New mobile application for the continued expansion of Intel’s Digital Literacy Efforts, Unveils a ‘Follow the Fibre’ impact study on the completion of a three village digital literacy program as part of National Digital Literacy Mission
INDIACSR News Network
NEW DELHI: Intel India today announced the expansion of its digital literacy efforts and launched an Android based application of Intel Learn Easy Steps – the marquee digital literacy curriculum of Intel. As part of the initiatives undertaken under the National Digital Literacy Mission, Intel today also announced the completion of its ‘Follow the Fiber’ program conducted in the first three villages to receive connectivity as part of the National Optic Fiber Network rollout and released an impact study about the same. Intel, NASSCOM and Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) also felicitated trainers and some beneficiaries who participated in this program.
The event was attended by Mr. Som Mittal, President NASSCOM, Mr. N Ravi Shankar Administrator USOF& MD, BBNL, DoT, Ministry of Communications & IT, Govt. of India and Mr. J Satyanarayana, Secretary, Departments of Electronics and Information Technology, Govt. of India along with Osama Manzar, Founder Digital Empowerment Foundation. Gregory Bryant, VP, Sales and Marketing Group, GM, Intel APAC as well as Ms. Debjani Ghosh, Managing Director, Intel South Asia were also present at the event
Intel along with NASSCOM had launched the National Digital Literacy Mission in August 2012 bringing together several players from the ecosystem on the same platform to work towards a common goal of accelerating digital literacy in India in order to help realize the government’s vision of having at least 1 e-literate person in every household in India by the year 2020.
‘Follow the Fiber’ Program
Intel along with its NGO partner Digital Empowerment Foundation launched the ‘Follow the Fiber’ program in October 2012 with the aim of making 1 person/household e-literate in the three villages that received the National Optic Fiber Network namely Arain in Rajasthan, Naogang in North Tripura and Pravada in Andhra Pradesh. Over the last 9 months about 1700 households from these three villages have been reached and have at least one e-literate member in the household. Intel and DEF along with the Open Knowledge Community conducted an impact study in these three villages to outline challenges, opportunities and recommendations to guide implementation of digital literacy training as the NOFN rolls out pan India.
Talking about the completion of the program, Debjani Ghosh, Managing Director, Intel South Asia said “The work done in these three villages under the National Digital Literacy Mission gives us insights into the challenges at the grass roots and the impact that digital literacy can have on the lives of people. We hope that the impact study we’re releasing today is helpful and will be utilized by the government and industry as they implement their digital inclusion programs.”
Intel® Learn Easy Steps Application
The Intel® Learn Easy Steps curriculum is Intel’s marquee digital literacy training curriculum that focuses on the integration of technology in our daily lives in simple ways and teaches users how technology can improve productivity, employability and impact livelihood. Intel has already trained over 1.7 million individuals in India over the last eighteen months using this curriculum. Currently, training using Intel Learn Easy Steps curriculum is offered face to face and is available online, however to scale digital literacy and take it to the next level at the grass roots, Intel has created an Android* based application of the Intel Easy Steps curriculum that will be freely available from 5th September 2013 onwards.
Commenting on the occasion, Gregory Bryant, VP, Sales and Marketing Group, GM, Intel APAC said, “Technology has the ability to drive inclusive growth by enabling access to education, healthcare and government services. Digital literacy is the first step in empowering citizens to take advantage of these services. Intel is committed to driving digital literacy in India and we are proud to announce the launch of this new application that will help scale digital literacy to the grass roots.”
Trainers from the Digital Empowerment Foundation who empowered the citizens of these three villages with knowledge of how technology can make a real difference were also recognized for their contributions. Some ‘local heroes’, such as citizens who went on to use digital literacy skills to impact their livelihoods and communities were also honored at this event.
