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because 80 of Indias 1 billion people live
in villages and many have no access to jobs,
food, energy or shelter and little information
about what they can do to improve their lives.
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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED COMMUNITY CENTER
(ITECC)
with Modern Science and Appropriate
Technology for Sustainable Development
A properly designed and implemented
ITECC Integrates Traditional Knowledge
3
A R T S (Society for Appropriate Rural Technology
for Sustainability) is proud to partner
with Aurovilles VILLAGE ACTION In the
establishment of a rural INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED COMMUNITY CENTER (ITECC) At
Auroville
For the promotion of village-based programs That
will lead to Total Community Development (TCD),
By enhancing the socio-economic fabric of the
rural community Through the adoption of
eco-friendly and appropriate technologies that
conserve Mother Nature
Slide 3
4

• A R T S
• (Society for Appropriate Rural Technology for
  Sustainability)
• Is a member of Sankalpa Trust, Calcutta
• Which also partners
• Development Alternatives, New Delhi in areas that
• Define sustainable development initiatives, and
• Socioeconomic and environmental factors that
  empower rural communities through sustainable
  livelihoods programs.
• Particularly for the promotion of village-based
  programs in
• SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS
• IT-ENABLED SYSTEMS SERVICES
• RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES
• SHELTER PRODUCTS

Slide 4
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Sustainable Development

• A popular concept after 1992 United Nations
  Conf-erence on Environment and Development
  (UNCED), and reinforced by Agenda 21 and the Rio
  Declaration.
• Addresses the complex and inter-related issues
  of energy and the environment
• Incompatibility of present development patterns

FOCUS ON METHODS
GOAL A POSITIVE AND LASTING DEVELOPMENT OF OUR
PLANETS RESOURCES AND POPULATIONS
Slide 5
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Sustainable Livelihood

• A work opportunity that gives
• A decent income
• Some status in society and
• Some dignity and meaning in life

Provides opportunities for people to work in
their own community instead of migrating to the
slums of a big city.
Slide 6
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Sustainable Livelihoods Outcome
Purchasing power and lifestyle would be
comparable to that of a factory worker in an
urban area, where the wages are much higher than
in the village to compensate for higher costs of
living.
Slide 7
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IT-Enabled Community Center (ITECC) Stakeholders

• Householders / rural community members
• Educationists
• Rural businesspersons
• Media
• Other NGOs and
• Local government institutions

Participatory practices promote total empowerment
of rural communities through foundation-level
developmental programs defined in the Pyramidal
Model.
Slide 8
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SANKALPAS Pyramidal Model for TOTAL COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
It is about changing power structures to remove
the barriers that prevent people from
participating in the issues that affect their
lives.
Community development is about building active
and sustainable communities based on social
justice and mutual respect.
Information Technology Center For Internet-based
and IT-enabled services, including Telemedicine
Renewable Energy Center For technology
dissemination
Building Center For demonstration of eco-friendly
products
Training Education Center For employment
generation
Slide 9
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Education Training Center

• A major objective is to provide a platform for
  the rural entrepreneur to develop the necessary
  technical and management skills that will be
  needed to be successful in the uncompromising
  global market place.
• Currently the Sankalpa Arts Handicrafts Center
  strategy is to develop the following handicraft
  products
• Handmade Paper Products
• Bamboo Handicrafts
• Jute Handicrafts

(visit http//societyarts.tripod.com/12ah/hmpp.htm
l for details)
Slide 10
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Renewable Energy Center
Energy, although not an end in itself,
facilitates socio-economic activities and
promotes human empowerment. The rampant
unavailability of energy sources and services
correlates closely with many challenges of
sustainable development, such as poverty
alleviation, the advancement of women, protection
of the environment, and perhaps most importantly
- the creation of sustainable livelihoods.
A biomass gasifier system for cremation reduces
fuel wood consump-tion from 600 kg to 150 kg -
almost 75 reduction! Alternate biomass fuels
like rice husks and other agricul-tural crop
residues may be used.
(visit http//societyarts.tripod.com/03sene/index.
html for details)
Slide 11
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Building Center

• Functions as a grassroots level technology
  transfer center in rural areas to disseminate
  information on cost effective and environment
  friendly building technology for
• Skill Upgradation Training
• Manufacturing Distribution
• Design Consultancy Services
• Develop appropriate technologies

Vertical Shaft Brick Kilns (VSBK) Technology
represents a very energy efficient and higher
quality method of firing bricks resulting in an
energy saving of 30 compared to BTK and more
than 50 compared to clamps.
(visit http//societyarts.tripod.com/04sshe/index.
html for details)
Slide 12
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IT-Enabled Services Center
SARI Project in Tamil Nadu
Combines ICT with native ingenuity and inherent
business skills in rural communities to create
new livelihoods opportunities and create new jobs
for local entrepreneurs.
TARAhaat.com is both, a horizontal and a vertical
portal (hence a Mother portal, or Mortal), with
an interactive and graphics-intensive interface,
which allows semi-literate and neo-literate users
enhanced access to products and services.
(visit http//societyarts.tripod.com/01sinf/index.
html for details)
Slide 13
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The Sustainability Index is a function of the
the four foundation elements (livelihoods,
energy, shelter and information). The index
provides a measure of sustainability, on the
basis of functionalities offered and maturity of
services provided.
Slide 14
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Village-based IT-Enabled Community Centers
(ITECCs)

• Provide a sustainable resource to demonstrate
  and disseminate appropriate and environment
  friendly technologies
• Opportunities for primary and adult education
  and capacity building
• Opportunities for rural people to find work in
  their own community, instead of migrating to the
  slums of a big city.

SUITABLY EQUIPPED AND STAFFED ITECCs ARE THE
IDEAL VILLAGE-BASED RESOURCE FOR
IMPLEMENTING SDC POLICIES AND
PROGRAMS.
Slide 15
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A typical village-based IT-Enabled Community
Center
Note A Deal Sheet for Social Entrepreneurs,
who may be interested in investing towards the
development of a typical village-based ITECC in
India, will be made available upon
request. mailto subra_at_engr.colostate.edu
Slide 16
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Typical Projects for TOTAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Sustainable Development
These are instances of livelihood projects that
are environmentally and economically viable and
sustainable.
Information Technology Center Telemedicine
Center Publications Center Internet
services Jingle production eBook
production Library
Renewable Energy Center Biomass Gasifier Power
Plant Energy Briquettes Solar Shop Biogas plant
accessories Biomass Gasifier Refrigerator (3TR)
Building Center VSBK Auroram (CEB) MCR Tiles FC
Doors Windows FC Channels
Training Education Center Hand made paper
products Silk screen printing unit Bamboo
handicrafts Jute handicrafts Sewing
handicrafts/toys Pottery items Food drying Energy
efficient chulhas Marine products
Slide 17
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The components of the Telemedicine Projectwhich
is not directly a part of any of the four basic
Sankalpa Pyramidal modelare briefly described in
the images in this slide, essentially to
demonstrate the superior services that are
planned.
Projects for TOTAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Focus on
Telemedicine
Note Details will be made available on request
Slide 18
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Projects for TOTAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (from
the previous slides)
TYPICAL BUDGET
Note Details will be made available on request
Slide 18
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The anthropomorphic human model of the ITECC
The Operating Model of the ITECC shown in the
next slide is based on the analogy of a human
being - and for emotive clarity, we have used
Leonardo Da Vincis famous sketch of a man as the
central motif - to model the operational
characteristics of the ITECC. The three-tiered
structure of the ITECC is defined on the right
side of the image, as (a) The Think Tank (b)
The Community and (c) The Center It has to be
understood by ALL members of the target rural
community, for a successful intervention. It
therefore has to translated into the local
language for maximizing its effectiveness.
Slide 19
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The anthropomorphic human model of the ITECC
Visionaries (The Head thinking ability) The
community elders and children, teachers, media,
business persons, NGOs and the Panchayat leaders,
who will design and formalize the rules for
running and operating the ITECC, sustainably.
The Center (The Legs motive power) The
community volunteers, NGO staff and academicians,
social workers and Visiting Fellows they
comprise (a) the Learning Center (LC) (left
leg) and (b) the Community Development Cell
(CDC) (right leg)
And as in any marching regimen, we have to lead
with the left first, followed by the right, and
so on, so that the entire body can move forward
otherwise, it will either topple or go out of
synchronism.
The Community (The Body denoting action) All
men and women of the community constitute the
right and left hands - to do the main work of
community building through participatory
approaches, and at the heart of the body are all
the children of the community - for they are the
future.
The left/right marching analogy explains that the
community must incrementally learn first and only
then implement the related community development
program, in a continuous cycle to achieve
sustainable community development.
Slide 20
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The anthropomorphic human model of the ITECC

• Key features of the Human Model
• The Visionaries determine the way the ITECC
  will function (a) governance (b) membership
  criteria (c) way to self-sustainability, (d)
  learning tools (e) development programs.
• The entire Community has to be mobilized and
  involved in the successful participatory
  functioning of the ITECC.
• The Center provides only the legs for carrying
  the community forward - first by learning what
  has to be done, and only when all the
  ramifications are understood, initiate the
  Community Development programs.

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We believe simplicity is the key to success
Sankalpa Sustainable Development Model
First, build a suitable ITECC in the target rural
community
and simply let the people of the village
community use the ITECC without any hindrance.
Children will study any subject of their choice
Women will choose their own path to empowerment
and environmentally sound.
People will choose their own preferred livelihood
option
that will be economically sustainable
Slide 22
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Labpur, in Birbhum, West Bengal, was the first
village that we studied. The first experimental
SDC was built at Santiniketan
We have now established our Sankalpa Research
Center at Village Baidyapur in Nadia, West
Bengal, where we shall continue our experiments
with sustainability
We have also worked in other districts in West
Bengal and Tamil Nadu
Slide 19
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Key Success Factors for rural ITECCs

• Easy to access and simple to use
• Provide educational programs that children can
  relate to and operate without supervision
• Convince women and girls that the ITECC offers
  real opportunities for their empowerment
• Convince the community that the neighborhood
  ITECC will provide the tools to solve their own
  problems, in their own way and at their pace.

A robust sustainable development program requires
transparency, participative management and
universal usability.
Slide 24
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Universal Usability for rural areas

• Universal usability design of village-based
  IT-enabled services involve not only an
  understanding of how users attempt to accomplish
  specific tasks, but also
• A detailed assessment of the socio-economic,
  sociocultural and sociotechnical factors that
  impact the penetration of ITES systems, as well
  as
• The externalities that apply to ITES systems.

Slide 25
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Sociotechnical concepts
Sociotechnical theory proposes that an ITES
system has both, technical and human/social
aspects that are tightly bound and interconnected.
Stresses the reciprocal interrelationship between
humans and machines, so that
efficiency and humanity would not
contradict each other.
Slide 26
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Sociotechnical factors for sustainability
Rather than individual elements, we need to study
these interconnections to enhance usability and
overall system performance.
Slide 27
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Expected results from village-based ITECCs

• Empower rural communities to eliminate any
  residual urge of villagers to migrate to the
  cities in search of a better life
• Attract people of rural origin who had once
  migrated to the cities, to return in droves, and
  thereby start a new revolution a sustainable
  one throughout the country.
• A robust SDC requires a focus on scientific
  management for success.

Slide 28
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Each intervention strategy requires its own
unique set of administrative processes and
scientific methodologies for success.
Sustainability requires control over these
administrative processes and scientific
methodologies
Slide 29
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CONCLUSIONS

• A vigorous participatory approach between
  target rural communities, educationists, rural
  business stakeholders, the media, NGOs and the
  local government / political administration is
  needed to implement a robust plan for sustainable
  rural development.
• Sustainability and universal usability
  requires, amongst other factors, an understanding
  of sociotechnical factors, and the
  institutionalization of scientific management
  practices and methodologies.
• Appropriate village-based IT-Enabled Community
  Centers promote sustainable development and
  livelihoods.

Slide 30
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