Impact of ICT on Poverty Alleviation in Rural Pondicherry (India)

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Anne Louiseize
Impact of ICT on Poverty Alleviation in Rural Pondicherry
(India)
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Répertoire des projets du CRDI
sur les TIC-D
Recherche avancée
Project Leader: S. Senthilkumaran
Institution: M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
Region: India
Start Date: 10/2004
Project Details
WSIS Action Lines: 2, 3, 4, 7, 9
Sign announcing the launch of the
project’s third phase
“What a difference five years can make. In that time, a project to bring the Information Age
to villagers in southern India has… given 50 000 "information shop" users in a dozen
communities high-speed wireless telephone and Internet access. It has also helped improve
more traditional Indian communication methods, such as public loudspeaker networks and
community newspapers.”
Keane J. Shore, journalist
ID : 9661
Ajouté le : 2002-09-13 11:11
Mis à jour le : 2005-09-12 17:39
Refreshed: 2008-07-24 05:44
Context: Why is this project important?
Pan Asia’s collaboration with MSSRF began in 1997 via a project entitled "Impact of Information Technology in Rural Areas".
Seven village knowledge centres (VKCs) were created in rural Pondicherry, in order to provide rural communities with access to
Internet and training on ICTs. Research results showed that these VKCs had made a significantly positive impact on the lives of
the villagers. Subsequently in 2001, IDRC approved the second phase of the project, "Impact of ICTs in Rural Areas," in order to
bring better connectivity to the villages, and to assess the potential sustainability of the project.
In the past few years, many new digital opportunities have emerged in the form of robust, low-cost technologies, as well as in the
form of new ICT applications appropriate for rural areas. MSSRF’s projects, having already established a successful, wellorganized network of VKCs, complete with the infrastructure, local content, and human resources that have sustained them over
the past eight years, is eager to test these new technologies.
The Project: How does this initiative address the development problem?
The goal of Phase III of this project is to ascertain whether new, innovative ICTs can bring better economic sustainability to the
existing project, while at the same time, contribute to further improvements in the education and health sector. ICTs are being
assessed systematically through surveys, interviews, and participatory rural appraisal techniques to determine their effectiveness
in poverty alleviation in rural Pondicherry. Specifically, this project utilizes and assess the following technologies: wireless
fidelity (WiFi); 2.5G mobile technology (includes mobile telephones enabled to transmit data via General Packet Radio Service);
Global Positioning System (GPS) for fisherpeople to improve knowledge of fishing zones and potential ocean hazards; Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for low-cost long distance voice communication; and RailTel, a village network backbone via the
Government of India-backed broadband network across India’s railway networks.
Having successfully researched and demonstrated the benefit of ICTs for poor rural communities since 1998, the MSSRF held a
Policy Makers Workshop on October 2003 with the intention of disseminating the knowledge that have been gained to the key
policy makers in the national and state-level governments. On July 9-10, 2004, a second Policy Makers Workshop took place in
Delhi. The workshop officially launched the concept of the National Alliance for Mission 2007 - a national movement to enable
up to 600,000 villages in India to be empowered through rural knowledge centres. Year 2007 was selected as a target to coincide
with India’s 60th anniversary of independence.
Objectives:
To support MSSRF’s research program for assessing the impact of ICTs on poverty reduction in the rural areas of India. This
research program will be an integral part of the new MSSRF initiative called the National Virtual Academy for Food Security and
Rural Prosperity. More specifically, the project aims to:
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Test different new, innovative ICTs, which can be used in the villages, including Direct PC, Cell phone with General
Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Internet and Cable Radio, and other forms of ICTs as they become available
Develop and test new rural applications such as Farm and Fisheries Management Electronic Pocket Book for rural
knowledge centre villages; test the use of village knowledge centres as a focal point for creating ICT-based income
generating activities; test an Integrated Health System for Rural Community; and test Assisted Learning Centres for Rural
Children in order to assess their impact on children’s education
Create local content relevant to local needs and in local language, including assessing the benefits and usefulness of
multimedia Indigenous Knowledge directory for UT of Pondicherry, and a local language Web Site (in Tamil) for Food
Security and Rural Prosperity
Promote the use of open source software among the rural community as an economically viable alternative to commercial
software
Train women and men as knowledge managers, including at least 50% women
Demonstrate the Power of Partnership (in a multi-cultural country of continental dimensions)
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Disseminate research findings from the project with an emphasis on the policy-makers
Development Impact
The impacts of Phase I and Phase II of this project are available on their respective web pages. As this phase has just recently
started, its development impact cannot be assessed at this time.
Outputs
Websites:
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
Mission 2007
Awards:
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Motorola Dispatch Solution Gold Award 1999
Stockholm Challenge Award 2001 under the Global Village Category
CD ROMs:
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“Reaching the Unreached: Empowering the Rural Poor through Improved Access to Information”
“Rural Knowledge Centres – Reaching the Unreached”
“South-South Exchange on ICT-enabled Development – A Travelling Workshop.” Oct. 21-28, 2002.
“Sustainable Livelihoods for All – The Micro Enterprise cum Micro Credit Revolution”
Newspaper Articles:
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Pandit, Ambika. "Tsunami villages reach out, via ICT." The Times of India. July 11, 2005.
“Massive tsunami relief showcased power of global ties.” The Hindu. May 14, 2005. p. 8.
Warrier, S. Gopikrishna. “Folk tales that make a difference.” The Hindu. May 29, 2002. Business Line p. 1.
Ramakrishnan, Deepa H. “Global Village wins Stockholm Challenge Award.” News Today. Sept. 28, 2001.
“Taking science to children in slums.” The New Indian Express. Jan. 18, 2001.
“Give ethical push to technological pull.” The Hindu. Jan. 18, 2001.
Dugger, Celia W. “In India, Computers Become a Tool in Village Life.” International Herald Tribune. May 29, 2000. p. 6.
Dugger, Celia W. “Connecting Rural India to the World.” The New York Times. May 28, 2000, p. 10. Abstract available
online: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?
res=F00F15FD35590C7B8EDDAC0894D8404482&incamp=archive:search
Dinakar, Akila. “Now online access for poor farmers.” The New Indian Express. March 7, 2000.
Venugopal, K. “Computers in farm land.” The Hindu. Feb. 22, 2000.
Cohn, Martin. “Canadian program helps cast information net over India`s poor.” The Toronto Star. Jan. 1, 2000.
Kumar, G. Pramod. “Snatches of a Wired Rural Society.” The Hindu. Sept. 7, 1999. Business Line p. 5.
Ramamoorthy, Ganesh. “Reaping rich harvest with information technology.” The Times of India. Jan. 18, 1999. p. 16.
Journal and Magazine Articles:
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Kenny, Charles. (2005). "Behind the Digital Divide." Economist. March 12, Vol. 374, Issue 8417, Special Section p22.
Abstract available online: http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&an=16392426
MSSRF. (2005). "Life beyond tsunami: Recommendations for Rehabilitation from MSSRF." Information for Development
(i4d). vol. III, no. 1. January 2005. p. 31-34.
Yoon, Chin Saik. (2004). “Public address system at the PAN-supported telecentre in India saves scores of Indian villagers
from tsunami” Digital Review of the Asia Pacific. Malaysia.
Sharma, Geeta. (2004). "Every village a knowledge centre." Information for Development (i4d). vol. II, no. 9, September
2004. p. 28-31.
Senthilkumaran, S. and Arunachalalm, S. “Harvesting Networks.” Times Agriculture Journal. Jan-Feb 2004. p. 16-19.
Shore, Keane J. “Work in Progress – Rural Pondicherry’s Wireless Internet.” IDRC Reports. Nov. 17, 2003.
Le Page, Michael. “The Web’s the way to catch a fish or arrange a marriage.” New Scientist. May 4, 2002. vol. 174, iss.
2341, p. 44. Abstract available online: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg17423415.200
Piraud, Catherine. “Pondichéry sur la route due Web.” Web Magazine. p. 136-141
Balasubramanian, K., et al. (2001). “Netting the knowledge and fishing the benefits - A Case Study of the Perception of a
Fishing Community Towards its Knowledge Centre.” Chennai: MSSRF.
Biswas, Soutik. “Digital Empowerment - Seeds of E-volution.” Outlook. April 9, 2001. p. 56-64.
Lemarchand, Fabienne. “M.S. Swaminathan: pour une seconde révolution verte.” La Recherche. Mars 2001. p. 103-105.
Balaji, V., et al. “Toward a Knowledge System for Sustainable Food Security – The information village experiment in
Pondicherry.” On The Internet. Fall/Winter 2000. p. 32-37.
Noronha, Frederick. “How the common man benefits.” Humanscape. June 2000.
“Internet reaches rural poor.” Appropriate Technology. March 2000, Vol. 27, no. 1, p. 8-11
Burkhart, Grey E., et al. “The Internet in India: Better Times Ahead?” Communications of the ACM. Nov. 1998, vol. 41,
no. 11, p. 21-26.
Asendorpf, Dirk. (1997). “Internet und dritte Welt: Interview mit Subbiah Arunachalam vom Indian Institute of
Technology.” (Interview with Subbiah Arunachalam from the Institute of Technology). Die Zeit. Fall/Winter 1997.
Papers:
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Arunachalam, Subbiah. “Reaching the unreached: What role can ICTs play in rural development?” Media Lab Asia, New
Delhi. (paper presented at the Asian Regional Conference of UN ICT Task Force on April 25, 2002)
Pamphlets:
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“Harnessing the tools of the Space Age for Rural Transformation”
“MSSRF-TATA Virtual Academy for Food Security and Rural Prosperity – Bridging the growing divide between scientific
know-how and field-level do-how”
“Rural Knowledge Centres – Reaching the Unreached”
Toolkits:
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Coastal Biovillage Toolkit
Toolkit for setting up Rural Knowledge Centres
Key Words*
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY | TELECOMMUNICATIONS | INTERNET | COMMUNITY FACILITIES | RURAL
DEVELOPMENT
* All terms are drawn from the OECD Macrothesaurus 1998.
Nouvelle(s)
Introduction d'Internet dans les régions rurales de l'Inde 1999-11-05
Grâce à un projet pilote de téléphonie communautaire et d'accès à Internet, des collectivités rurales de l'Inde entrent de plain-pied
dans l'ère de l'information. À la suite des expériences menées dans une demi-douzaine de boutiques informatiques dans la région
de Pondichéry, dans le sud de l'Inde, 12 autres villages ont demandé à avoir leur propre boutique, si on pouvait recueillir les fonds
nécessaires.
livre
Ninth annual report
1999
Document(s)
Evaluation Report 2004-04-01
ouvrir le fichier
site web
Impact of Info Technology in Rural Areas - India
Institution: M S Swaminathan Research Foundation * This project won The Stockholm Challenge Award for 2001
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