Is the Internet about to go local?

Even as the debate on Net neutrality rages, I see a possibility of many Internets and their customization, packaging and new colonization. Two tribal girls from the villages of Baran in Rajasthan have taught me that there is a possibility of community Internet—made, run and maintained by local communities by and for themselves. About five…

How e-commerce can help traditional workers

I was recently in Geneva to attend a meeting that discussed the experience of growing e-commerce in developing countries. The meeting was organized by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Geneva, a non-profit organization that works in the areas of trade, development and human rights. There were representatives from countries such as Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Panama,…

Mobile phones empower women

Is using a mobile phone a symbol of independence? Is it a simple tool of communication or a medium that provides rights? Why do women lag behind among those who use cellphones? Why do women have to take permission from men before buying a mobile phone that connects them to the world out there? The…

Information play in villages

What is the cost of information, or the lack of it? For some, it is a life, for some other, a monthly pension, and for yet another, the monthly subsidized ration. In India, millions of people lose their rights, entitlements, assets, education, pension, wages, food and water, land and livestock, housing, medicine, health and access…

Community radio can be rural ISP

The people in Gop block in Odisha have something more powerful than anyone else in the country has—an FM community radio station (CRS) called Radio Namaskar with a licence to broadcast using a 50-watt transmitter, enough to cover a 20km radius. Sometime in 2011, the local community heard jingles about the government’s integrated child development…