Manthan Awards: The Appetite Persists

Technology is critical, so is content for development and empowerment. The

digital divide is a stark reality, so is the need for delivery of content-based

products and services to fill in the gaps. Content innovation and creation is

pertinent, so is making it accessible, affordable and utilitarian. The spread of

technology is fundamental, and so is the medium and platform of content

delivery. These and many more were points of deliberations, debates and

appreciation during the Manthan-AIF Award 2006 event on India's best e-content

practices and Conference on 'e-Content & Sustainability', recently. 

Content: The Driving Force



The baseline of the annual event this year was that the ICT movement in

India and elsewhere shall remain a technology mystic and less tantalizing in the

absence of a clear cut edge in e-content creation, usage, delivery and utility.

Speakers threw light on various aspects and domains of the e-content subject

matter from vivid perspectives. The attempt was to drive home the point that

without content, all ICT efforts for development and empowerment shall be a

hollow exercise. No wonder then the issue forced Dr RA Mashelkar, director

general, CSIR to say: “Any ICT initiative cannot be stated to be great until

and unless it impacts the lives of the common man through quality and accessible

content delivery.”

“The award is a unique initiative in carrying forward the Information

Communication Technology movement in the country through the content route.

There are still so many things to be done to enable the common man to access

information and communication. Even if the RTI Act is a good instrument in this

direction, technology can be a great booster to further this mission,” said

Wajahat Habibullah, chief information commissioner of India.

Delivering her inaugural speech in the conference, Maxin Olson, UN resident

representative in India delved on various nuances of e-content. “I understand

content is the staple food to keep the soul and heart of ICT going. Without

supplying this staple diet in the right quantity, quality and in time, the

functioning of the ICT body for sustainability and growth is futile”.

For many, e-content relating to sustainability issues itself is a matter of

major leapfrog, where sustainability of any development is directly related to

how good the content and how well it is delivered using ICT tools and

application. According to RN Dash, secretary, Panchayati Raj, Orissa Government,

who was conferred the Manthan-AIF Award under the 'e-Inclusion and

Livelihood' category, “Poverty is directly proportional to the distance of

the poor from information”. The parallel sessions on various domains of

e-content across learning, education, livelihood, health, environment, rural

business, governance areas delved on issues ranging from network connectivity to

providing local solutions to local problems through localized e-content efforts.

The final outcome was a 'ten point' roadmap on as many as eight specific

categories of e-content, covering all vital segments of ICT application.

E is Empowerment



The message was clear. The vital stake for empowerment lies on how, what,

and for whom content is being prepared and rolled out for consumption and use.

Indeed the utility of any ICT intervention lies in its overwhelming and holistic

capacity to deliver and enable.

Certain issues emerged to the fore. The most obvious was whether ICT is

enabling its users to create content or not; whether ICT is empowering people to

create digital content, content which converts into economy and commerce, which

empowers the masses with information and knowledge and which enables the masses

to know their rights.

Revolving around content, the parallel sessions and their roadmaps focused on

the orchestrated need for key steps including bridging digital gaps across

communities, groups and content domains in learning, health, governance and so

on.

Innovation and Hard Work



The award also showcased hard work, diligence, quality and utilitarian value

vis-à-vis the emerging e-content practices in India. The winning and

appreciation list was a basket of creativity, sensibility, and sincerity in

digging out innovations. The event showcased the rich and innovative

creativities of e-content creators and their products that cut across 216 valid

nominations; 13 categories; 32 winners; five special mentions, and four

appreciations for community radio initiatives. Regional and cultural

representations were equally vivid-250 nominations from 24 states and Union

Territories and one from New York.

The award also churned out some interesting innovations and creations. The

computerized Braille transcription system developed by West Bengal-based Webel

Mediatronics (WML). The Kannada version of Logo, a programming language at the

school level to tap student potential and hone students skills. Then there was

Bhojpuria.com, that claims to be the world's first portal for Bhojpuri

speaking people. IndFauna, an electronic catalogue of known Indian fauna that

helps access baseline data of all Indian faunal resources at a single click of a

mouse. Another interesting project was the Prisons Management System (PMS)

solution developed by NIC, and implemented by the high profile Tihar Jail.

While Maharashtra, Delhi and Uttaranchal topped the list with 52, 31 and 13

nominations respectively, Nagaland, Pondicherry and Chandigarh had one

nomination each with the other states sharing the rest. This could mirror the

content movement churning in these states and their various ICT initiatives.

Category wise, e-Governance, e-inclusion and livelihood, e-learning,

e-education, were the top notch ones while e-health, e-news, e-entertainment and

a few others were the laggards.

The list of winners was interesting. e-governance had five winners, while

e-education had four and e-entertainment only one. Surprisingly, the jury

decided not to give any awards in the e-Science category due to lack of quality

work. State-wise, Maharashtra had the maximum of 11 winners. Kerala and

Pondicherry had one winner each, while states like Assam and West Bengal had two

winners each.

Equally apparent were the cultural and linguistic emergence of e-content

products and services. If the AnandaUtsav site in e-culture served its audiences

in both English and Bengali, the other picture is of Kannada Logo serving its

customers and users in the local Kannada language.

Taking a unique move, the Digital Empowerment Foundation chose to felicitate

the struggling yet unsuccessful community radio movement.

The Good News



Despite the inequitable spread of e-content across the states of India, the

overall trend seems to be pretty encouraging. And while there are miles to go

before India can boast of competing with the best in the world, the Manthan

Awards clearly indicated that things have started to change. Initiating,

operating and spearheading e-content practices and popularizing it need not be a

frustrating experience any longer. The good news is that there seems to be

growing demand in the country, including rural India, for ICT use and e-content

delivery that is just waiting to be explored and ploughed better for development

and empowerment needs.

Team DQ



maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in