VIA Opens First Solar Powered Information Community Centre in the South Pacific

VIA Opens First Solar Powered Information Community Centre in the South Pacific

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced the first ever solar-powered cyber community centre in the South Pacific. Developed with the Samoan ICT Secretariat, the centre is a proof of concept implementation of VIA Solar Computing, a key element of the VIA Clean Computing Initiative to drive environment-conscious computing.

The South Pacific has been largely ignored by global ICT deployment initiatives, and is only now taking the steps needed to build the infrastructure to raise the region’s e-readiness. The remote Samoan village of Ulutogia, Aleipata District was selected for its multiple local user communities and, like most of the South Pacific, its abundance of sunshine, making solar the logical source of power.

Accessible to all, the VIA pc-1 Information Community Centre in Samoa will help address issues of e-Education, e-Health and e-Governance for local residents, and provide business opportunities for the recipient and surrounding communities, as well as offer Internet access to tourists. Following its successful launch, it is set to act as a working template for similar IT centers around the world to help bridge the digital divide, especially in rural and remote locations, and VIA is working with major international organizations and governments to facilitate further such deployments.

“We were delighted to collaborate with VIA on the Center, which provides a practical computing solution for remote areas of Samoa and beyond,” said Gisa Fuatai Purcell, Samoan ICT Secretariat Manager. “VIA has the capacity and committed staff to provide solar powered computers, a big step towards reducing poverty.” Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Soliai Sailele Malielegaoi echoed the sentiment, saying that: “For our next ten infocenters, I want the VIA solar powered computers, monitors, etc. I want anything solar as we have so much sun here in Samoa.”

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