India ICT event focuses on innovations for change
Over 4,000 delegates gathered at a three-day international conference and exhibition eINDIA 2008 held in New Delhi from July 29-31 to share knowledge in different domains of ICT for development. In a major announcement Indian minister said the government was well on track to introduce a 10-dollar laptop.
New Delhi: India’s largest Information Communication Technology event, eINDIA 2008 came to an end on July 31.
This three-day international conference and exhibition held in New Delhi from July 29-31 provided a unique platform for knowledge sharing in different domains of ICT for development to 125 exhibitors and sponsors.
About 4,000 delegates including ICTD experts, business leaders and other stakeholders participated in the event.
Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari had surprised everyone when she announced at the inaugural that the government was well on track to develop the world’s cheapest laptop computer, the cost of which would be as low as US$ 10 – Rs 400 or thereabouts.
If that happens One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s scheme is likely to go for a toss. Research on the world’s cheapest laptop is presently on in Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai.
Returns on PPP
One of the sessions in the e-Agriculture track focused on the role of public private partnership (PPP). Moderated by Michael Riggs of FAO, Asia-Pacific regional office, the discussion was an interesting mix of viewpoints from the government, corporate and non-profit.
While there was a general agreement on the view that farmers are willing to pay for relevant and timely knowledge, there were questions on how to make PPP models more realistic and rational in the face of such demand driven information.
Panelists felt it was critical to study business models at the outset to understand the “cost of access” to information.
A successful multi-stakeholder partnership also needs a common vision and goal, felt Naimur Rahman, Director of OneWorld South Asia, an NGO that works with ICTs to build information and communication opportunities at the grassroots.
“This needs to be matched by the complementary skills and competencies of the partners,” he added.
“It’s a question of who does what best,” stressed Manish Pandey, of Katalyst, one of the largest projects in Dhaka, Bangladesh, that works in the field of SME promotion.
As the discussion shifted to the subject of the ‘private’ and its profit rider, panelists observed that corporates were now interested in ‘returns’.
“This is also a way to do responsible business and not mere profiteering,” said Rahman, referring to LifeLines, a successful knowledge-based helpline service run by OneWorld South Asia for farmers and teachers in six states of India.
“In LifeLines, we are involved in accessing the social returns on investment,” added Rahman.
The session concluded with a call from the audience and panelists alike to create models of PPP from isolated cases of good practice and underlined the role of farmers and intermediaries for more inclusive MSPs.
Vision for transforming education
Terry Culver, Executive Director, Global Nomads Group, USA, likened the initial opposition to use of ICT in various fields to the early 19th century Luddite movement in England, supporters of which protested against the industrial revolution often by destroying the mechanised looms. Dismissing such an approach, Culver emphasised on the need for “harnessing innovation for positive change.”
V.N. Rajashekhran Pillai, Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), said that over the past decade India had emerged a top force in the world of information technology and that the country would be in need of 600,000 trained graduates in this area in next three years.
He strongly advocated the promotion of discipline-based pedagogy and for that “we need to develop a new model for curriculum.”
In a country where dropout rate of students is over 80%, there is a need for making classrooms more democratic so as to improve the retention rate. “Put the teachers aside and let students learn from each other,” said Shantanu Prakash, Chief Executive Officer, Educomp Solutions Ltd.
In the session: “Towards Building a National Policy on ICTs in School Education”, Anita Karwal, Secretary Primary Education, Government of Gujarat, said that each and every aspect of education should be included in the ICT policy.
She emphasised that to achieve the maximum result the three elements of ‘access, equity and quality’ had to be taken into account.
Ram Sevak Sharma, Principal Secretary, Government of Jharkhand, described the problems of his state where infrastructure remained a problem and where the shortage of teachers made the administration rely heavily on untrained para-teachers. He reminded that in a state where such basic issues remained unaddressed, ICTs could not be an ultimate panacea for all the ills that India’s education system was afflicted with.
Vasudha Kamath, Joint Director, Central Institute of Educational Technology, National Council of Educational Research and Training, was cautiously optimistic, when she said: “ICT will change the way we think, the way we pursue knowledge.” She, however, agreed that it would not solve everything.
Dr M.M. Pant, former Pro-Vice Chancellor, IGNOU, however, differed and said that of all the technologies available, ICT was the only one that has the potential for transforming India’s education system.
The event was a facilitator for a multi-stakeholder partnership as well as professional networking among governments, industry, academia and civil society organisations of different countries.
As many as 400 speakers spoke on diverse topics spread over seven parallel tracks on eGov, digitalLearning, eHealth, mServe, Telecentre Forum, eAgriculture and Municipal IT in 60 thematic sessions, providing an excellent opportunity for participants to interact with an assorted community of development practitioners.
