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Where Has the Abundance Gone?

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DQI Bureau
New Update

Osama Manzar

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Among

the thousands of Indian websites visited by millions of people, is there any

single  website without which, we in India, cannot start, spend or end our

day? This question is critical in understanding the state of Internet businesses

in the country. Or ask the same question again–is there any Indian Web

information services center which:

  • Offers as critical information or

    service or ease of accessibility any deliverable, which you can depend on

    for day day-to-day needs?

  • Has been successful enough to

    become a daily habit, without which you suffer withdrawal symptoms?

  • Proffers such incredibly

    authentic and niche information that you are forced to return to it again

    and again before taking any corporate decision?

Before you answer this question, ponder over the fact that 1-800-flowers.com

promises to deliver anything you buy from it within 24 hours in any part of the

US; but India’s leading portal Rediff.com promises to deliver you within three

business days–and that within Mumbai! In this context, if the answer to the

above questions is ‘No’, then how could one convince oneself that any

website can become a revenue-generation Web corporation overnight?

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There could be an argument that the Web makes many things possible, things

that were earlier not even thinkable. But for these "possibilities" to

crystallize, think also of the fact that the Internet is not yet a medium of

communication for over 99% of more than a billion Indians. It is, therefore,

important for the Internet entrepreneur community to indulge in some

introspection, take the medium to the masses and create real value in the

Internet as a media, business and technology platform to make it more meaningful

to masses as well as businesses.

Some of these possibilities are already showing up in sectors like B2B,

business-to-employees, government-to-consumers, e-learning, citizen-to-state, as

well as in the realm of convergence between media and businesses. And despite

the US slowdown, Internet businesses do have an optimistic outlook. Much of this

optimism will start yielding revenues soon after Internet-users in India reach a

critical mass–even a moderate 50 million. Amidst the dot-com debris, a ray of

hope is surely there for any serious Netpreneur conducting business–and not

the business of valuations.

In order for businesses and people to create value and wealth, the task is to

leverage three ingredients of the Internet–medium, message and technology.

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Medium: Investments should be made by both private companies and

governments to increase Internet penetration geometrically. Education majors

like NIIT and Aptech can play a critical role should they decide to incorporate

a cyber-café stream in their centers across India.

Message: Unless the message on the Internet is local, Internet will

not be of relevance to a large section of people living in the countryside and

speaking different languages. Content will go a long way in familiarizing the

Internet to the people who matter. Technology companies and content creators

have a critical role to play.

Technology: Technology has ditched us the most and isn’t available

even in major Indian languages. In order to make the Internet meaningful for

teashops and the common Indian, PCs must function in the local language of

choice. We need a major thrust in making operating systems and Internet browsers

available in native languages. Indian technology companies can fill the void

created by the dominance of Microsoft.

There is an immense need for localizing the Internet. Only this will create

value and wealth for Netpreneurs as well as the large mass of Indians.

Osama Manzar is editor-in-chief of Inomy.com

and runs a knowledge technology enterprise called 4Cplus

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