Two Mutually Reinforcing Applications of ICT for Socioeconomic Development of India

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Two Mutually Reinforcing Applications of ICT for
Socio-economic Development of India

• Rajesh Jain, Netcore Solutions, Mumbai
• Atanu Dey, University of California at Berkeley

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Key Points

• Two Mutually Reinforcing ICT Applications
• Education
• Access to Markets
• Two Complementary ICT Solutions
• TeleInfoCentre (TIC)
• Rural Infrastructure and Services Commons (RISC)

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Why Education

• Single most important factor for broad-based
  economic development
• Developing countries are deficient in primary
  education and adult literacy
• Literacy fundamental to participation in the
  global economy

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Why Access to Markets

• Markets work efficient allocation of resources
• Efficiency requires information
• Greater market access increases incomes
• Global markets promise higher incomes to
  populations

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How the two are mutually reinforcing

• Education
• long term return on investment
• basis for sustainable development
• primary target younger generation
• Market access
• short term return on investment
• long term return in increased incomes
• Primary target adults

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Problems with ICT Solutions

• Focus on the tools rather than on goals
• Hardware focused instead of applications
• ICT seen as end in itself, rather than means to
  an end
• Partial solutions, not holistic
• Solutions relevant to developed economies, not
  for developing countries
• Coordination problem in investment

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ICT Solutions Requirements

• Application oriented, not hardware oriented
• Solution specifically developed for the neglected
  segments
• Comprehensive set of solutions
• Developing economy focus
• Low cost
• Not dumbed down

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Building Blocks5KPC Ecosystem

• Thin Clients
• Server-centric Computing
• Open-Source Software
• WiFi / Wireless

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Two ICT Solutions

• TeleInfoCentre
• RISC

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TeleInfoCentre (TIC)

• Computer and Communications Centre
• Cluster of 3-10 computers (5KPC ecosystem)
• Email Instant Messaging Web Browsing Printing
• Content and Applications mirrored on Local Server
• Present at the village-level
• Enable eCommerce / eGovernance / eServices
• Entrepreneur-driven

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Rural Infrastructure and Services Commons (RISC)

• A standardized infrastructural platform
• Power, connectivity, physical plant, security
• A services layer
• Market-driven comprehensive set of services
• Income generation potential
• Coordinated investment
• Investment from the private and public sector
• NGOs and multilateral lending institutions

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Education via TIC and RISC

• TIC
• Primary education at the village level
• Adult education at the village level
• Distribution of standardized content using
  appropriate ICT tools
• RISC
• Access to higher education and vocational
  education
• Employment of educated rural population close to
  home

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Market Access via TIC and RISC

• Hub and spoke model
• TIC spoke connect to RISC hub
• RISC
• Broad-band Internet and World Wide Web
• Bi-directional flow of information and materials
• Mediated access to worldwide markets

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Conclusion and Next Steps

• Need for ICT for
• Education (tackle non-income poverty)
• Access to Markets (tackle income poverty)
• Two Solutions to transform Rural India
• TeleInfoCentres at villages
• RISC for a cluster of 100 villages
• Next Step Construct Prototypes in India

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More Information

• Rajesh Jain
• rajesh_at_netcore.co.in
• http//www.emergic.org
• Atanu Dey
• atanu_at_are.berkeley.edu
• http//are.berkeley.edu/atanu