After years of set backs and fears they had bitten off more than they could chew, OLPC have signed a new contract with India which could revive them from their slumber. In case you’ve had your head under your pillow for the past three years, One Laptop Per Child is a not for profit organisation aiming to develop a low cost laptop to revolutionise the way we educate children world wide. Their ambition and drive is inspiring but their goals have been riddled with problems since the get go. Despite the mammoth task they laid out for themselves their vision has kept OLPC relentlessly battling uphill to achieve their goals.

With the lofty ambition of developing a laptop with a unit price of just $100 it’s been all too easy for the press to write OLPC off as a failure. The old world cynicism kicks in when goals are set and goals aren’t met but I’ve always been a firm believer of shooting for the stars and landing on the moon. The unit price was never the be all and end all of the project, the end goal was to revolutionise the way we educate children in developing countries. So can that still happen?

Having initially snubbed the project, India have signed an agreement to purchase 250,000 XO units from OLPC, a contract which could mark the beginning of the company getting back on track. The OLPC India CEO Satish Jha says the XO laptops will be sent to 1,500 schools with hopes that a further 2.75 million XOs will ship to India this year. Adding further credibility to OLPC, a human rights group has agreed to purchase 5,000 XO units to deploy in Sierra Leone.

The cost of the XOs has never dipped below $188 dollars, well shy of their target, but with an order for 3 million units on the books the unit price might be sent on a downward curve. Second to this, India’s complete 180  following their lukewarm response to the project may spur other developing nations to follow suit. It’s certainly excellent news for the project.

In fitting with what we’ve come to expect from OLPC, they last year announced plans for an even more ambitious project; a 16:9 touch-screen educational laptop with no hardware keyboard on the market by 2010 for $75 per unit. As impossible as that task sounds that dream might be closer to a reality thanks to the funds they’re set to pull in from the India contract.

OLPC are proof that you should set your goals high, run before you can walk and ignore everyone who says you’re a failure.