Nedbank Group and AMD Partner to Narrow the Digital Divide in South Africa

Nedbank Group and AMD Partner to Narrow the Digital Divide in South Africa

Nedbank Group and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) today announced a 50×15 partnership to jointly deploy innovative technology solutions across five schools in historically underserved South African communities in the form of 50×15 learning labs. The companies unveiled the first of the fully-equipped computing centres today at the Nelson R. Mandela High School in Gugulethu. Learning Labs, a concept pioneered by AMD, are customized, measurable deployments of technology solutions that not only provide constituents with Internet access but also educational, personal and professional development tools that unlock new and powerful ways for students to collaborate with their teachers.

Nelson R. Mandela High School was selected as the first of several schools that will implement Learning Labs, based on its strong vision and the ability to provide lasting impact to the broader Gugulethu community. “We are confident that this learning lab and the others to follow it will greatly enhance the local educational system’s ability to provide students with the skills and information they need to achieve success in an increasingly competitive, digital world,” said Tom Boardman, chief executive officer, Nedbank South Africa. “We see this partnership as another innovative way to meet the needs of South African communities and level the playing field via technology so that those in the developing world can compete effectively with their global counterparts.”

The Nelson R. Mandela computing centre and others like it around the world all play a key role in the 50×15 Initiative, an effort launched by AMD at the 2004 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting to enable affordable Internet connectivity and computing capability for 50 percent of the world’s population by the year 2015. “Nedbank was an obvious choice as our South African 50×15 partner as both organisations are passionate about education and leveraging technology to improve people’s lives,” said Gautam Srivastava, vice president of sales and marketing and managing director of the Middle East, Africa, and Pakistan, AMD. “The positive effects of the learning labs extend beyond the students and teachers at the schools and into the greater community by providing an incredible community resource for educational and economic development opportunities.”

From science experiments to the latest geography maps to medicinal studies, technology provides teachers with access to a wealth of information via the internet. The learning labs also serve as a cost-effective means to maintain a current curriculum, a challenge teachers have historically faced due to aging textbooks. In previous deployments, access to the Internet has encouraged students to stay enrolled in school longer and to embark on digital learning expeditions.

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