PROVO — The connection between a computer and the economic stability of an African villager may seem like a stretch, but to Kevin Johnson, it's a connection he works on every day.

Johnson, co-president of the Platforms and Services Division of Microsoft, spends his weeks traveling the world, trying to adapt Windows technology to the various developing countries and citizens.

He shared the company's vision with business students at Brigham Young University, Friday afternoon, encouraging them to see technology as a way to lift people out of poverty.

"We work to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential," Johnson said.

Through Johnson's various trips around the world, he and the other top Microsoft executives have changed the way they approach distribution of technology.

Each country is divided into almost three different layers. The top tier of a country contains those with wealth and education, who are often already enmeshed in technology. The second group — the growing middle class — sees technology as a way to educate their children and grow economically, even though they may not have much access.

The third tier is usually the largest and encompasses people who are struggling to get healthful food and clean water, among other things.

In the past, the focus was to encourage technological advances through one marketing approach for all three levels. However, by adapting technology to the lower levels, even people who aren't computer savvy can begin a path out of poverty.

Microsoft has started installing computer kiosks in small villages and cities throughout the world, where people can pay for Internet browsing time.

But how can a villager afford that?

With a computer available, the villagers can start outsourcing work. An individual might be hired by a company in the city to do translation work for a software program, Johnson said.

The villager then starts to make money and can more easily provide for his or her family.

"Look at the opportunity we have in this world to make things better," Johnson said. "To make things better, it does come down to economic self reliance and education."

His speech, "Empowering People Through Technology," illustrated the benefits of technology, as it is adapted to the needs of the growing markets.

Currently, there are 700 million personal computers on the planet. In the United States 78 percent of residents have a computer. In Western Europe the number is 40 percent and Brazil, 10 percent. India clocks in at 1 percent.

However, Johnson said data projections show the number of computers increasing to more than 1 billion by 2008, with half of that growth coming from emerging, or growing, markets.

The lecture was part of the semi-annual eBusiness Day at BYU.

Having professionals visit the school is beneficial because it gives the students direct interaction with people who make decisions that affect the world, said Brent Dance, student lead for eBusiness Day.

"It's what the people in that room will be doing in 30 years," Dance said.

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