Bike Powers PCs in Africa

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Bike Powers PCs in Africa

Former Silicon Valley execs bring cheap computing to remote African villages.
August 11, 2005
With help from former Silicon Valley execs, villagers in remote hamlets in Africa lacking power and phone lines are now making calls over VoIP, receiving voicemail, and sending email. The only hitch? Users must pedal on a stationary bike hooked up to a generator to get computer time.

Getting these hard-to-reach spots connected 21st century-style is the work of Inveneo, a San Francisco-based nonprofit started by a team of ex-tech industry workers. The outfit was started last year by Robert Marsh, a former entrepreneur and manager with more than 25 years of tech experience under his belt at companies including Innovwave and Document Tech.

The group's solution, to use a Silicon Valley buzzword, is the special bike that powers a computer system using Linux open source to give villagers access to basic computing, Internet, email, and VoIP.

Inveneo's first installations were in Uganda and the organization hopes to extend to villages in South Africa, Algeria, and Rwanda.

"Access to power is the big thing in villages," said Mr. Marsh. "Mostly, finding a source of power is the biggest roadblock toward having basic computing or phone facilities. We had to develop a solution that was not only low-cost but also sustainable."

Searching for an answer took Mr. Marsh on travels through Indonesia, India, and Cambodia, which is where he ultimately found the design he was looking for: A modified stationary bike that generates enough power to keep a computing system humming. Just 15 minutes of pedaling creates enough power for an hour of usage on the VoIP phone, said Mr. Marsh.

Solar Power Booster
If the heat's too intense for pedaling, Inveneo has come up with an alternative power source. A solar panel integrated into the system allows for longer periods of power with less effort.

"The whole system is very power-efficient," said Mr. Marsh. "The bike-powered batteries can be used as a backup since not everyone can pedal for too long."

Inveneo put together the rest of the system with simple hardware found at any computer store. Overall, the system has three major components: the solar- or bike-powered communication station, which is connected to a PC and a telephone; a hub that acts as the PBX (Private Branch Exchange) and Internet gateway; and a Wi-Fi relay station.

The PBX allows for free calls among connected villages. Every user is provided with a voicemail box to receive messages. Each also gets access to applications like word processing, spreadsheets, email, instant messaging, and file-sharing.

The entire system costs around $1,800 including the solar panel, which is the single most expensive component. Using Linux and Asterisk, an open-source telephony switching software, has helped keep the costs down and make the system rugged, said Mr. Marsh.

Plans to Expand
In western Uganda, Inveneo has already delivered the first bike-powered Linux PC and VoIP system to cover five villages. It hopes to extend the project to 25 villages in the Bukuuku sub-county over the next year.

Ultimately, the plan is to integrate the bike-powered communication systems into projects in areas where relief or developmental agencies already have a presence.

The U.K. relief organization, Action Aid, is Inveneo's big client now but Mr. Marsh said the team is talking to other organizations in Indonesia to create partnerships.

Funding for Inveneo comes from its founders and the company is staffed by volunteers. Eventually, Mr. Marsh hopes to get grants from the United Nations or the U.S. government to support his work.

Although Inveneo is a nonprofit, Mr. Marsh plans to spin off a commercial subsidiary in a few years to generate revenue and profits that could help the company do more research and expand further.

"In some countries, we can license the system to small entrepreneurs and create businesses that can generate profits by offering basic services," he said. "So we will eventually think of having a commercial subsidiary."
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