While going through a ton of "OLPC" Google news-alerts in my inbox I found an interesting blog entry which contained a Google Maps mashup which apparently tracks OLPC deployments around the globe.
Since one of the most popular questions at presentations is where XOs are being tested already this map comes in quite handy. Unfortunately it's not quite clear to me what the source for the information being displayed in the mashup is and whether it's based on official data from OLPC itself.
Click for a larger version
When it comes to OLPC deployments and pilots it's notoriously hard to find reliable information anywhere. So when asked I normally reply with a standard list of countries which I take from the Deployment entry on the OLPC wiki. However the map displayed above contains some additional places such as Yemen and Mali, both countries which I've never heard before in the context of an OLPC deployment.
It's certainly exciting to see that efforts are going on across the globe and I guess it's time to dig around a bit deeper for more information on what exactly is happening in these pilots and deployments!
I can add two updates to the map:
Ghana:
1. the government has a pilot class in a school near Accra
2. Millennium Villages Project has a pilot class in a school up by Kumasi
I don't know the actual number in each, though my impression is that its around 30 laptops in each
Nigeria:
The Gladima school no longer has any XO laptops
Interesting map. Thanks. Didn't we have a post from Russia about a small pilot deployment there.
Hi, I'm happy to read that you found this map interesting.
The map of Pilot Projects was initiated by Lauren Klein. I took over in early 2008, shortly before receiving my G1G1 XO in Belgium (via a friend living in Canada), and added entries about the countries which bought XOs or received them via G1G1. Joshua Seal seems now to have taken over the maintenance of the map.
It is indeed quite difficult to get reliable data about the XO deployments. That is the main reason I maintained this page: to have an easy access to the available information.
Most information collected there comes either from the OLPC wiki or from the weekly OLPC Community News, and should be reasonably accurate. The remaining data comes from press releases. I always include in the entry a link to the original source information, so that I can be easily checked (and as a way to provide more details).
I think a OLPC : Pilot in washington DC and the area would be a GOOD IDEA
SOBOCE (a Bolivian cement company) has done a private, non-profit deployment in Viacha, Bolivia, with 75 machines (+25 in reserve).
coords about -16.654,-68.302