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Close the Gap

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Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:	Social Development: Information and Communications Technologies Sustainable Development: Capacity-building Education Health Partnerships
Geographic scope:	Regional Asia Latin America and Caribbean Africa
Millennium Development Goals:	Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Achieve universal primary education Ensure environmental sustainability Develop global partnership for development
Mission statement:	About the organisation: Close the Gap is an international not-for-profit organisation that actively helps to bridge the digital divide. Its mission is to assist in developing local knowledge and putting local talent to use by offering cost-efficient IT-solutions to projects in the South. In the industrialised world computers are replaced every three to four years, which means that companies are increasingly looking for sustainable ways to replace their used devices. At the same time millions of computers are needed in developing countries.It is here that Close the Gap creates win-win situations. By supplying developing countries with high-quality refurbished IT equipment that is donated by Western countries, Close the Gap creates practical and sustainable solutions that connect people and enable them to bring about a true change in their lives through the use of IT. Ever since its start in 2003, Close the Gap has managed to reinstall tens of thousands of PCs donated by companies across the world, offering local communities and individuals’ access to knowledge and the transfer of knowledge. With the right tools available people in developing countries can significantly improve the quality of their lives. And access to information and communications technologies is predominantly vital in enabling them to reach this objective since computers are used for a large variety of applications and have consequently become an essential part of the personal, educational and professional world. One tends to forget that one of the basic assets provided by computers is access to all kinds of information. Hence, the difference that access to information can make to a person’s life is immeasurable. When donations are made, Close the Gap’s logistic partner collects the IT equipment. It is then checked by professionals, repaired if needed and reconfigured before it is sent off to a designated project. However diverse the projects may be, they all have one common denominator, namely a focus on advancing both the individual and the community within a spirit of social education. About the mission: The mission of Close the Gap is to contribute to bridging the digital divide between the Western world and developing countries, by offering communities access to much-needed IT equipment. This in a context of “zero waste to landfill” policy. In essence, Close the Gap does not offer aid to any project, but rather provides tools which can be put to good use and which can enhance the further growth of a community and country. ICT should thus trigger social and economic development as it embraces enormous potential to accelerate growth in efficiency and accessibility. Even when considering the vast scale of this digital divide, Close the Gap’s mission will not be completed until the gap has been closed. To do so, millions of computers and the support of hundreds of individuals and organisations are required. In addition, Close the Gap offers companies and organisations an opportunity to participate in the United Nations’ “Millennium Development Goals” (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/). The 8 targets, as outlined by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at the turn of the millennium, include access to IT technology and the transfer of knowledge. It is here that Western companies, through Close the Gap, can offer millions of people and communities the support to bring about a true change. Also an additional mission and overall objective will be to support the respective Governments’ efforts to identify and deploy sustainable, state-of-the-art re-use, recycle and end of life solutions for electric and electronic equipment, thus, to contribute to the objectives of the international community to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7 “Ensure environmental sustainability” and, through the development of new market opportunities equally contribute to MDG 1, “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger”.
Year established:	2003
Year of registration:	2003
Organizational structure:	Board of Directors of 6 persons: Alessandra Azcarraga De Surmont Wim A.G. Blonk André Bontems Michel De Brauwer Olivier Vanden Eynde Guido Vandervorst Advisory Board of 13 persons: Etienne Davignon Marc Despontin François-Xavier de Donnea Dieter frish Monique Heijn Everwijn Lange Silvain Loccufier Peter Piot Jan Pronk Jacques Rogge Desmond Tutut Frank Vandenbroucke Tony Vandeputte Benjamin Van Camp Operational team of 5 persons: Olivier Vanden Eynde - Generla Director Aurélie Dupont - Operations Director David Leyssens - Project Manager Peter Manderijk - Office Manager Danuta Sarna - Managment Assistant Strategic partners: Acerta CTG CharITy Deloitte DNS.BE Essent Flection Hostbasket KBC KLM Aurfrance Leo Burnett PKF Emakina Ricoh SAS Vintage VLIR-UOS
Number and type of members:	In Europe, Close the Gap works with several firms for the donations of IT assets. In France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. In the developing countires, Close the Gap works with local organisations called "supportive" and "service" partners. (cfr full list in our annual report 2010)
Funding structure:	Membership fees or dues Donations and grants from domestic sources
Funding structure other:	Own project contribution for the installation of computer workstations in projects

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