Case Study: AMTRON delivers 28,000 free PCs and boosts student digital literacy with Ubuntu

AMTRON delivers 28,000 Ubuntu-based PCs to students in Assam

The Assam Electronics Development Corporation (AMTRON) runs the Anundoram Borooah Award Scheme (ARBAS), which provides a free PC to every student in Assam who scores 60% or higher on their school-leaving exams. Facing strict budget limits and the need for an intuitive, local-language friendly desktop, AMTRON rejected costly Windows systems and moved from Fedora to Ubuntu Desktop Edition after testing found it easier to use and deploy.

AMTRON worked with PC manufacturers and Canonical to preinstall Ubuntu and local language packs, distributing 14,000 Ubuntu-based PCs in 2008 and a further 14,000 in 2009 (28,000 total), with staff-led basic training at around 40 collection venues; it is also deploying 6,400 more PCs to 640 schools. The result was a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution that boosted student computer literacy, provided out-of-the-box educational software, and met tight government budgets with free updates and strong localization.

AMTRON

MK Yadava

Managing Director