Circular Computer

A large majority of Brazilian students lack internet connection and basic infrastructure for their studies. With no internet and limited access to computers, the inequality gap widens and nurtures a vicious circle. At the same time, technology has implemented programmed obsolescence strategies, by creating devices that have a short and pre-established lifespan, generating huge amounts of electronic waste. Having observed both scenarios, SOMAS developed the Circular Computer, a computer that, from the operational standpoint, is like any other, nonetheless was created from reused, donated and discarded parts, combined with a Brazilian development board. Created to be used exclusively for educational purposes, the Circular Computer is accessible, low cost, energy autonomous and enables a connectivity experience even if the student is offline. Therefore, it not only helps the educational development of students by supporting their learning processes, but also assists their digital inclusion process.

The Circular Computer aims to tackle the digital divide in Brazil, and to aid the educational and digital inclusion process of students, while also addressing the growing issue of the mass production of electronic waste. In Brazil, 87% of the poorest classes don't have access to a computer and a telephone at home. More than 50% of households that earn up to 1 minimum wage are disconnected. Each year, 56 thousand youngsters from urban fringes don't have a computer to study (CETIC, 2019). With the coronavirus pandemic, this issue became even more significant: 24% of public school students in Brazil didn't receive any type of educational activity from their schools, and amongst the main reasons for that, almost 50% are related to limited internet access and the lack of infrastructure (Datafolha, Lemann Foundation, 2020). Furthermore, a 2019 World Economic Forum report pinpointed that electronic waste is one of the fastest growing waste in the world. Each year around 50 million tons of electronic waste are generated worldwide, of which, only 20% is properly recycled. The Circular Computer is a solution that doesn't create other disparities, by re-using resources that are no longer used for productive activities in the competitive economy.

The Circular Computer is an accessible, low cost, energy autonomous computer, created for educational purposes, that enables a connectivity experience even if the student is offline.

To develop it, we follow three interdependent steps.

The first one is raising awareness about electronic disposal. Here, we partner with corporations and other NGOs that help us gather and store donated peripherals (mouses, keyboards, monitors and adapters).

The next step is constructing the Circular Computer. This entails acquiring the battery, the microcontroller and assembling the DOCK. This process involves cutting transparent acrylic plates and adapting batteries and development boards for learning scenarios. 

The third step is the distribution and use of the Circular Computer. To make sure that the Computer is accessible to all students, even to those who never had any contact with the digital world, we conduct workshops that aim to touch upon basic digital skills and familiarize the students by exploring both hardware and software concepts. 

In order to successfully scale the solution, we understand that there is a need to develop a local production ecosystem built upon the 3 pillars listed above: awareness, assembly and distribution. With that in place, we believe the system will become sustainable and self-regenerating.

Our primary focus is to allow for the 56 thousand young people from Brazilian urban areas, and possibly from other developing countries, who don't have a computer, to have access to infrastructure to study. We also believe the Circular Computer can be a solution for the 45,7% of municipal public schools that don't have computers labs for their students. 

Nowadays, it is impossible to separate education from technology. In Brazil  the importance of technology's role in schools  was addressed by the National Common Curricular Base - a set of guidelines that pinpoints the main competencies and skills that students should develop during the years of Basic Education. According to this document, one of the main competencies is: "to understand, use and create digital information and communication technologies in a critical way (...)".

Technology was also denoted as a core competency in the  development of  the so-called “21st century skills”, those being critical thinking and problem solving - competencies that are expected from professionals in the digital age, and essential to digital inclusion in this new “society”.

Nonetheless, as aforementioned, the lack of infrastructure and the internet pose a big challenge for digital inclusion in Brazil, and this is the reality of most low-income children and teenagers. We therefore believe that the Circular Computer not only helps the educational development of students by  supporting their learning processes, but also assists the digital inclusion process of young people who will, in the future, have access to new and better opportunities.

The Circular Computer is completely aligned with the goals of the Challenge. Our solution is designed to narrow the digital divide in Brazil and to offer students a connected learning experience even if they're offline, enabling them to create collaborative projects, edit the same document, and even chat amongst each other and with their teachers. Our target-population is youngsters in vulnerable situations, that, today, besides being left out of educational processes, are also left out of the digital world. The Circular Computer aims to change that, and to give them an opportunity to further develop their educational and digital skills.

The first Circular Computer trials were carried out in November and December 2020. We tested 15 computers, with 14 underprivileged students (aged from 12 to 14), in 6 2 hour classes. They began by assembling the Computer, which enabled a familiarization with this technology. This activity was supported by a manual and was enhanced with exploratory learning challenges to be performed on the Circular Computer, encouraging computer thinking, reading, writing and simple mathematical calculations. Technical and Pedagogical observations were carried out using a standardized observation protocol. 

After that, changes were made on the microcontroller and software. In 2021, we've planned other interventions, to continue testing the technical and pedagogical functioning of the Computers: 1) techlab at the Mauá Occupation, composed by 14 Circular Computers, where they'll be used in coding classes for underprivileged youngters; 2) techlab at Refugio 343 school, composed by 20 Circular Computers, that'll be used by refugees.

The solution's innovation lies within the fact that it addresses two problems highlighted above: the provision of computers for educational purposes as well as the reuse of electronic waste. Moreover, it is a solution designed to benefit vulnerable contexts, such as places with difficult access to infrastructure and connectivity, due to its portability, size and electrical autonomy. It is also designed to offer a connectivity experience even if the student is offline. 

As we're in the prototype phase, testing the Circular Computers, it currently serves about 40 people. 

In five years, the ideia is that the Circular Computer can serve the 56 thousand young people from urban fringes do not have a computer to study, and 45,7% of municipal public schools that don't have computers for their students.

We make an effort to evaluate the impact of all the interventions we conduct with the Circular Computer. Both the technical and pedagogical observations are carried out using a standardized observation protocol, interviews, focus groups and tracking of alumni. With that, we are able to measure increases in student's interest in technology, the gain of digital skills and the impact of that in other areas of their lives, such as access to jobs.  

3 people work full-time, 5 work part-time. We also have close to 20 volunteers.

We have a strong technical team composed by volunteer developers, people focused on both hardware and software aspects of our Circular Computer. Our NGO's leader and President is Camila Achutti, world reference in the fight for more women in technology. She won the Women of Vision 2015 award as the first Latin student to receive such an honor. Founder of the blog Women in Computing, spoke at a TEDx and traveled throughout Brazil teaching more than 15,000 young people how to create apps. In addition to being a digital influencer, she is an entrepreneur, CTO and co-founder of Mastertech and founder and president of SOMAS. She is a Scientist of Computing by heart and Master in Science from IME – USP. She worked with large companies such as Google, Intel, Accenture, Leroy Merlin, Renault, and IBM. She was listed as one of Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30, and participated in the St Gallen Symposium as one of the 100 People of the Future.

SOMAS also has an institutional partnership with global organization Endless OS Foundation, and with the most important public university of Latin America, University of Sao Paulo (USP).

Alongside Camila, who has a technical background, there is a group of developers who are responsible for constantly evaluating hardware and software aspects of our Circular Computer, and also someone focused on it's pedagogical aspects, constantly proposing improvements with the aim of enriching its pedagogical experience. 

SOMAS was created from Mastertech, a for-profit school that focuses its efforts in the development of digital skills and operates under a B2C and B2B business model. In addition to having a strong female technical leadership, SOMAS and Mastertech have been working to build an inclusive, equitable and diverse digital population. For further understanding, please watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbIcmn7EWPY

In addition to funding, we're applying to Solve to be able to access the community of entrepreneurs around the world working to solve the same challenges as us, but in different ways. Today, one of our biggest barriers, aside from funding, is that we need partners to help us test and improve our Circular Computer. We also are looking forward for the mentorships from people who have been where we are, developing a product, and have the expertise to help us get where we want to: to offer the opportunity for thousands of youngsters in Brazil and around to world to access quality education, and improve their digital skills. Technology is for everyone, and we want the Circular Computer to simbolize that, with the help of the MIT Solve Challenge. 

The Circular Computer is in the prototype phase. That means that we need help to finish adapting it to the final user, and packing it as a product. For that, we need funding and investors, and a strategy to help us get it. After that, we can think of expanding our client base and deploying it as a fully tested and functional Computer, focused on education.

We would like to partner with developers from the MIT faculty and initiatives, and other organizations around the world to deploy the Circular Computer to all students that don't have access a computer to study. Other than that, we are open for the opportunities this Challenge will bring us, and to other partnerships we haven't even though of yet.

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The Circular Computer aims to tackle the digital divide in Brazil, and to aid the educational and digital inclusion process of students, while also addressing the growing issue of the mass production of electronic waste. In Brazil, 87% of the poorest classes don't have access to a computer and a telephone at home. More than 50% of households that earn up to 1 minimum wage are disconnected. Each year, 56 thousand youngsters from urban fringes don't have a computer to study (CETIC, 2019). With the coronavirus pandemic, this issue became even more significant: 24% of public school students in Brazil didn't receive any type of educational activity from their schools, and amongst the main reasons for that, almost 50% are related to limited internet access and the lack of infrastructure (Datafolha, Lemann Foundation, 2020). Furthermore, a 2019 World Economic Forum report pinpointed that electronic waste is one of the fastest growing waste in the world. Each year around 50 million tons of electronic waste are generated worldwide, of which, only 20% is properly recycled. The Circular Computer is a solution that doesn't create other disparities, by re-using resources that are no longer used for productive activities in the competitive economy, and reintroducing them in favor of education and digital inclusion.