Multiterminal technology enables digital inclusion in developing countries

BRASÍLIA-DF (BRAZIL) – A study performed by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) concluded that only 23.8% of the Brazilian households had a PC with Internet access in 2008 - a total of 13.7 million households. With the purpose of leveraging digital inclusion in the country, the Brazilian Federal Government relied on the expertise of ThinGlobal to use the multiterminal (multiseat or multi-station) technology. Computer labs were set up in elementary, junior high and high schools, allowing several students to access the same computer and share all of its resources concurrently and independently.

Because of its large territory, Brazil has a number of regional singularities. One of them is the challenge faced by rural district students to access a computer lab. With the multiuser technology, they started to have more contact with computers. Urban area students have also benefited from this initiative. In the past, the number of computers was never enough for all students; now, the number of workstations in each lab has pretty much been doubled.

This smart solution grants Internet access to students from 40,000 schools, which represents the largest digital inclusion project in Latin America. The multiterminal technology is on the rise all over the world. It’s an effective resource for developing countries as it represents the best solution for the educational segment because it makes it possible for up to 10 workstations to be connected to a single computer while reducing the upfront investment. Moreover, this methodology helps reduce energy and servicing costs and enables the teacher to present the topic of a given lesson in a compelling and effective way.

ThinGlobal’s experience with the multiterminal solution employed in Brazilian schools led to a partnership with Microsoft worldwide for the Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 release. According to ThinGlobal’s CEO, Luiz Cláudio Ferreira, adopting a multiuser technology is paramount for digital inclusion in Brazil. “This technology will allow us to provide education to thousands of students, making a teacher’s job much easier. In addition, we can offer system integrators worldwide our own hardware, which has been specifically developed for this kind of solution,” he explains.

To meet this demand, ThinGlobal also provides devices for Shared Resource Computing (SRC). Some of the hardware includes video card-based solutions and the new Mini Point line, comprising three product families (MiniPoint Network, MiniPoint Graphics and MiniPoint Easy). The purpose is to offer the right product for each kind of environment to optimize the Microsoft solution and enable technological advances as well as savings in computing framework.

Geovana Matias is a 10 year old student who had never used a computer before. She lives in Taguatinga Sul, a city 12 miles away from Brasilia, the Federal Government capital in Brazil. She first used a computer at her public school, one of which ThinGlobal helped deploy the digital inclusion project. “My first assignment in the computer was an Internet research on the World Cup. It was great! I learned how the computer can help us with our homework and how it connects us with the world,” she says.

About ThinGlobal
ThinGlobal is the international representation of ThinNetworks, a Brazilian company with over 12 years of experience in the Latin American market. ThinNetworks has installed over 400,000 multiterminals in Brazil. The goal is to reach and surpass 1 million of them. Another highlight is the company’s effort to reduce costs and TI Verde (Green IT). Today, ThinNetworks develops, manufactures and delivers intelligent network devices, such as Thin Clients, as well as multiterminal solutions and operational systems for every industry and vertical. Learn more about our solutions on the Web site: http://www.thinglobal.com.

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