[Reader-list] kerala project winner of ars electronica price

[Geert Lovink]

see: http://www.aec.at/en/prix/winners2005.asp

http://www.akshaya.net/ is the winner of the ars prix price.

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Kerala, in an endeavour to 'bridge the Digital Divide' and to propel 
Kerala as India's foremost knowledge society, embarked on 'Akshaya 
Project' on the 18th of November, 2002. It is expected that Akshaya 
will be a watershed in effacing the divide between "information haves" 
and "information have-nots" and in disseminating the benefits of IT to 
the common man.

Akshaya will rank amongst the most ambitious ICT programs ever 
attempted in a developing society. The project is expected to generate 
a network of 6000 information centres in the state, generate about 
50,000 employment opportunities and throw up investment opportunities 
to the tune of Rs.500 Crores, all within a time span of 3 years.

Project Details
The Akshaya project is envisaged as a practical, commercially viable 
enabler essentially having to -
(a) Impart basic IT literacy to at least one member of each of the 65 
lakh families in the state.
(b) Extend the training initiative into a service delivery mechanism 
for the local citizen.

Service Delivery Mechanism
Once the people have been introduced to the immense possibilities of 
ICTs the next step would be to make facilities available to make their 
learning useful and reap the benefits.

The focus here would be to ensure a viable, sustainable service 
delivery mechanism for the citizens of the state. The Akshaya centre 
will be equipped with necessary equipment like computers, fax, 
printers, telephones, broad band Internet connection etc., and software 
so as to cater to the information and communication requirements of the 
local citizens. A community portal which will cater to the day to day 
requirements of the local community is also envisaged.

eLiteracy Campaign
The eLiteracy campaign is the foundation on which the state seeks to 
bridge the digital divide in the state. The underlying objective of the 
campaign is to remove the "fear of the unknown" that common people have 
about technology in general and computers in particular.

The eLiteracy campaign proposes to impart basic/functional eLiteracy to 
one member of each of the 65 lakh families in the state. Selection of 
the member to be trained will be decided by the family members. The 
persons trained as part of this campaign are expected to act as a 
catalyst in ensuring the overall success of the project.

The course content is being designed keeping this in mind. The emphasis 
of the training program will be on the use of technology and not on 
technology itself. The program will aim at opening up the minds of the 
student to the immense possibilities and benefits of ICT.

Expected Benefits

Direct Benefits

At least 1 computer literate person in every home in the state.

Network of 6000 Community Information Centres across the state.

Convenient access for the common man to information services.

Local Community Empowerment.

Generate locally relevant content.

Generate over 50,000 direct employment opportunities in three years.

Generate direct investment of over Rs. 500 crores in 3 years.

Expected Indirect Benefits

Cheaper communication through Internet telephony, e-mail, chat etc.

Enhanced ICT demand in Tele-medicine / e-Commerce / e-Education.

Enlarged marketing opportunities for agricultural / traditional 
products / artifacts.

Improved delivery of public services.

Catalysing of all sectors in the IT Industry.

Strategies

The Akshaya project conceived in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) 
mode, will be implemented through the Local Self Government (Panchayati 
Raj Institutions).

The project has been shaped based on the rich insights gleaned from the 
'Saksharata' campaign of the state that resulted in a 100% literate 
state in a very short period of time. The project has also been drawn 
from the experiences of projects like Gyandoot that have been attempted 
in India and abroad.

The project has been designed to leverage Kerala's unique strengths, 
active community organizations, progressive social framework, advanced 
telecom infrastructure and wide- spread media penetration.

Use of self-employment programmes and private enterprise within a 
government frame work in development of training institutes and content 
generation will aim at ensuring commercial viability as well as 
sustainability of the project.