BOSCO Uganda uses technologies especially designed for their usage under the specific circumstances of rural areas.
It is based on several main pillars:
- Sustainable power solutions with minimum running costs (solar power):
As most of the project areas don’t have any access to grid power, the system is designed to run on solar power and battery back-up.
- Low-Power (10-20W max.) computing equipment to reduce power costs;
- Point-to-Point Wireless Internet Connection of the different locations:
All stations are linked together through long-distance / point-to-point wireless technology (currently linking up to 40km), using the license-free WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n protocol. Thus, the whole internal network is connected “high-speed” (compared to the usual speed of internet in Uganda) to a central hub station and through that station to the internet.
- Internal network system:
The project is using a server/client structure, whereas the computers in the rural areas are also functioning similar to clients, connected to a central server station based in Gulu.
In conjunction with the above described wireless network, the server/client structure provides technical possibilities for training and educational materials (including training videos, e-books, chat rooms, forums, etc.).
- VoIP (Voice over IP) Telephony:
All locations are equipped with a (free of charge) Voice-over-IP telephone, thus able to call all other VoIP phones within the internal network.
- Linux / Free Open Source Software:
The usage of Linux makes the system much less vulnerable to viruses, which is currently a major problem of many computer systems and ICT projects in Uganda.
