The IBM KidSmart Early Learning Programme

The KidSmart programme began in 1999 as an IBM global partnership donation programme for pre-school children and teachers in disadvantaged areas, addressing the 'digital divide' in early childhood education. In 2003 IBM organised the first European Conference on ICT in early education, bringing together policy makers, researchers and leading teachers from 20 countries with the European Commissioner for Education; by 2004, USD 40 million had been invested.

The programme aims to promote and support effective use of ICT in the cognitive and social development of pre-school children, to help reduce the digital divide, to support the integration of immigrant and ethnic-minority children, and to raise school attendance.

IBM works in partnership with Ministries of Education or leading professional bodies to select beneficiary kindergartens and deliver teacher training. Each donation consists of a child-friendly computer workstation loaded with the 'Young Explorer' educational software suite, available in 18 languages, with headset microphones and a mini-mouse.

The programme has run for over 10 years and extends to over 70 countries worldwide, including 29 in EMEA, where more than 8,000 units have been donated. The programme's own account describes it as contributing to bridging the digital divide, raising overall student achievement, supporting integration of beneficiaries into their local community, and enhancing school attendance.

While several named academic evaluators are associated with programme assessment, no specific study, dataset or comparison group is documented in the available source material, so claimed outcomes should be treated as programme-reported rather than independently verified.