The WorldAhead Initiative launched by Intel, aimed at the people in the developing countries of the world, is a program with a focus to provide the access to the uncompromised technology for everyone, anywhere in the world. Contestants from around the globe are given tools and technology, by Intel, to race in the most uninhabited parts of the world, mostly deserts. The participants are then encouraged to blog about the race and upload pictures, videos and other content Live while the race is on. The event showcases the ability of Intel to provide technology to connect the far off areas of the world. More information is available at www.intel.com/worldahead.

In an exclusive Interview with WATBlog, Leighton Phillips, Intel World Ahead Program Manager for Asia Pacific, Leighton touches upon many subjects pertaining to the World Ahead program and Intel’s initiatives in ensuring connectivity and accessibility to the far off areas of the world.

Based in Singapore, Leighton is World Ahead Program Manager for Asia Pacific. He joined Intel in 2000, where he focused on mobile workforce strategies for the Australian/New Zealand market. Leighton led pure research in conjunction with one of Australia’s leading business schools on organizational mobile transformation, helping to understand value creation of mobile-wireless workforces. In 2004, Leighton moved to head up Intel’s South East Asia solutions organization, with specific focus on programmatic public private strategies to address the digital divide in the emerging markets of this region. His launch of the ICT-literacy program in Thailand has now become Intel’s global blueprint - better known as the Government Assisted PC Program.

This is a two part interview.

1. Tell us something about the Intel World Ahead initiative.
   The Intel World Ahead program was announced in May 2006 with the aim of enhancing lives by accelerating access to uncompromised technology for everyone, anywhere in the world. From 2006-2010, World Ahead will invest more than $1 billion, focusing on four areas: accessibility (providing access to fully capable, affordable PCs), connectivity (expanding wireless broadband Internet access), content (accelerating the development of localized software, digital content and services) and education.
2. How has the experience been so far?
   So far, Intel has succeeded in a number of initiatives around the world. Some notable highlights include:
   - Shipping Intel-powered Classmate PCs to emerging markets, with plans to donate 32,000 PCs to classrooms in developing communities in Asia Pacific (total of 32 pilots worldwide in 2007);
   - Training more than 1.8 million teachers in Asia Pacific through the Intel Teach program (over five million trained worldwide since 2000);
   - Deploying high-speed wireless broadband deployment in the rural northwest area of Vietnam, working with USAID and the Vietnam Data Communication Company (VDC).
3. I saw the locations of the programs are all deserts, why so?
   This is a question for RacingThePlanet, not Intel. However, the mission of RTP is to challenge individuals to go beyond their athletic frontiers, exploring the most remote landscapes and ancient cultures on the planet.
4. What equipments, if any, will Intel provide the competitors in RacingThePlanet?
   During the race, competitors used Intel-powered Classmate PCs to upload rich media content such as blogs, photos and videos throughout the event. Competitors will be using high-speed wireless broadband that has been deployed in the Sapa region, a rural area in northwest Vietnam, which Intel has deployed in conjunction with USAID and the Vietnam Data Communication Company (VDC).
5. In places like Gobi desert, how will the connectivity be ensured during the race?
   Intel has announced collaboration with the RacingThePlanet: Vietnam race due to Intel’s work in providing high-speed wireless broadband to rural Vietnam. There has not been any agreement to collaboration with RacingThePlanet for the Gobi Desert race in June.
   1. How does Asia figures in the overall picture? (Re: RTP partnership and connectivity penetration situation in APAC).
      The announcement with RacingThePlanet showcases Intel’s commitment to empowering nations and connecting their citizens to opportunity. In a world where digital literacy and access to information is seen as essential to economic opportunity and social progress, Intel has been working with local governments, international organizations and businesses to improve the lives of people in remote and rural areas both in Asia Pacific and around the world.
      The success of the high-speed wireless broadband deployment in remote northwest Vietnam shows that the technology that can be replicated in other rural and remote regions elsewhere in the world.
6. What products do Intel has to aid in the accessibility in rural areas?
   There are two specific solutions that Intel provides:
   a) Intel-powered Classmate PCs, which is designed to address gaps in education for K-12 students;
   b) High speed wireless broadband (incl. WiMAX) – in Vietnam, for example, Intel worked with USAID and VDC to bring broadband Internet to remote northwest Vietnam, using a combination of WiMAX, Wi-Fi and geo-synchronous satellite.
   Intel’s work to promote WiMAX availability for low-cost broadband Internet access has helped spark over 250 WiMAX trials now in progress worldwide. In Asia Pacific, WiMAX trials are currently underway in Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam, while mobile WiMAX (WiBro) has over 40 percent population coverage in South Korea. Spectrum is expected to be released in Indonesia and New Zealand in 2009.
   
   
7. Apart from the products, what else is Intel doing to ensure better accessibility and connectivity in the remote areas of the world?  
   Besides accessibility and connectivity, Intel focuses on two other areas – content and education.
   Technology is only as good as what you can do with it. Intel collaborates with governments, international organizations and local businesses to deliver information, entertainment, services and economic opportunities that local people really want. For example, Intel’s skoool learning and teaching technology provides free online resources in math and science, in multiple countries and languages.
   With regards to education, Intel provides programs, technology and resources that encourage better learning. Students and teachers enjoy 21^st century learning environments that prepare students and other citizens for success in a changing world. For example, the Intel Teach program has helped over five million teachers in 45 countries integrate technology into their classrooms to improve student learning. By 2011, Intel aims to train nine million more teachers, with the potential to reach one billion students.
8. Tell us something about the ICT literary program in Thailand.  
   In early 2003, Intel introduced the Intel Teach® Program in Thailand, which provides teachers with in-service training on how to effectively integrate computer technology into the classroom. It initially covered schools in the Bangkok Metropolitan area, followed by the training of teachers in other provinces from April 2004. To date, Intel has trained more than 3,000 Master Teachers. Each Master Teacher has to train 20 teachers and this has resulted in a total of more than 30,000 trained and covered all 76 provinces in Thailand for both public and private schools.

After the first few questions, WATBlog decided to get a little naughty. And therefore, the second part of the interview, to be posted tomorrow,  touches the more controversial topics of Intel’s exit from One Laptop per child project, Intel’s Classroom PC and its comparison with Asus EEE PC and OLAP. We also grill Leighton on Intel’s commitment to WiMax as a technology and the suitability of WiMax for mobile platform when LTE is emerging as a better contender.

Below is a video taken by one of the WorldAhead participant.

• http://tinyurl.com/o2jmaj

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• Intel Plans WiMax Chips in 2008
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