Knowledge of and access to computer equipment is an indispensable part of participating in society and a driver of social mobility.
There has for a long time been an enormous need for computers, phones and tablets for people who aren't in a position to afford them. COVID-19 has increased this demand further, with jobs, services and opportunities moving online by default.
We are working with Business in the Community and Nottingham Community and Voluntary Service on a project to provide used laptops, phones and tablets to people who need them. We have a supply of donated devices and A LOT of people who need them.
This project is a part of the National Business Response Network set up in response to COVID-19.
We're putting a team together
Initially, we need a small team of people with just the kind of technical skills we have here in the Tech Nottingham community. We'll work together to define the steps between a device being donated and it getting into the hands of someone who needs it.
We'll need to figure out:
What devices can we accept and how will we assess them?
How will we wipe devices, removing personal data?
What will we do with rejected devices?
What OS and software need to be installed?
What is an easy & efficient way of getting that software up and running?
How can we roll this process out to a large number of volunteers?
What skills will volunteers need?
How can we provide support if things go wrong?
How can we minimise the risk of Coronavirus transmission between participants?
We’ll start by getting a batch of devices sent to us, having a go at refurbishing them, and in doing so figure out the answers to these questions. We’ll document our approach and iterate on it until we’re ready to scale it up to more volunteers. Ideally volunteers who are less technical.
Get Involved!
If you would like to be involved, join us in the #it-refurb channel on the Tech Nottingham Slack group.