Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 08:55:41 +0530 From: Subbiah Arunachalam Friends: Here is a report that appeared in The Communication Initiative [http://www.comminit.com/pds72004/sld-10439.html]. Best wishes. Arun National Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Basic Human Needs - India Summary Formed in May 2004, the National Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Basic Human Needs will seek to take the knowledge-led services harnessed by ICTs to all of India's 600,000 villages by August 2007, when the country celebrates its 60th year of independence. The Alliance sees itself as acting as a catalyst for technology innovation for rural ICT applications and connectivity. "It will work to bring the private sector and the academia together with strong support from civil society organizations for experimenting every innovation among the target communities." The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and OneWorld South Asia are jointly organising the Alliance. Main Communication Strategies The Alliance is using networking and partnership as strategies for taking ICTs to the poor and the disadvantaged in India's rural and urban communities. To begin the process of creating the alliance, 50 representatives drawn from civil society organisations, government departments, the private sector, and academia took part in consultations in May 2004. They set up 7 task forces, including connectivity, content, policy, capacity building, resources, organisation and management, and programme design. One focus of these task force activities will be how to use the ongoing efforts by the government and the private sector in creating an ICT infrastructure, human networks, and political institutions to provide multipurpose information kiosks in rural areas. "The info-kiosk of tomorrow would serve as a communication hub, providing multiple telephone and communication services to the village, a virtual academy and training center and banking, financial, insurance and trading outlet and much more." Face-to-face interaction will continue to be the Alliance's key strategy for sharing ideas and engaging in strategic planning toward the 2007 goal. These conversations take the form of "Policy Makers Workshops" like the May and July 2004 consultations. (Other such workshops were held in October 2003 and February 2004 to organise other MSRRF programmes designed to bridge the digital divide; please see Key Points, below). According to organisers, a number of key government people attended and spoke at the July 2004 meeting. According to MSRRF, these representatives expressed firm support for the National Alliance's work and a strong desire to collaborate. Here is an excerpt from the May 2004 meeting report, which indicates the Alliance's strategic direction (this document is available as a PDF document; please see contact section, below): The emergence of Rural Knowledge Centres and info-kiosk movement in our country has demonstrated that the local panchayats and self-help groups can take advantage of appropriate information and communication technologies and that they can easily access the scientific and technical knowledge they need to solve local problems and enhance the quality of their lives, as well as to communicate their own insights and needs back to Government departments and scientists. A national movement of knowledge centres needs to be established in mission mode to ensure quick implementation at the local level, create information infrastructure and locally appropriate and relevant content for rural economy through active involvement of Gram Sabhas, Local Self-Help groups and NGOs. For this a Rural Knowledge Centre Fund may be established by NABARD to cover 100,000 villages within 3 years. To provide the fillip the Government of India may provide necessary matching assistance to NABARD to the tune of Rs. 300 crores a year. These NABARD supported knowledge centres should work towards creating sustainable livelihood opportunities, and also serve as service providers and communication enablers for the landless and the poor, especially those belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other Backward Classes, women and the disabled - the most vulnerable groups in rural India....It will be useful if Government can proactively promote public-private and institutional partnerships facilitating outreach of the knowledge centres to cover the unreached villages in rural India. The active participation of this elected women and men members of local bodies crucial for the success of this movement. An integrated use of the Internet and Community Radio will be an effective means of reaching the unreached and voicing the voiceless. Development Issues Technology, Economic Development. Key Points The Alliance's work will be guided by the philosophy of MSSRF's Chairman, Prof. Swaminathan. Here is a synopsis of that approach, provided by MSSRF: "His focus is people. He looks at their contexts and needs and then proceeds to satisfy those needs within their context. He is ready to use any technology that comes in handy. For example, in our Information Village (Rural Knowledge Centres) project we use noticeboards, public address systems (loud speakers put up in different streets of a fishing village) and a local language twice-monthly community newspaper along with solar (photovoltaic) energy, the Internet, spread spectrum technology and Motorola two-way radio...For us technology is often a mere enabler. What people want delivered is healthcare, education, agriculture, markets, entitlements, credit, and better livelihoods. We work towards achieving the MDGs [Millenium Development Goals]." The National Alliance is a natural progression from MSSRF's ongoing efforts to set up rural knowledge centres in several villages - efforts that can be characterised as using a bottom-up approach and involving the community from the beginning. MSSRF comments, "These are not mere kiosks. They have become an integral part of the life of the village communities." This work is described in detail in "Rural Knowledge Centres: Harnessing Local Knowledge via Interactive Media Policy Makers Workshop" [PDF] http://www.mssrf.org/publications/pmw.pdf>. For a summary of this workshop, click here http://www.comminit.com/st2003/sld-9144.html. Additional information is available on the MSSRF website http://www.mssrf.org> (click on the words "Special Programmes" on the left navigation bar). Click here http://www.comminit.com/DiscussionForums/sld-10232.html to find out how to participate in a related Discussion Forum entitled "Information kiosks in every Indian village by 2007 - a myth or reality?". Partners The July workshop was supported by the International Development Research Center (IDRC), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), NASSCOM Foundation, and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. It was organised by M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation and OneWorld South Asia. Source "National Alliance on ICTs for basic human needs launched" http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/8 6557/1138/2150>, on the OneWorld South Asia website. Featured in the Digital Opportunity Channel - weekly newsletter - May 20-26, which was forwarded by Atanu Garai to the bytesforall_readers list server on May 26 2004 (click here to access the archives http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/>); and posting to the bytesforall_readers list server dated July 6 2004; and letter sent from Subbiah Arunachalam to The Communication Initiative on July 15 2004. For more information, contact: Subbiah Arunachalam Distinguished Fellow arun@mssrf.res.in mailto:arun@mssrf.res.in subbiah_a@hotmail.com mailto:subbiah_a@hotmail.com Prof. M.S. Swaminathan Chairman msswami@mssrf.res.in mailto:msswami@mssrf.res.in M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) Third Cross Street, Institutional Area Taramani, Chennai - 600 113, India Tel.: +91-44-22541229, 22541698 Fax: +91-44-22541319 MSSRF website http://www.mssrf.org> Dr. Basheerhamad Shadrach Director, OneWorld South Asia Basheerhamad.shadrach@oneworld.net mailto:Basheerhamad.shadrach@oneworld.net Placed on the Communication Initiative site July 15 2004. Last Updated July 15 2004. Please also see: http://www.comminit.com/pds72004/sld-10439.html National Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Basic Human Needs http://www.comminit.com/pds72004/sld-10439.html A network formed in May 2004 is working to bring ICTs to all of India's 600,000 villages by August 2007, when the country celebrates its 60th year of independence. The National Alliance sees itself as a catalyst for technology innovation for rural ICT applications and connectivity. Networking and partnership will be key strategies for taking ICTs to the poor and the disadvantaged: "It will work to bring the private sector and the academia together with strong support from civil society organizations for experimenting" with ICT innovations. The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation and OneWorld South Asia are organising the Alliance.