a three year period, after which I hope to convince local authorities or Starlink to continue the service.
I only read the ‘Doing Goog Better’ book after having made this agreement. In the interest of effective altruism, I was hoping to learn from someone the metrics that would be most beneficial to track for a project like this. I am aware that risks are involved with providing high speed internet in a rural setting, but I am not sure exactly what those risks might be.
Hi everyone,
My name is Hans Erickson, I am a 65 year old IT professional that is semi-retired. I still own a small IT support company and have an employee who backfills for me, which allows me to travel.
On a trip to Africa in 2022, I was on a safari and was taken through a remote Botswana village that was the home of our tour guide. He pointed out the school house as we passed through. I had been in Africa once before 15 years earlier participating in a technology conference in Lagos, Nigeria. In my research at the time, I discovered the appalling lack of internet connectivity to the majority of the continent. I asked our tour guide about this, and he confirmed the school had no internet.
I volunteered to set up Starlink internet for the school when the service became available. Just a month ago Starlink officially began service in Botswana. I reached out to my contact and the school administrator that he had connected me to. Because it is a government school, they required formal approval, so I have written letters and responded to questions, but still no approval. I am hopeful now that it is in the hands of their IT administrators that a final approval is coming.
There are approx. 150 students attending the school. My plan is to install the starlink dish, Ubiquiti AP’s and remote monitoring equipment, connect everything, and supply some chromebooks for student and administration use. I will also configure a google school account, which provides robust tools for school administrators and students.
I have volunteered to support the starlink subscription for a three year period, after which I hope to convince local authorities or Starlink to continue the service.
I only read the ‘Doing Goog Better’ book after having made this agreement. In the interest of effective altruism, I was hoping to learn from someone the metrics that would be most beneficial to track for a project like this. I am aware that risks are involved with providing high speed internet in a rural setting, but I am not sure exactly what those risks might be.
Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.