Application of Internet in Rural India

Dipankaj G Medhi
India

Asian Institute of Technology

Thailand
 Agenda

Agenda
Agenda

India:
India:The
TheBIG
BIGpicture,
picture,the
theBIG
BIGproblem
problem

India:
India:Problem
ProblemAssociated
Associatedwith
withICT
ICTproject
project

India:
India:How
Howto
toovercome
overcomethese
theseproblems
problems

AApractical
practicalexample
example

Video
VideoClip:
Clip:The
Thereal
realpicture
picture
 The Internet

• Internet helps the developing country

like India to
– stand up and and grow
– Be confident enough to forget the two
hundred years of colonization and slavery
• by
– Gaining knowledge and information sharing
– Competing with developed country
– Bridging the distance with like minded
 India

Big picture
 Population --1,080,264,388 (around
70% lives in rural area)
 Area -- 3,287,590 sq km (more than
600,000+ villages)
 Political subdivisions-- 28 states,7
union territories
 Literacy--55.2 %
 Per-capita income-- 0.4 $ per day
Big question
 Can technology make any
difference to these people
 Can they effort these
technologies
 India:Software Market
Indian Software Exports

ESTIMATED EXPORTS FOR 2008

SERVICES US $ IN BILLION
IT SERVICES 23
SOFTWARE PRODUCTS 8
IT-ENABLED SERVICES 15
E-BUSINESS 4
TOTAL 50
 India:Software Market

India:Knowledge professional (IT)

India: Some facts

Statistics that show:
12% of scientists in the USA,
36% of NASA scientists,
34% of Microsoft employees,
28% of IBM employees,
17% of INTEL scientists,
13% of XEROX employees,
35% of Silicon Valley start-uppers BUT ???
… are Indians.
 India:Software Market

Why these intellectual resources have not driven

improvements in India’s public and private institutes
 Software industry solves a small components of a
large problem
 works are protected by confidentiality agreements
Opportunity costs of working for Indian versus
international clients is very high
Low computer usage, the inadequacies of regional
language software and
Other obstacles of developing infrastructure

A synergy between the Infotech and Telcom sectors

can create a profound social and economical revolution
 India:Problem Associated with ICT project

The problem associated with ICT

 Intermittent, inconsistent electrical power
 Scarce and unreliable telephony system
 Unreliable internet connectivity
 Socio factor such as gender inequality, religious
communal difference
 Self centered political leader, party and corruption
 India:How to overcome problems

Bottleneck: how to overcome

 Electricity
o Battery backup,
o UPS Circuit breaker
o and voltage stabilizer
o Good earthing
 Telephone
o Connect directly with communication satellites using V-
SAT (e.g. Zee interactive leaning system)
o New kind of telecommunication infrastructure, such as
WLL (TeNet project, IIT- Madras)
 Internet connectivity      
o Provide offline content (warana project)
 Socio factor
o Education
 India:ICT Project Example

Name of the Purpose Future planes

Project
Akshaya Making a district E-literate, limited Delivery of multiple service at Akshaya
employment generation. centers and expand it to other districts
Bhoomi Issue of Land title at 177 Bhoomi Expand rural kiosk network
kiosks and through privately owned
kiosks
Drishtee Creating a network of privately owned Expand Network to cover new kiosk
kiosks for e access to info, government
and service commercial
E-choupal The prime target is farmer. Farmers Scale to more users
get information about seeds’ price, etc
N-Logue Multipurpose Internet kiosks based on Expand for commercial utilization
WILL
Gyandoot Connecting rural cyber café catering Extend for global Internet
the everyday needs of the masses.
 Rural wheel of prosperity

Agriculture

Entertainment
& information
Animal
Husbandry

Education
IT-Based & training
Services

Trade &
Commerce
 One Example: n-Logue

Connectivity
 BSNL’s Contribution: on the average one fiber
connected rural exchange for every 150 sq km
• a wireless system with 10 - 15 km range at
existing fiber connected exchange would cover
80 - 85% of villages in India
 CorDECT Wireless in Local Loop Developed
by IITM and Midas Communications, Chennai
• provides a telephone line and Internet
connection in 30 Km radius
 One Example: n-Logue

Connectivity: CorDECT Wireless in Local Loop


To PSTN

To Internet
• 35/70 kbps voice and data
connectivity
• range of 25 km
•Can operate in 55 degree centigrade
 One Example: n-Logue

Application &  Provides Training and Technical Support

Solution  Handles Licensing and Policy issues
Providers  Provides Internet Backbone Connectivity
 Enables Kiosk Services through Alliance Partners
 Creates Awareness

Internet Backbone

 Markets Connections
 Provides Onsite Support and Training
 Manages Local Web & Email Services
 School/PHC  Manages Local Content Pages
 Private Business
 Government Office
 Rural NGO

ACCESS
CENTRE Scope:
3000 sq km
Local Service Partner 400-600 connections
(1 in each village)

 Provides Internet Access to Local Community

 Provides Awareness and Training
 Channels Information needs of Community through
LSP to Application & Content Providers

Financing Internet Kiosk Operator

 One Example: n-Logue

Services:
 Communication
 Education
 Computer Education
 Remote tutorial
 Typing
 Photography
 Agriculture
 Veterinary
 Health Care
 One Example: n-Logue

Services:
 Communication Email, Chatting, Video conferencing etc
 Education
 Computer Education
 Remote tutorial
 Typing
 Photography
 Agriculture
 Veterinary
 Health Care
 One Example: n-Logue

Services:
 Communication Teaching computer, distance education, etc
 Education
 Computer Education
 Remote tutorial
 Typing
 Photography
 Agriculture
 Veterinary
 Health Care
 One Example: n-Logue

Services:
 Communication DTP, MSWord etc
 Education
 Computer Education
 Remote tutorial
 Typing
 Photography
 Agriculture
 Veterinary
 Health Care
 One Example: n-Logue

Services:
 Communication Use of the web cam for photography
 Education
 Computer Education
 Remote tutorial
 Typing
 Photography
 Agriculture
 Veterinary
 Health Care
 One Example: n-Logue

Services: Weather forecasting, Disease detection, soil

 Communication analysis etc
 Education
 Computer Education
 Remote tutorial
 Typing
 Photography
 Agriculture
 Veterinary
 Health Care
 One Example: n-Logue

Services: Consulting with doctors in city by sending

 Communication online images of the animal
 Education
 Computer Education
 Remote tutorial
 Typing
 Photography
 Agriculture
 Veterinary
 Health Care
 One Example: n-Logue

Services: Remote diagnostic tools, Consulting with

 Communication doctors in city
 Education
 Computer Education
 Remote tutorial
 Typing
 Photography
 Agriculture
 Veterinary
 Health Care
 Video clips from the project Gyandoot

Deepak Sarma
Kiosk Manager
 Video clips from the project Gyandoot

Irfan
Cyber café owner
 Video clips from the project Gyandoot

Ramji
Farmer
 Conclusion

Conclusion
 Application of Internet in rural area will helps in the development of
society
 Wireless technology will provides a better connectivity
 synergy between the IT and Telecommunication sectors can create a
profound social and economical revolution
References
Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Anuradha Ramachandran, Alankar
Bandyopadhyaya n-Logue: The Story of a Rural Service Provider in
India The Journal of Community Informatics (2004) Vol1, Issue 1, pp
30-38
 Nirvikar Singh Information Technology and Rural Development in
India URL http://www.repositories.cdlib.org/sccie/04-06
 Ashok Jhunjhunwala Challenges in Rural Connectivity for India
URL
http://www.bytesforall.org/9th/html/challenges_ashok.htm
 Website for different projects
 Website for different images and clips
Thank You…..