Winston Center Hosts Business Ethics Lecture

Last night, Boston College's Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics hosted a lecture by Tim Anderson, the founder and president of the World Computer Exchange (WCE) and BC '73, as a part of the center's Forum on Business Ethics.

The Forum, instituted in 2007, "brings to campus leading voices on the subject of business ethics from a variety of fields and disciplines," according to its website.

Richard Keely, the director of programs for the center, introduced the lecture, which took place in the Murray Function Room.

"If you went on LinkedIn to get your information about Tim Anderson, you'd ask, ‘How does someone so young incorporate so much [into so little time]?'" he said.

Anderson, who has been involved with non-profit organizations for over 20 years, said that he intended WCE to be a "different kind of non-profit."

The idea for the WCE began during his time in graduate school, but it was more of an "intellectual exercise."

"I didn't think I would be doing this for 11 years," he said.

The WCE, which sends computers to developing countries to provide them with Internet access, took two years to gain credibility, which Anderson said was a major obstacle.

"It took two years to get the word out, to get embassies to come to us if they needed computers," he said. "We had to get them to look at us without any credibility and without any real staff."

Anderson discussed the issues that began to develop as the company progressed.

"How do you get people to pay for something from someone they don't know?" he said.

Anderson said that as organizations began to recognize the efforts of the WCE, and shipments were sent to countries overseas, they faced issues with packaging.

"You can't just ship the computers," he said. "You have to make sure that they work on the other end."

Currently, WCE serves 650 organizations in 73 countries, with 1,000 more applying to become partners.

Before an organization, like a youth center or a school, can become a partner, they must answer a set of 25 carefully constructed questions ranging from what the organization prepares to do with the computers, how they plan to connect them to the Internet, and how they plan to dispose of the computers once they die.

"We work through partners," Anderson said. "We are a tool that these partners can have access to."

After a partner has been accepted, has pledged to connect their computers to the Internet, and has presented a plan to dispose of the computers in a sustainable manner, they must begin to raise money for the computers. WCE charges the organizations $65 per computer, which includes keyboards, necessary cords, and other accessories as well as shipping.

WCE will often seek a sponsor in the United States to raise the last third of the money needed for an organization. In one container, WCE sends between 200 and 400 Pentium 4 or above refurbished desktops and laptops as well as other equipment, such as projectors, in the containers.