Off the Beaten Track: Bringing Relevant Technology to Rural Areas

Off the Beaten Track: Bringing Relevant Technology to Rural Areas
Agricultural workers in China climb aboard high-tech InfoWagons as Microsoft launches rural-computing pilot programs in China and India intended to fuel social and economic empowerment for the world’s underserved populations.

ZHENGZHOU, China,(rushprnews) April 23, 2007 – Today in Henan province, Chinese government officials take ownership of two “InfoWagons” designed to open up new avenues of digital literacy for rural citizens.

At a small village at Luohe, Henan Province in Central China, Will Poole, corporate vice president at Microsoft, participated in a rollout ceremony marking the delivery of two of six InfoWagons donated by Microsoft as part of an innovative rural computing pilot program. The high-tech buses — each outfitted with 15 student PCs and one instructor PC — will serve as computer training centers on wheels as they circulate to rural villages throughout one of China’s most populous province.

Poole and other Microsoft executives also attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch the Integrated Information Training Center at Luohe township.

A relatively underdeveloped and primarily agricultural province, Henan is identified by Microsoft and MII as well-suited to a rural computing general services pilot program. The overall goal of Microsoft’s rural computing programs is to empower people by introducing them to the benefits of information and communications technology (ICT). The effort is central to Microsoft’s global rural computing vision and comes under the umbrella of Microsoft Unlimited Potential, an initiative that reflects the company’s commitment to promote sustained social and economic opportunity for the estimated 5 billion people worldwide who are underserved by technology.

“The entire IT industry agrees that technology access and affordability in the rural computing space is required, but relevance is an equally important consideration,” Poole says. “We, as an industry, need to work together to provide technology that has real application and usefulness in people’s lives. For example, delivering services that people find relevant for agriculture, healthcare, education and skills training, will help to address the unique needs of rural communities.”

Microsoft is working with China’s MII and the provincial governments to extend the benefits of technology to rural populations. Leading the drive are the six InfoWagons equipped with desktop PCs and IT tutors. To deliver services relevant to Chinese farmers and their families, the proposed InfoWagon pilot applications target real-life scenarios accruing to home, work and community. The concept includes PC@home to deliver healthcare information, entertainment and education; PC@work, which focuses on information browsing related to agriculture, crop prices and supply chain management; and PC@community, which focuses on an Information Center for computer training, information search, e-government and e-commerce experiences with the intention of improving the connection of China’s rural farmers with the global marketplace and the government.

Deployed initially in Henan and later expanding into the four additional provinces, the roving InfoWagons will give rural villagers the opportunity to experience and learn basic PC skills. Microsoft estimates that as many as 8,000 people will get trained this way by the end of 2007. Within five years, the InfoWagons are expected to reach 6,000 villages and bring digital literacy to 150,000 people.

To help sustain the digital literacy efforts initiated by the InfoWagon program, Microsoft plans to establish a permanent Integrated Information Training Center (IITC) in Henan. Also as follow-up, Microsoft plans to create a social computing environment in which wealthier farmers in dozens of villages agree to host donated computers in their homes and make them available for other farmers and community members to use.

Furthering Rural Information Efforts in China

Microsoft has also teamed up with partners in Shandong province on another endeavor to promote technology access for rural residents of China. Called the Shandong Rural Worker’s PC Program, the effort is part of the global Microsoft Partnerships for Technology Access (PTA) initiative. The Rural Worker’s PC Program, which is the first PTA in China, links Microsoft China and Shandong’s provincial government, the Department of Information Industry (DII), along with Intel Corp., Chinese PC manufacturer Haier and local broadband provider ChinaNetCom.

As with other Microsoft PTA projects implemented around the world, the Shandong Rural Worker’s PC Program is tailored around a government priority to improve the delivery of services using technology. PTA programs typically combine the know-how and resources of governments, technology companies, banks and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to help increase access to PCs and use technology to build economic and social opportunity within developing economies.

In support of the government’s commitment to a more “harmonious society” across the rural-urban divide, and as part of Microsoft’s Partnerships for Technology Access (PTA) initiative, Microsoft formed a public-private partnership (PPP) with the government of Shandong province, ChinaNetCom (CNC), Haier, and Intel to put a PC purchase within reach of rural workers. To make the PC relevant, as well as affordable, the Shandong Rural Worker’s PC Program is designed around four modules of applications relevant to farmers – farming activity, education, health, and entertainment. This effort is complementary to the government’s service transformation initiative to better serve farmers through e-government. To enable e-government, farmers need technology access and targeted services that will make technology adoption worth their while.

The stations are also designed to be self-sustaining models that benefit the rural communities that host them, while also providing retail or catalog outlets for the partners Haier and ChinaNetCom. The retail enhanced business model allows partners to provide technology solutions at a free or discounted cost to the government, who then offers the PC usage for free to the community.

Applications packaged on the PCs will focus on the four key areas identified as most user-relevant: agricultural production, such as giving rural workers access to online market information, crop pricing and government regulatory information; entertainment, such as movies and photo albums; access to healthcare resources and information; and access to educational content available on the Web.

Enabling Access to Basic Needs and Growth Opportunities in Rural India

Bipin Mishra, a kiosk operator in rural Madhubani, Bihar State, India, facilitating a videoconferencing session for Lalita Devi with a doctor in the city of Patna, India. March 2007
Bipin Mishra, a kiosk operator in rural Madhubani, Bihar State, India, facilitating a videoconferencing session for Lalita Devi with a doctor in the city of Patna, India. March 2007
Click image for high-res version.

In India, Microsoft’s efforts to empower digitally disenfranchised rural populations include teaming up with an industry partner, Drishtee Dot Com Ltd., to implement pilot programs addressing e-commerce and e-health, and small scale business process outsourcing needs.

The e-commerce program, is a grass-roots effort that aims to provide global market linkages and a transparent, fair distribution channel to poor rural artisans with ICT intervention. The primary component of the project is a Web-based marketplace (http://www.drishteehaat.com/) where creations by rural artisans (paintings, cloth embroidery, bamboo crafts, etc.) are showcased. Customers can browse the wares online, place orders and even request custom merchandise. Artisans access ICT kiosks in their villages to add product information to the portal and collect customer requirements. Some success has been demonstrated – artisans have experienced a 35-percent increase in income as well as greater process transparency, with final payment within 15 days of customers making a payment, as opposed to four months in the conventional distribution chain. Artisans also express a greater degree of comfort with and trust in the system.

Bachcho Devi of Jitwarpur village explains: “I have been painting for the last 40 years. But I have never received so many orders within such a short period as I have done since I registered with Drishtee. In two months, I sold 12 paintings and earned 10,000 rupees. I have never been able to earn such a big amount within 60 days before.”

“We’re proud to be middlemen, but we’re passing on information along with the product,” explains Satyan Mishra, managing director at Drishtee. “Our survey revealed that if a painting was being bought for 1,000 rupees in Delhi or the U.S., excluding freight cost, then the artist was only 100 rupees for it. Now if a painting is sold for1,000 to 1,200 rupees,then the artist gets at least 250-300, so we’ve added a substantial value to their work.”

Meanwhile, an e-health pilot program that Microsoft has undertaken, again in partnership with Drishtee, aims to provide an affordable, reliable healthcare alternative for rural communities in India. To address the lack of doctors in the villages — and the time and cost associated with traveling to a primary healthcare center — the telemedicine program provides medical assessments and counseling at ICT kiosks, through videoconferencing sessions with doctors. This is supported by linkages with a network of rural healthcare centers and district hospitals. The community thus has the option of first-level interaction with a genuine, qualified doctor within walking distance of their homes.

The kiosks at the front end of this system are equipped with a remote diagnostics kit for monitoring patient vital signs, such as temperature, blood pressure and cardiac health. These readings are then transmitted in real time to a doctor in a different location. The application built into the kit also enables storage of the patient information at a secure, centralized server, and enables the patient-doctor videoconferencing, which is currently being tested. In the future, testing of the videoconferencing tool may also extend to effective doctor-to-doctor interaction. For example, a primary-care doctor who conducts mobile health camps in villages could use the system to link up with a specialist for further consultation.

A doctor at a clinic in Patna, Bihar State, India talking to patients in remote villages. March 2007.
A doctor at a clinic in Patna, Bihar State, India talking to patients in remote villages. March 2007.
Click image for high-res version

A third type of Microsoft pilot program deployed in India is rural business process outsourcing (BPO), an initiative that aims to increase job opportunities and improve skill development. This initiative works towards setting up ICT kiosks in rural areas. These kiosks provide employment and skill-building opportunities for the local population. The kiosks offer services (such as data entry, data management, content localization, and engineering drawing) to companies located in urban areas at lower costs, with quality levels equivalent to similar service offerings in towns. Further benefits to urban industry include access to an untapped workforce with lower rates of attrition and multilingual capabilities. For the rural community, these centers provide earning opportunity along with learning and capacity building, particularly for local youth and women.

The Rural BPO initiative in India is led by the TeNet (Telecommunications and Computer Networking) group at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, (IIT-M) in Chennai with ideation and concept development participation by Microsoft.

Microsoft also supports digital inclusion in India through an innovative multi-party research project called Digital StudyHall. A collaborative effort supported by Microsoft Research India, Digital StudyHall seeks to improve education in low-income areas by establishing a low-cost infrastructure for sharing user-generated video. Digital StudyHall is building an extensive digital video database of K-12 materials generated through grassroots contributions. Simultaneously, education experts and teachers are exploring pedagogical approaches in which local teachers actively mediate the video lessons. Project supporters hope this community participation model will help train better teachers while delivering high-quality instruction to underprivileged children.

Digital StudyHall has deployed pilot “hubs” in three cities in India, and the digital video database currently includes 550 high-quality recordings of lessons in English, math and science spanning five languages. The research project shows promising change and is expected to be expanded to two additional countries over the next year.

Scalable, sustainable approaches to shared access and delivery of ICT

Microsoft’s commitment to create sustainable ICT access for underserved populations also spans a range of work in the area of telecenters — shared-access sites where public computers are made available on a no-charge or low-cost basis and provide additional services. Telecenters can be configured as community centers, learning centers or business centers, providing places where people can meet, communicate, learn new skills, get an online degree or access other relevant information resources.

Microsoft recognizes that the need for telecenters is greatest in underserved and rural communities. In India, for example, 70 percent of the population resides in rural areas, and an estimated 90 percent of the country’s labor force remains trapped in low-productivity, informal-sector jobs, according to the May 2002, People’s Daily News. In China, 61 percent of the population resides in rural areas as sited in the Worldbank India Country Overview 2006. The need for ICT access also extends to general rural areas and underserved communities in urban areas. For example, even people living in rural areas of the United States or Western Europe may need to travel half a day to access basic healthcare such as primary diagnostics and preventive medical advice.

To help alleviate such problems in developing as well as developed countries, Microsoft works with various governments and telecenter networks worldwide in an advisory role and technology provider capacity to collaborate on creating sustainable, scalable approaches to shared access. One recent effort is “Making the Connection: Scaling Telecentres for Development,” a resource guide targeted to governments, entrepreneurs and private-sector and community leaders. The book — a collaboration between the Academy for Educational Development, telecentre.org and Microsoft — provides a set of frameworks, best practices and case studies to guide telecenter development and helps organize the collective thinking that has accompanied the telecenter movement. Intended as a catalyst for new projects, it includes successes and failures as well as a specific focus on the factors critical to sustainability and scalability at national levels

Microsoft also recently announced the launch of a community Web site called Telecenter Knowledge Network, created in cooperation with telecentre.org. The site is intended to serve as a constantly evolving community site where those involved with telecenter programs can share their findings, experiences and best practices with the broader community. The Web site also serves as a repository of peer knowledge and resources that can be used by individuals or organizations planning to develop or scale telecenter programs. For example, the content in the “Making the Connection” book is posted on the Telecenter Knowledge Network site in an open format where the worldwide telecenter community can access it and expand upon it in a variety of ways, from topically oriented expertise, such as networks or services, to country profiles, intended to create a snapshot of local initiatives.
-END-
RUSH PR NEWS press release and newswire services at www.rushprnews.com

xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu thủ haalandUEFAevertonxosokeonhacaiketquabongdalichthidau7m.newskqbdtysokeobongdabongdalufutebol ao vivofutemaxmulticanaisonbethttps://bsport.fithttps://onbet88.ooohttps://i9bet.bizhttps://hi88.ooohttps://okvip.athttps://f8bet.athttps://fb88.cashhttps://vn88.cashhttps://shbet.atbóng đá world cupbóng đá inter milantin juventusbenzemala ligaclb leicester cityMUman citymessi lionelsalahnapolineymarpsgronaldoserie atottenhamvalenciaAS ROMALeverkusenac milanmbappenapolinewcastleaston villaliverpoolfa cupreal madridpremier leagueAjaxbao bong da247EPLbarcelonabournemouthaff cupasean footballbên lề sân cỏbáo bóng đá mớibóng đá cúp thế giớitin bóng đá ViệtUEFAbáo bóng đá việt namHuyền thoại bóng đágiải ngoại hạng anhSeagametap chi bong da the gioitin bong da lutrận đấu hôm nayviệt nam bóng đátin nong bong daBóng đá nữthể thao 7m24h bóng đábóng đá hôm naythe thao ngoai hang anhtin nhanh bóng đáphòng thay đồ bóng đábóng đá phủikèo nhà cái onbetbóng đá lu 2thông tin phòng thay đồthe thao vuaapp đánh lô đềdudoanxosoxổ số giải đặc biệthôm nay xổ sốkèo đẹp hôm nayketquaxosokq xskqxsmnsoi cầu ba miềnsoi cau thong kesxkt hôm naythế giới xổ sốxổ số 24hxo.soxoso3mienxo so ba mienxoso dac bietxosodientoanxổ số dự đoánvé số chiều xổxoso ket quaxosokienthietxoso kq hôm nayxoso ktxổ số megaxổ số mới nhất hôm nayxoso truc tiepxoso ViệtSX3MIENxs dự đoánxs mien bac hom nayxs miên namxsmientrungxsmn thu 7con số may mắn hôm nayKQXS 3 miền Bắc Trung Nam Nhanhdự đoán xổ số 3 miềndò vé sốdu doan xo so hom nayket qua xo xoket qua xo so.vntrúng thưởng xo sokq xoso trực tiếpket qua xskqxs 247số miền nams0x0 mienbacxosobamien hôm naysố đẹp hôm naysố đẹp trực tuyếnnuôi số đẹpxo so hom quaxoso ketquaxstruc tiep hom nayxổ số kiến thiết trực tiếpxổ số kq hôm nayso xo kq trực tuyenkết quả xổ số miền bắc trực tiếpxo so miền namxổ số miền nam trực tiếptrực tiếp xổ số hôm nayket wa xsKQ XOSOxoso onlinexo so truc tiep hom nayxsttso mien bac trong ngàyKQXS3Msố so mien bacdu doan xo so onlinedu doan cau loxổ số kenokqxs vnKQXOSOKQXS hôm naytrực tiếp kết quả xổ số ba miềncap lo dep nhat hom naysoi cầu chuẩn hôm nayso ket qua xo soXem kết quả xổ số nhanh nhấtSX3MIENXSMB chủ nhậtKQXSMNkết quả mở giải trực tuyếnGiờ vàng chốt số OnlineĐánh Đề Con Gìdò số miền namdò vé số hôm nayso mo so debach thủ lô đẹp nhất hôm naycầu đề hôm naykết quả xổ số kiến thiết toàn quốccau dep 88xsmb rong bach kimket qua xs 2023dự đoán xổ số hàng ngàyBạch thủ đề miền BắcSoi Cầu MB thần tàisoi cau vip 247soi cầu tốtsoi cầu miễn phísoi cau mb vipxsmb hom nayxs vietlottxsmn hôm naycầu lô đẹpthống kê lô kép xổ số miền Bắcquay thử xsmnxổ số thần tàiQuay thử XSMTxổ số chiều nayxo so mien nam hom nayweb đánh lô đề trực tuyến uy tínKQXS hôm nayxsmb ngày hôm nayXSMT chủ nhậtxổ số Power 6/55KQXS A trúng roycao thủ chốt sốbảng xổ số đặc biệtsoi cầu 247 vipsoi cầu wap 666Soi cầu miễn phí 888 VIPSoi Cau Chuan MBđộc thủ desố miền bắcthần tài cho sốKết quả xổ số thần tàiXem trực tiếp xổ sốXIN SỐ THẦN TÀI THỔ ĐỊACầu lô số đẹplô đẹp vip 24hsoi cầu miễn phí 888xổ số kiến thiết chiều nayXSMN thứ 7 hàng tuầnKết quả Xổ số Hồ Chí Minhnhà cái xổ số Việt NamXổ Số Đại PhátXổ số mới nhất Hôm Nayso xo mb hom nayxxmb88quay thu mbXo so Minh ChinhXS Minh Ngọc trực tiếp hôm nayXSMN 88XSTDxs than taixổ số UY TIN NHẤTxs vietlott 88SOI CẦU SIÊU CHUẨNSoiCauVietlô đẹp hôm nay vipket qua so xo hom naykqxsmb 30 ngàydự đoán xổ số 3 miềnSoi cầu 3 càng chuẩn xácbạch thủ lônuoi lo chuanbắt lô chuẩn theo ngàykq xo-solô 3 càngnuôi lô đề siêu vipcầu Lô Xiên XSMBđề về bao nhiêuSoi cầu x3xổ số kiến thiết ngày hôm nayquay thử xsmttruc tiep kết quả sxmntrực tiếp miền bắckết quả xổ số chấm vnbảng xs đặc biệt năm 2023soi cau xsmbxổ số hà nội hôm naysxmtxsmt hôm nayxs truc tiep mbketqua xo so onlinekqxs onlinexo số hôm nayXS3MTin xs hôm nayxsmn thu2XSMN hom nayxổ số miền bắc trực tiếp hôm naySO XOxsmbsxmn hôm nay188betlink188 xo sosoi cầu vip 88lô tô việtsoi lô việtXS247xs ba miềnchốt lô đẹp nhất hôm naychốt số xsmbCHƠI LÔ TÔsoi cau mn hom naychốt lô chuẩndu doan sxmtdự đoán xổ số onlinerồng bạch kim chốt 3 càng miễn phí hôm naythống kê lô gan miền bắcdàn đề lôCầu Kèo Đặc Biệtchốt cầu may mắnkết quả xổ số miền bắc hômSoi cầu vàng 777thẻ bài onlinedu doan mn 888soi cầu miền nam vipsoi cầu mt vipdàn de hôm nay7 cao thủ chốt sốsoi cau mien phi 7777 cao thủ chốt số nức tiếng3 càng miền bắcrồng bạch kim 777dàn de bất bạion newsddxsmn188betw88w88789bettf88sin88suvipsunwintf88five8812betsv88vn88Top 10 nhà cái uy tínsky88iwinlucky88nhacaisin88oxbetm88vn88w88789betiwinf8betrio66rio66lucky88oxbetvn88188bet789betMay-88five88one88sin88bk88xbetoxbetMU88188BETSV88RIO66ONBET88188betM88M88SV88Jun-68Jun-88one88iwinv9betw388OXBETw388w388onbetonbetonbetonbet88onbet88onbet88onbet88onbetonbetonbetonbetqh88mu88Nhà cái uy tínpog79vp777vp777vipbetvipbetuk88uk88typhu88typhu88tk88tk88sm66sm66me88me888live8live8livesm66me88win798livesm66me88win79pog79pog79vp777vp777uk88uk88tk88tk88luck8luck8kingbet86kingbet86k188k188hr99hr99123b8xbetvnvipbetsv66zbettaisunwin-vntyphu88vn138vwinvwinvi68ee881xbetrio66zbetvn138i9betvipfi88clubcf68onbet88ee88typhu88onbetonbetkhuyenmai12bet-moblie12betmoblietaimienphi247vi68clupcf68clupvipbeti9betqh88onb123onbefsoi cầunổ hũbắn cáđá gàđá gàgame bàicasinosoi cầuxóc đĩagame bàigiải mã giấc mơbầu cuaslot gamecasinonổ hủdàn đềBắn cácasinodàn đềnổ hũtài xỉuslot gamecasinobắn cáđá gàgame bàithể thaogame bàisoi cầukqsssoi cầucờ tướngbắn cágame bàixóc đĩa开云体育开云体育开云体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育亚新体育亚新体育亚新体育爱游戏爱游戏爱游戏华体会华体会华体会IM体育IM体育沙巴体育沙巴体育PM体育PM体育AG尊龙AG尊龙AG尊龙AG百家乐AG百家乐AG百家乐AG真人AG真人<AG真人<皇冠体育皇冠体育PG电子PG电子万博体育万博体育KOK体育KOK体育欧宝体育江南体育江南体育江南体育半岛体育半岛体育半岛体育凯发娱乐凯发娱乐杏彩体育杏彩体育杏彩体育FB体育PM真人PM真人<米乐娱乐米乐娱乐天博体育天博体育开元棋牌开元棋牌j9九游会j9九游会开云体育AG百家乐AG百家乐AG真人AG真人爱游戏华体会华体会im体育kok体育开云体育开云体育开云体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育欧宝体育ob体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育开云体育开云体育棋牌棋牌沙巴体育买球平台新葡京娱乐开云体育mu88qh88

Share This Post

More To Explore

How to Craft a Severance Package for Your Business
Business

How to Craft a Severance Package for Your Business

Creating a standardized severance package ensures that departing employees are treated fairly and consistently, irrespective of their position or circumstances. Companies uphold transparency and fairness