YEAR 2016-2017

Smart Village Programme

Year: 2016-2017

Funded by: ISOC

Internet Society (ISOC), in partnership with Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) implemented ‘Digital Smart Village’ project as the Phase 6 of “Wireless for Communities” program (W4C) in 2016-2017. The programme aims to adopt two villages and transform them into Smart Villages. The main focus of the project was to enhance the Panchayat (also known as village council) or Municipal Council operations and improve entrepreneurship and livelihoods of the local community through the use of Internet and Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs). The main objective of the program is to impart new-age skills like using computers and Internet to the local community for their own needs like getting information on govt. entitlements, improving chances of getting good educational opportunities, running their local businesses in a better manner and more.

Objectives

Digital Smart Village Resource Centre in line with the demography of the village to understand the needs of the community and establish a Village Resource Centre with physical space, infrastructure and equipment.

Digital Smart Village Wireless Network Development setting up a wireless community network utilizing unlicensed spectrum and provide basic infrastructure and Internet access within and surrounding the community. The wireless network will create an ecosystem by connecting schools, health centres and Anganwadi centres.

Digital Smart Village Skills Development Programme focusing on skills development of village occupants to enhance their entrepreneurial skills; improve their living conditions. This included wireless network training programme; digital literacy, integrating them with tourism or local handicraft skills and so on, depending on the local environment.

Digital Smart Village Enterprise Development providing support for Digital Smart Village Center (SDVC) for providing information-based, digital and non-ICT support services for the core and tertiary activities to the village, etc.

Safa Network: Connecting women of underserved urban community

Year: 2016-2017

Funded by: ISOC

Supporting Partner: Safa India

Safa India, DEF and ISOC came together to implement the wireless for communities (W4C) model to an urban slum area of Banjara hills of Hyderabad– where many of the same issues (and some different ones) prevail. Keeping the objective to provide the internet connectivity in slum region of Bholanagar, DEF, Safa & ISOC initiated Safa Network project in 2016. DEF provided complete technical and resource support for establishing digital literacy centres and SAFA facilitates in setting up the centres, provided its continuous operational support along with monitoring and evaluation.