Bridging the Digital Divide

Perhaps the most incisive industry comment on the unexpected turn of events
that led to a new government in power came from one of my manufacturing industry
CEO friends when he said, "You IT guys are lucky, the new government will
stay away from involvement in IT and leave you guys alone to succeed while they
slow down privatization, labor reforms, VAT and all good things that we were
expecting to see happen to boost the manufacturing sector."

Possibly overtly critical, but food for thought as we ponder over what the
future holds for all of us. Vir Sanghvi, columnist extraordinaire, wrote
immediately after the election that one reason the BJP met its comeuppance was
the tendency to take undue credit for all the good that happened — the
software industry and the cricket team's successes were two of those he
mentioned. Be that as it may, it is a fact that this industry has grown to its
present position of preeminence with little or no government focus except to
provide good infrastructure and a conducive taxation environment. There is no
reason to expect that the wise men in the new cabinet will do anything to rock
the boat, though one can expect to see some "IT for the masses"
initiatives to be spoken about. And that would certainly be a good thing,
because a new boost for e-government initiatives will need all the budgetary
support possible to ensure that the benefits of technology extend to the common
man.

A nationwide focus on this theme is required, spearheaded by the young
brigade in the new Parliament. There is already a not insignificant repository
of successes , many of which have been showcased by the three conferences that
have been held in Baramati by the VIIT and Seattle based Digital Partners. The
corporate experiments of e-Chaupal and micro credit have been written about in
this column ( refer the column on "Laptop Gowdas" ) but what is
required is a much more far reaching experimentation on the lines of the Sam
Pitroda Technology missions of yesteryear. A true "IT for India"
mission could and should include at least the following 5-point agenda:

n The procurement and
installation of sub-10-K cost PCs (simputers?) in every panchayat and taluka
connected on a nation-wide network supported by state and central hubs

n The development of software in
local languages that provides useful information and advice on crop planning ,
family health, education and finance on a kiosk operated by a trained consumer
friendly local facilitator

n Availability of programs,
ideally through network broadcasts, but also achievable through well designed CD
ROMs to provide basic education to all ages and both genders on topics useful
for day-to-day work and life

n Design of infotainment packages
that can contain education and information packaged in a user-friendly format
(remember the early experiments of Zee Education's A to Z computer education
that caught the imagination of tens of thousands in a way that DD's boring
countrywide classroom never managed)

n Linkage to e-Governance
initiatives to provide ease of interaction with local and state government
departments on a variety of issues relevant to the common man.

None of these need any revolutionary ideas or money—industry could
participate in providing both the know-how and do-how, the tons of courseware
available with academic institutions could be redesigned for the new format and
the vast network of fiber optics, that is being installed alongside the railway
network of the country, would find a killer application that justifies the
investments while doing significant good for the masses. Millions of urban youth
could be mobilized to provide the initial impetus if it is led by a credible
professional politician and handled with genuine sincerity and commitment. It is
not inconceivable that the Israeli model of every young man, spending a year or
more in the Army, could be adapted to engage college leavers in a new war-on
rural poverty and the digital divide. Will the new government take up such
challenges—only time will tell !

The author is deputy chairman & managing director of Zensar Technologies
and chairman of Nasscom's SME Forum for Western India Ganesh
Natarajan