The Digital Links Difference

As a provider of technology solutions for development, Digital Links brings the best technology available worldwide at an affordable cost. Partnerships with multinationals, corporations, governments and civil society actors have allowed us to distribute over 65,000 computers to schools, hospitals and NGOs across Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.

Computers donated in the UK are refurbished to the highest standard in accordance with UK environmental and data protection legislation, ensuring optimal reuse and limiting the strain on world resources.

Through innovative partnerships with leading PC manufacturers Digital Links can also provide new computers enabling access to the best equipment available for low income groups at significantly reduced cost.

Since its creation in 2002, over 1.5 million people have gained their first access to IT through Digital Links.

Within the next five years, Digital Links intends to increase our impact five-fold. Here is how...

Social Enterprise
Digital Links is a social enterprise looking to bridge the digital and knowledge divide between rich and poor. As such, we focus on achieving public good while operating as a self-sustained business entity. We operate on the principle that in order to avoid dependence and encourage sustainable economic development there must be value attached to ICT equipment and tools.

Practical solutions
Digital Links offers practical solutions to UK-based e-waste and landfill problems in line with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. The Digital Links service offer ensures complete data erasure and 100% recycling of non-reusable donations.

Green IT
Central to the Digital Links model is a strong environmental policy in operations within UK and with partners in developing countries. We work to ensure that once computers reach the end of their useful lives, they can be environmentally recycled. Digital Links operates a 0% landfill policy

Capacity building
Digital Links help to develop both the infrastructure and skills necessary to support capacity building and market development through provision of training programs for education, health, SMEs and NGOs.

Education and E-learning
A central focus for Digital Links going forward is to support educational institutions and foundations through IT lab construction, ICT training and e-learning curriculum development and provision.

Digital Links has received hardware donations from over 500 UK-based organisations including large corporates, public sector organisations and schools with an interest in practical solutions for the ethical disposal of unwanted.

Our aim is to ensure that every computer we distribute has a transformational effect on the people who use it as well as providing our corporate and education partners with valuable feedback on their contributions. To achieve this, rather than just shipping computers, we ensure that, every step of the way, the equipment is networked and maintained, training is provided, supporting tools are developed and impact reports are provided. This is done through our network of distribution partners in the 21 developing countries in which we work.

As well as ensuring adequate training and support, our system means that computers are fully traceable - right through to the end user. It also ensures that computers get to the people that need them most, and enables us to implement systems for the environmental disposal of computers when they eventually reach the end of their useful lives. Digital Links is pioneering recycling projects in Africa, and will soon be shipping back a container of the first thousand PCs we distributed six years ago.

Digital Links is thus providing an end-to-end practical and sustainable solution to the problem of e-waste in the UK and ICT capacity building in the developing world.