Connecting Masses

The idea of mBillionth Award emerged because we have been running Manthan Award for the past 9 years, which recognizes best ICT for Development (ICTD) initiatives and how digital inclusion impacts people across diverse communities and in remote areas. Three years ago, we realized that the mobile has had an accelerator impact on the general…

Bridging the digital divide

What would you expect a student in the hinterlands to do with a computer replete with broadband connection? Well, what they actually do is listen to music, watch movies and play games. And, when it comes to conducting a simple computing task such as checking exam results on the  net or uploading resumes for job…

Free mobiles will empower the poor

The proposal to distribute mobile phones to below the poverty line families has the potential to bridge the digital divide in one stroke. It should not be dismissed as another extravagance by a profligate government to buys votes. In fact a mobile phone in every hand backed by innovative technology and government programmes has the…