E Bizz Major
E Bizz Major
E Bizz Major
http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/Margot-58523-chakavarti-Commerce-Bridging-Digital-
Divide-Telecom-Infrastructure-as-Travel-Places-Nature-ppt-powerpoint/
Presentation Transcript
E-Commerce and Bridging Digital Divide: Telecom, Infrastructure and
Access :
E-Commerce and Bridging Digital Divide: Telecom, Infrastructure and Access UNCTAD
Expert Meeting on E-Commerce Strategies Geneva, Palais des Nations 10 – 12 July 2002 Dr
A.K. Chakravarti Adviser Department of Information Technology Ministry of
Communications & Information Technology Government of India http://www.mit.gov.in
E-Commerce and Bridging Digital Divide Normal e-biz, B to B e-commerce strategies not
covered Deployment of set of ICT applications which could give economic benefits to bridge
the digital divide in developing countries Local needs specific Technologies & applications –
with focus on telecom, infrastructure and access solutions
Cardinal factors for E-Commerce and Bridging Digital Divide Telecom reform with USO
Enhancing e-readiness of the nation Technological solutions aimed at affordability v/s
economic benefits low-cost ICT infrastructure Community approach Local language
solutions Teach/Educate potential beneficiaries to use the ICT tools to advantage, for
sustainability
Lessons learnt from dotcom bust That companies/VCs know what the consumers want If
provided through prevailing market forces practices, consumers are bound to accept Lessons
for e-commerce and digital divide from telecom, infrastructure and access perspective
Strategies for Promoting E-Commerce and Bridging Digital Divide The diversity within the
nation – tremendous challenge Consensus – ICT having potential to accelerate development
and bring the benefits of the knowledge-based economy to the rural sector Govt.,
development agencies, NGOs amongst others have taken a host of initiatives
Strategies ……. (Contd…):
Technologies and Applications for Rural e-Commerce in India : Some Illustrative examples
Community Information Centres (CICs) Gyandoot Agmarket RuralBazar/IndiaShop
Technology Development in local languages (TDIL) CAD in Handloom CorDECT Simputer
Media Lab Asia
Rural e-Commerce Projects : More Examples Warana Wired Village Project (warana.nic.in)
AP Govt. initiatives (CARD, TWINS, VOICE etc.) (www.ap-it.com) Bhoomi – computerised
land records across the Karnatka State (revdept.kar.nic.in) TARAhaat.com
(www.tarahaat.com) HoneyBee Network (www.sristi.org) Samadhan Kendra e-chaupal e-
post Sustainable Access to Rural India (SARI) Amul.com Rural knowledge centres for
Information Empowerment (www.mssrf.org) Inabling Technologies (www.inablers.net) etc
Experience from CICs set up under pilot project Utilization of CICs in some states such as
Sikkim and Meghalaya is quite good Gangtok CIC is earning revenue and has even paid
salary of staff out of the revenue earned Some of the CICs have started Computer Training
Programmes Popular services at CICs Internet & Email Word processing Computer Training
Gyandoot
(http://www.gyandoot.net) :
Gyandoot:
Gyandoot Some of the services provided by Gyandoot Intranet: Agricultural Produce Auction
Centres Rates, Online Registration of application, Public Grievance Redressal Hindi e-mail
Gyandoot won the “CSI National IT Award” as well as “Stockholm Challenge Award”
Replicating Gyandoot model Drishtee (http://www.drishtee.com)
AGMARKNET aims at :
AGMARKNET aims at (Contd…) To ensure flow of regular and reliable data to producers,
traders and consumers to derive maximum benefit of their sales and purchases To increase
the efficiency in marketing by effecting improvement in the existing market information
system
AGMARKNET Scope covers Transmit price and market arrivals to State Agricultural
Marketing Board/Directorate for analysis and local dissemination and to DMI Hqrs Faridabad
for further dissemination through Web. To start with, 27 commodities categorized into 7
commodity Groups viz. cereals, pulses, spices, fruits, vegetables, fibres and Oilseeds are to
be monitored.
AGMARKNET Project Components Item H/W S/W Connectivity DMI Hqrs Server System,
Client System Windows NT, SQL Server, Lotus Smart Suite Millenium, MS Office 2000
Vsat Based Marketing Board / Directorate / Markets Client System Windows98, Lotus Smart
Suite Through Dial-up Modem Computing Facilities and Networking
4. RuralBazar / IndiaShop:
6. C-DAC in Handloom:
6. C-DAC in Handloom Computer Aided Textile Design Centres (CATD) being set-up in
major handloom sector hubs in the country – widening the scope of creativity and selection of
design Panipat, Bangalore, Chennai, Bhubneshwar, Kolkata etc. Assistance from ATIRA
Now CAD in handloom moving over to other smaller places examples : Handloom weavers
in Shantipur in Nadia district of West Bengal with assistance from National Institute of
Fashion Technology, The Centre aims at Eliminate the time-consuming manual design
process and introduce weavers to the efficiency and economy of CAD Introduce ease of
innovative in designing and multi-colour combinations through CAD Preserve old designs
through retrievable digital storage
7. CorDECT (www.tenet.res.in):
CorDECT - Status:
CorDECT - Status Operated by MTNL in Mumbai and New Delhi Installed by BSNL –
Bhopal, Panipat, Bangalore Installed in Patiala, Mohali, Jaipur Installed in Madagascar, Fiji,
Argentina, Kenya, Brazil, Iran, Tunisia, Nigeria
Slide30:
CorDECT WiLL Rural Projects Kuppam Mandal in Andhra Pradesh Dhar District in MP
along with Gyandoot Nellikuppam in Tamil Nadu Sikar in Rajasthan Rural Madurai
Replication N-Logue Communications (www.tenet.res.in/nlogue.htm)
8. Simputer (www.simputer.org):
Simputer Specs:
Simputer Specs 32 bit CPU running at 200MHz 32 MB RAM 24 MB Flash LCD display
panel Touch – panel overlay on LCD display Smartcard Connector Telephone jack USB
connector
Simputer Software:
Simputer Software O/S – GNU/Linux Soft-Modem Alogrithms IML Browser Internet Access
Text-to-speech software
Overview of Media Lab Asia Programme Vision: To trigger the chain process of making use
of IT in the lives of common people in a sustainable way and to influence profoundly the
quality of their lives Concept: A network of national and overseas Projects Thrust areas:
Learning: Involving every child in the learning process Health: Providing state-of-the-art
public health tools and medical information to everyone Financial Sustainability: Creating the
culture of micro-enterprise Goals: Adopt villages, develop technology and bring partners Key
Players: Academia, MIT Media Lab, NGOs & Cooperatives, Government and Industry
Deliverables:
Media Lab Asia – Initial Research Hubs Media Lab Asia Research Programme Tamilnadu
Hub Maharastra Hub Delhi Hub Kanpur-Lucknow Hub
Initial Projects/Areas for Research Hubs Kanpur-Lucknow Hub: Chikan CAD Info-Thela
SUCHIK: Do-it-Yourself Comic books Wireless networks (IEEE 802.11) Maharashtra Hub:
A research facility for the design and evaluation of devices and interfaces Multilingual
Information Retrieval in the Agricultural Domain Sensors for water quality and blood
parameter assessment Novel techniques for cancer screening and detection in economically
backward regions
Initial Projects/Areas for Research Hubs- (Contd…) Delhi Research Hub: Rural Software
Lab and Demonstration Centre- Health: Rural water quality and Management System based
on GIS Microfranchise Development: Precision farming testing, telecom. Services,
community services directory etc. Computer Clubhouses Concept of Digital Village
demonstration Wireless networks - WANS Low cost computing Outreach Programme Media
Awareness Campaign Web –Portal development
Initial Projects/Areas for Research Hubs- Contd.. Tamilnadu Hub: Bits for all Bring digitally
enabled services to common man Developing low-cost wireless local loop services Indian
version of Linux Rethinking of software from operating system to interface to reflect the
needs of rural services IIT Kharagpur - Research Lab : Language and interface technologies
for physically handicapped.
Conclusions:
Conclusions Some of the examples pertaining to e-commerce and bridging digital divide are
presented. Telecom, Infrastructure and access requirements are innovative. India is
committed to bring the fruits of ICT for the benefit of Masses. Let thousands flowers (pilot
projects) bloom. A large number of “these” would eventually be “sustainable”. Rural e-
commerce in India is on the “Move”
THANK YOU:
THANK YOU