Dear GKD Members, I would like to introduce myself, as this is my first message to GKD. I live in Mumbai, India and have 22 years experience writing technical documentation and promotional material; have supported new market launches and Phased Manufacturing Programmes for a wide number of industries, 12 years of which were spent as a (employee + contracted tenures) marketing and projects executive. Have worked abreast with evolving information systems and technologies since 1979, though about exclusively for the IT industry since 1998. Am an electrical (energy systems) engineer, studied Cybernetic Management Strategy applied to growth of businesses through an Advance Diploma in Management from the Wolfgang Mewes Verlag of Frankfurt, Germany which enables analysis and strategy formulation - esp. business growth by information strategy. Have extensive exposure to all areas of corporate communications - as copywriter and communications consultant. In addition, I take a keen interest in all issues related to economic development, especially energy, environment and technology. I am likewise an observer, subscriber or participant in relevant fora of bodies like Exnora <www.exnora.org> Save Chennai Environment, the Hawking Communicator Project <www.radiophony.com> and Society for Clean Environment <www.socleen.org>, as well as the Simputer list.
I would like to share with you this information about the Information Village Project, of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, which I drew from the Drumbeat page at the Communication Initiative site: http://www.comminit.com/pds11-2001/sld-3357.html. Best regards, Udit Chaudhuri -------------------------------------- Information Village Project - India Summary The Information Village Project, of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, linked ten villages near Pondicherry, India with computers, providing information on such aspects as health, crops, weather, and fishing conditions. These new technology tools are empowering everyone with knowledge and opportunity by an inclusive use of local languages and a multimedia format that allows all to participate. Main Communication Strategies The Information Village Project has connected the villages by a hybrid wired and wireless network-consisting of PCs, telephones, VHF duplex radio devices and email connectivity through dial-up telephone lines - that facilitates both voice and data transfer, and have enabled the villagers to get information that they need and can use. The entire project draws its sustenance from the holistic philosophy of Swaminathan, which emphasises an integrated pro-poor, pro-women, pro-Nature orientation to development and community ownership of technological tools against personal or family ownership, and encourages collective action for spread of technology. The bottom up exercise involves local volunteers to gather information, feed it into an Intranet and provide access through nodes in different villages. Value addition to the raw information, use of the local language (Tamil) and multimedia (to facilitate illiterate users) and participation by local people right from the beginning are the noteworthy features of the project. Most of the operators and volunteers providing primary information are women, thus giving them status and influence. All centres came up because of demands made by the community. Information provided in the village knowledge centres is locale specific and relates to prices of agricultural inputs (such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides) and outputs (rice, vegetables), market (potential for export), entitlement (the multitude of schemes of the central and state governments, banks), health care (availability of doctors and paramedics in nearby hospitals, women's diseases), cattle diseases, transport (road conditions, cancellation of bus trips), weather (appropriate time for sowing, areas of abundant fish catch, wave heights in the sea), etc. Unique to the project is the fact that most information is collected and fed in by the local community itself. The centres are operated by local volunteers. Development Issues Technology, Economic Development, Rights Key Points In most villages, there are no telephone lines and there are frequent power breakdowns. The project uses hybrid wired and wireless communication links using telephones at one end and Motorola VHF dupleix devices at the other, and by using solar power in conjunction with the mains. In a caste-based society, it is not easy to spread an egaliterian ethos. The project was able to gain working space for the village information centres from a Panchayat (local government) office, a private individual's home and even a temple. They were able to overcome the temple' normal rules and allow Dalit (lowest caste) people and women in their monthly periods to enter and use the informtion centre located in the temple. MSSRF won the Stockholm Challenge Award in 2001 for this project. Partners IDRC, Ottawa, Canada; Government of Pondicherry. Source MSSRF's Stockholm Challenge Award application and a letter sent from MSSRF to The Communication Initiative 10/18/01. For more information, contact: M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Third Cross Street, Taramani Institutional Area, CHENNAI 600 113, India. [1] Prof. P C Kesavan, Executive Director, MSSRF. Phone: 91-44-2541229; Fax: 91 442541319; [EMAIL PROTECTED], and [2] Mr S Senthilkumaran, Associate Director, Informatics, MSSRF. Phone: 91 44 2542791; Fax: 91 44 2541319; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------ ***GKD is an initiative of the Global Knowledge Partnership*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.globalknowledge.org>
