The Museum of Digital Society: A Living Archive of Digital Inclusion
In this opening address, Mr. Ranjan said the opening of the DDEC should prove to be a boon for the residents of the locality. He urged the community members to take initiative and use the services of the centre, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink it.” Dr. Amir Ullah Khan urged the members of the community to spread awareness among the residents to fully make use of the facility.
DEF’s Digital Excellence Centre (DDEC) was inaugurated on the 20th of August 2022 by eminent personalities of the Telangana government and other leaders in the social sector.
Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary of the Industries & Commerce (I&C) and Information Technology (IT) Departments of the Telangana Government, was the Chief Guest.
Mr. Osama Manzar, Founder and Director of Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), Dr. Amir Ullah Khan, Mr. Syed Ali, Board Member of USIPI, Nahid Jubair, Deputy Director at DEF, Mr. Shrikant Sinha, CEO of Telangana Academy for Skill & Knowledge (TASK) and local community members were present.
The centre offers a host of programmes, not only for the students but for people of all age groups. The training programs include various initiatives of DEF such as SoochnaPreneur, Makerspace, Digital Financial Inclusion, Digital Skilling, STEM for Girls, and Skill Bot. Besides, the centre will also offer training programmes in community development, digital literacy, financial literacy, STEM for girls, Digital Empowerment for Women Empowerment and Digital Repair cafe and Recycle and Reuse Centre.
In this opening address, Mr. Ranjan said the opening of the DDEC should prove to be a boon for the residents of the locality. He urged the community members to take initiative and use the services of the centre, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink it.” Dr. Amir Ullah Khan urged the members of the community to spread awareness among the residents to fully make use of the facility.
STEM Lab and Makerspace
Through this section students will be introduced to STEM education and a makerspace wherein they can express themselves through the various tools available. A facilitator will ensure that the students are challenged and motivated to creatively find solutions through hands-on experiments.
Digital Literacy Centre
In this centre we are providing basic knowledge of computers, online platforms and social media. 100 students have already registered for IT classes. This has been through awareness camps in the community. Schools have also been approached and many students from there have shown willingness to be a part of this program.
Digital Green Prakriya Centre
India is the third-largest e-waste generator, producing over 3.23 million metric tonnes of e-waste per year, behind the US and China. 95% of e-waste still continues to be handled by the informal sector. E-waste was 771,000 tonnes in 2018-19 and 1 million tonnes in 2019-20, which means that there has been an increase of 31% in one year. Smartphones contribute to 12% of global e-waste. 82% of India’s e-waste is personal devices. Companies do not design products with the idea of longevity. High repairing expenses makes disposing an electronic device a better option among most consumers than repair and reuse. In India, due to scarcity of adequate infrastructure, awareness and culture of repair and reuse, the problem is even more chronic.
The Digital Green Prakriya Community Repair Centre has been started in light of these issues. This initiative aims to provide training in repairing digital devices such as mobile phones, plugs, switches and laptops. Expert repair persons at this centre will repair whatever customers might bring. This initiative also strives to make the community aware about environmental justice and sustainability.
SoochanaPrenuer Centre
This section will ensure people in the community are able to gain access to digital services such as digital finance, government entitlements, photocopying and printing. Through this initiative the community will also be made aware about the various government schemes that are in place for them. This program will help the community gain access to vital information, digital services and entitlements.
TASK: Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge
It’s a Telangana government institute, providing soft skills, coaching for competitive exams, Artificial intelligence, aptitude and reasoning and providing job oriented skills for the students who have completed their degree or are dropouts.
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