"We want to support the community by setting up a Social Enterprise model which will focus on the western Sydney refugees and indigenous community with upcycled devices to get them connected to the rest of the world and fill the digital divide"

Connect the Disconnected

Upcycled Tech currently provides IT resources to communities in Sri Lanka by collecting used IT devices and upcycling them. While working with these communities and reflecting on our own experiences, we realised the same need - to have more connectivity and access to devices - exists in our local Australian communities; in fact, "49% of kids lack access to tech for school."

Our Story

We have worked with local communities helping refugees and new migrants through the Tamil Resource Centre. Through our experience, we have identified a “digital divide” within Western Sydney. Upcycled Tech aims to close this digital divide gap.

Working through the Tamil Resource Centre, we have worked with refugees and new migrants in Western Sydney. Through this experience, we identified a digital divide in the local community and are now working towards closing this gap. 

Upcycled Tech is collecting used IT devices, laptops, desktops and smartphones, upcycling them and providing them to locals in Parramatta LGA and Western Sydney. Devices donated by our partners are used to create environmentally sustainable IT solutions that provide socially and financially disadvantaged community members access to an IT device. The outcome is capacity building for these communities, which include new migrants and low-income earners that currently don’t have access to such technology. The project also aims to address e-waste by recycling IT devices and alleviating landfill.

Help us help the local community

We want to support the community by setting up a Social Enterprise model which will focus on the western Sydney refugees and indigenous community with upcycled devices to get them connected to the rest of the world and fill the digital divide.

We collect donated IT devices by our partners and are used to create environmentally sustainable IT solutions that provide access to computer/laptop devices. Upcycled Tech cares about data privacy, and for this reason, we currently use a third-party organisation to utilise data wiping services, which costs us financially. We are now looking to invest in our data-wiping service in our space. 

How can you help?

As a community organisation, we rely on donations to provide needed services. While this allows us to continue our work for the short term, we want to find a long-term solution that is sustainable.

We are looking to invest in a Hard Drive Shredder and provide low-cost data wiping and data shredding service to our device donors. This will provide a revenue model for operating costs like rent, staff wages and transport.

Breakdown of costs

We intend to spend around $10,000 on the Hard Drive Shredder, which is where the first $10,000 raised will be spent. We also intend to spend any additional funds raised on a data wiping device and part-time staff employment for a three-month contract of $7000 and $3000 renting an office room space (shared). We expect in six months for the model to create revenue which will cover the operation cost.

We have the office room space negotiated, and an experienced IT technician to repair devices and do data wiping; what we need right now, however, is the funding for the Hard Drive Shredder. 

  Your assistance will help us to connect to the digital world of those that are digitally disconnected. We will be able to provide more ongoing service and support to those most in need to assist with integration into the community, completing general administrative tasks, or even completing studying or job searches online.