The launch was attended by Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata and Google India and southeast Asia vice president Rajan Anandan.
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Engaged in various initiatives under the government’s Digital India campaign, global tech giant Google is focusing on key areas like bringing more Indic language content online and helping 20 million small and medium enterprises set up Internet presence by 2017.
Built on the back of a cycle, the Cart is modeled on India’s traditional distribution system that is used to carry everything from ice-cream to industrial supplies.
These carts will travel from village to village by halting in a village for 4 to 6 months wherein the basics of the working of the internet will be explained at least for 2 days every week per village. It will create awareness and also try to ensure adequate training is provided to use devices till women use devices independently.
With their vast field-based ecosystem, Tata Trusts will manage the on-ground rollout with its partners while Google will invest in providing the Internet-enabled Carts and training content. Intel, who has been a long-term partner of Google India’s “Helping Women Get Online” (HWGO) initiative, will also support this initiative. Training of women and the community at large would be ensured by involving local NGOs and groups as trainers.
The Cycle Carts initiative will pedal off from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Jharkhand before rolling out in other parts of India, covering 4,500 villages, half a million women and rural communities over the next 18 months. India is a nation that has changed from what it was 60 years ago.
BANGALORE: Digital India campaign is being backed by Google India who has joined hands with Tata trust, the charity trust run by Ratan Tata.
Tata Trusts executive trustee R. Venkataramanan said: “Internet connectivity has become a fundamental need in any society and improves literacy and access to information that is instrumental for socio-economic development”.
Though India is now the second-largest Internet market in the world, there is still a great deal of work to be done, Google VP and Managing Director, South East Asia and India, Rajan Anandan told PTI. “Access to the Internet has changed the way we acquire knowledge and I am delighted the prime minister has decided to give priority to India becoming a digitized nation”.
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Explaining further, he said that Internet today is still predominantly an English only medium in India. “We need to come together to address this challenge and empower women in rural India through training and programs that can truly transform their lives”. There are also questions on whether the women will be able to continue accessing the Internet after being initiated into it by the programme.
