Technical Academy of Haiti (Tech-Haiti)

Here is the startup phase action plan for Tech-Haiti. Comments welcome.

It is a large task and is going to take a lot of time, a lot of people and a lot of money. The payoff is tremendous. Formatting does not seem to work in this blogger post.

Building an information economy in Haiti This project is an ambitious endeavor to build an international information economy in the nation of Haiti. Haiti has numerous advantages as a location to construct a vibrant information economy that is capable of providing excellent technology services to the worldwide customer base at a very reasonable cost. By combining the very low cost to employ an educated workforce there is the potential to transform the lives of many of the citizens of Haiti. The construction of an information technology infrastructure that will provide for well paying jobs for hundreds or thousands of Haitians is not a simple task. To be successful this project will require significant investments of funds, time and expertise. Success will be achieved on that day when all international entities involved in the construction of the various components of the project have exited operational activities and the employees/owners of the Haitian corporate entity have assumed responsibility for the future success of all involved entities. This project will encompass a number of phases. Each phase is critical to the overall success. The phases as presently envisioned are:

1. Startup Phase
a. Create operational entities
i. US 503 (1) C to fund startup and construction
ii. Haitian for-profit corporation
iii. Empanel boards of directors for operational entities
iv. Empanel advisory boards for operational entities
b. Secure startup funding
i. Hire project executive
ii. Locate and secure temporary facility
iii. Hire Haitian student instructors
iv. Fund expatriate instructor corps
c. Create mission statement
d. Secure operational integration of Haitian entities
i. Ministry of Education
ii. Ministry of Commerce and Technology
iii. Education entities in Haiti
iv. Community and citizen groups
e. Solicit proposals from educational design sources for curricula
i. English as Second language (ESOL)
ii. Fundamental literacy skills
iii. Call center skills
iv. Programming skills (JAVA)
v. Server operations
vi. Networking
f. Design candidate entrance exam-preliminary
g. Solicit candidate applications
h. Design permanent infrastructure
i. Technology
1. Computing infrastructure including storage
2. Network infrastructure
3. Operating systems
4. Application software
ii. Facility
1. Create detailed specification for permanent facility
2. Solicit design proposals for facility including housing, technical, power, water
and sewer.
3. Determine location of permanent facility
4. Solicit construction bids from contractors (prime to be Haitian)
5. Develop capital budget for permanent facility
6. Identify sources of capital funding