MILLEDGEVILLE -- A few months ago, Sinclair Christian Academy was set to buy 40 computers from a major manufacturer.
For the small, five-year-old private school of about 150 students, such a purchase would have saddled it with a debt of nearly $15,000.
Instead, someone at Sinclair Christian got wind of a new program being developed by Digital Bridges, a technology focused initiative in Milledgeville and Baldwin County, called “computer up-cycling.” The program is a partnership among Digital Bridges, Georgia Military College and Central Georgia Technical College to refurbish old computers from the colleges, then donate them to the state’s Surplus Properties Division.
In turn, tax-exempt organizations such as Sinclair Christian can buy the equipment at a much better rate. The private school ended up buying 40 computers for the school -- saving the school more than $14,000.
“The previous computers we had were much slower and older,” said Bob Poole, the school’s development director. “For the cost of $800, we got 40 computers. Before, we were facing a debt of $15,000 to pay off the computers. ... We would have had to owe money (to the company) and raise tuition. This is not a good time to do that in this economy.”
Daniel McDonald, communications coordinator for Digital Bridges, said the new program has a lot of benefits, and it will soon expand to provide computers to Baldwin County elementary and middle schools as well as other nonprofit organizations. Digital Bridges also is working on an arrangement with Georgia College & State University to recycle computers from that school.
“It’s part of our mission by making resources available to the community,” McDonald said. “People think computers are ubiquitous -- everyone has one. But what we are finding out is that a lot of people are being left behind.”
The idea for computer “up-cycling” came from Daniel Pittman, now an information systems specialist for Digital Bridges, who was president of Georgia College’s Association of Information Technology program at the time. Pittman approached Digital Bridges to become a year-round collection point for people who wanted to get rid of old computers.
Eventually, Pittman said, the idea evolved into up-cycling.
“I was doing a fundraising program of ‘spring cleaning’ of computers, where we cleaned off viruses and would physically clean the computers,” Pittman said. “I talked with the staff (at Digital Bridges) and it evolved into the idea we have now.”
McDonald said the program eventually will have three components: recycling old computers that no longer work and sending them to a company in Atlanta that specializes in recycling the materials; refurbishing computers that still work that are donated by individuals and selling them at a low price to the general public; and working with colleges and other organizations in Milledgeville to refurbish computers that can be sold to nonprofits via the Surplus Properties Division for $20 per computer.
“Of all the things we have been able to do, I think this one has the biggest impact on the community as a whole,” said Heather Holder, director of Digital Bridges. (McDonald and Pittman) have been dedicated to get this equipment out to the community. Through sheer determination, they’ve been able to get this done.”
It hasn’t been easy. State law specifically forbids passing along computers with their hard drives intact, for fear that the hard drives may still contain private information. Had Digital Bridges or the colleges had to buy new hard drives for the old computers, it would have made the program’s cost-effectiveness moot.
But McDonald said state Sen. Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, was able to work with the state to work within the law. When the computers are delivered to Digital Bridges, Pittman reformats the existing hard drives to wipe them clean. The computers are then certified by the information systems specialists at the colleges that they comply with Department of Defense standards.
Pittman then replaces any parts that need to be fixed and loads up a free, Linux-based operating system as well as other basic programs that are free to download online.
It’s the state law that has prevented other groups in Georgia from refurbishing computers, McDonald said.
“Originally, it wasn’t possible,” he said. “It was a one-size-fits-all law. (The GMC staff) was having to drill holes in the hard drives. We were looking to avoid that. ... (The program) fits in very well with what the state is trying to do right now, to put all of the state’s resources to the best and highest use.”
Grant said it was a matter of getting McDonald in touch with the right people at the state level and working out a compromise.
“The state understood the need for the program,” he said. “(McDonald) had concerns about the total loss of the hard drives. But we were able to come up with a way of doing it without putting sensitive data in jeopardy. ... The state hates to see any state resource go to waste. They want to put it back into use for somebody in some fashion.”
So far, Pittman said, Digital Bridges has collected about 80 computers from GMC and Central Georgia Tech. It takes him about an hour and a half to reformat the hard drive and another half-hour to load the new software, provided that the computers don’t need any parts replaced.
Poole said a couple of the computers have had bugs in them, but most are working better than anything the school previously had. The expanded computer labs at Sinclair Christian have allowed more students to run educational software to help them improve in areas such as English and math.
“We appreciate that we’re able to get this material,” he said. “It allows the students to be more prepared in the age we’re in right now. If they didn’t have the new computers, you can imagine how far back they’d be.”
To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.
