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To increase the scope of technology in rural education,<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Intel-flew-100-drones-at-night-to-show-how-they-could-someday-replace-fireworks/articleshow/52115320.cms"> Intel </a>launched an initiative ‘Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur’ with Ministry of IT and Technology, in November 2015. 
 

	“Education is at the heart of India. And quality education is the need of the hour...All our educational initiatives are aimed at one impact- quality of learning,” said Debjani Ghosh, Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group, Managing Director, South Asia - ‎Intel Corporation.
 

	After seven months, the consequences have left a lasting impression on Debjani’s mind.
 

	Nadimpalle is a small village outside Hyderabad which had been selected among 10 villages shortlisted from Telengana. The Unnati centres have impacted the women of that village the most, to everyone’s surprise. 
 

	We expected, the first folks who would approach us were the men and the boys. But the first set of people who came here were <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Tech-companies-want-to-give-more-power-to-women-encouraging-them-to-join-back/articleshow/52250977.cms">women</a> and not just young women, but women who are 60-70 years old, she said.
 

	“Women are more enthusiastic, because technology can solve the real problems they face. There was this woman who was sad as for the first time she had to put her money in the bank, as part of the ‘Jan Dhan Yojana’ scheme under the Government of India. She was used to sleeping with the money safely tucked under her pillow and now it was in a bank. She didn’t know what was happening,” Debjani explained.
 

	Hence she visited the centre to log in and check into her bank account and ensure her money was safe. But her journey to digital education did not stop here.
 

	“After all this, I asked her what you are proud of. She said she had been illiterate all her life, she didn’t know how to read and write her name. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/This-is-how-Western-Digital-is-solving-one-of-the-most-important-barriers-to-Digital-India-initiative/articleshow/51841347.cms">Now she knows how to write her name using a keyboard</a>.”
 

	At the Unnati centres, she is learning how to assist her self-help group now. She is trying to figure out how to educate the women in the group and grow her business as well. 
 <keyword id="107737" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Entrepreneurship">Entrepreneurship</keyword> is happening at every age, not just the young generation because of this, said the <keyword id="28115" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Intel">Intel</keyword> executive proudly. 

	Under this initiative, Intel will work with 10 states to create a framework which the government can use for digitisation of India.

	 
	 
	(Image credits: indiatimes)

Intel’s ‘Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur’ has impacted the life of this woman from a village of Telengana in an unexpected way

<div type="image" msid="54427818" hostid="261"></div> <keyword id="176127" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Intel-India">Intel India</keyword> claims to have made the experience of personal computing real for more than 250,000 local citizens till now, thanks to their Unnati Kendras. The technology giant <keyword id="28115" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Intel">Intel</keyword> is also investing ₹1,100 crore in its upcoming R&amp;D centre, which can create 3,000 jobs. Unnati Kendras were inaugurated last year and are on-ground facilities serving as common access digital learning centers for local citizens, focusing on education, entrepreneurship and innovation. Each centre is equipped with Intel powered devices, vernacular language content, and relevant training programs for local citizens in the state, to create opportunities for skill development and digital empowerment. 
 Since the launch of the first centre in April 2016, Intel India has seen an average of 47 citizens entering each <keyword id="3331525" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unnati-Kendra">Unnati Kendra</keyword> per day, and of these, 18 requested demos in basic PC skills. 
 
According to Intel data, 44% of the walk-ins wanted to use computers to access e-learning and educational content, with 28% aspiring to use computers for creative self-expression, and 28% for entrepreneurial activities. 33% of this universe were students and youth between 18 and 25 years old and 22% were women, who are the early adopters and change agents in these new markets. 
 
Debjani Ghosh, Vice President, Sales &amp; Marketing Group, and Managing Director, South Asia, Intel said, “Technology relevance and access are crucial for a knowledge economy, and given that majority of the Indian population resides in non-urban areas, the vision behind Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur has been to make digital skills mainstream in those towns. This milestone is a moment of pride for all of us, and just the start of something bigger. Through continued work with the government and the ecosystem, we strive to make a tangible difference to individual lives and communities through the power of the computing.” 
 
Meanwhile, Sandeep Aurora, Director, Marketing at Intel South Asia said, “As the next wave of technology adoption comes from non-urban India, Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur has been oriented specifically for these markets. We have worked with nearly 20 eco-system vendors to ensure that the Unnati Kendra experience has enabled first-time users in regional areas to better understand how computing technology can be integrated to improve their daily lives.” 
 
User rights: 
 
According to the user insights from the centres, the top PC-based activities have been video-based computer training, understanding e-commerce, browsing detailed information on government policies, e-mail and applying for jobs on job portals. 
 Village Level Entrepreneurs in charge of the centers are taking on the mantle of Unnati Gurus or local knowledge bearers of technology, who are responsible for demonstrating the basics of PC usage to walk-ins on Darpan, a multilingual user interface which comes in six regional languages. These trained personnel are conducting daily in-depth sessions on <keyword id="6372493" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-literacy">digital literacy</keyword>, computer skills and internet facilities, along with dedicated guidance sessions in entrepreneurship, language and vocational training to improve the educational and employment prospects for local citizens. 
 The 100 centers in Tier II, III, IV and V towns are in operation across 11 states pan-India; <keyword id="68884" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Telangana">Telangana</keyword> (14 centers), Uttar Pradesh (14), Andhra Pradesh (13), Haryana (11), Maharashtra (11), Tamil Nadu (10), Karnataka (7), Gujarat (6), Assam (5), Chhattisgarh (5), and Kerala (4). The centers are also being used as platforms for the delivery of last mile digital services and government related information about Digital Literacy, Financial Inclusion, and Healthcare, for the benefit of local citizens. 
 
Of the 11 states, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh witnessed the highest footfall and interest in PC literacy. Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, which have the highest number of Unnati Kendras in any state, with 14 centres each, together account for 115,000 individuals experiencing the power of the PC, almost half the national total, while Maharashtra has outperformed the national average, with a weekly footfall of 1000 citizens across 11 centres.

How Intel is digitizing rural India

Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>’s dream of <keyword id="1929810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digital-India">Digital India</keyword> has several takers, but Intel is among the few who are really playing a key role in driving it by encouraging innovation and making computing accessible to the masses in the country. 
 We decided to speak to MD for Intel South Asia, <keyword id="875687" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Debjani-Ghosh">Debjani Ghosh</keyword> - a woman leader leading tech from the front. She is responsible for establishing new growth areas for Intel in the South Asian region. Based in India, she works with governments and industry in these countries to establish policies and initiatives that help accelerate the adoption of technology in the region, especially as an enabler of inclusive growth and development. 
 
Business Insider caught up with this power woman recently to find out how she is spearheading one of world’s leading Processor Company’s objective of driving technology adoption in various countries, especially in India. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/How-Intel-is-helping-build-Technology-in-India-like-no-other-company/articleshow/54167926.cms">ALSO READ: How Intel is helping build technology in India like no other company</a> 
 
Ghosh said – “The way we approach a country is - what is the current state of technology adoption, what the barriers are and what has to be done for the adoption to accelerate. When you look at India, the current state is dismal.Only around 20 per cent of the population have access to computing tech like education, healthcare services, agriculture which are critical for growth and development.” 
 
Highlighting the biggest challenge for India on its way to ‘building Digital India’ dream, she said - “We need to figure out what will it take 40-50 per cent of the Indian population to connect with technology in the next few years, so that we can align ourselves to the 100% goal the government has set for 2020.” 
 
In view of these challenges, Debjani further added that she saw two things standing out – “The next generation of tech users in India will be rural and there is a big disconnect between them and what technology can do for them. Most of them view technology as merely being able to make a phone call or let’s say watching YouTube videos. But what they completely miss out on are some of the productivity like how can technology be used to get better information, say enabling a farmer to take more informed decisions, or helping a pregnant woman read on nutrition good for her and her child. Understanding of this part is absolutely missing.” 
 
She made a very pertinent point when she said that technology adoption in India won’t take off till the time it’s seen as a need, and not necessity. “That is why our focus is on how we can build relevance and connect the dots between technology and areas its necessary for like improved health, livelihood, education etc, because if we can do this, there will be a real need to acquire technology we will see technology adoption take off in this country,” Ghosh said. 
 
It starts with creating awareness - This is where Intel’s work with the government and its ad campaign are making a difference. It’s showing how technology is seriously changing lives. “How it can help you earn more money, how it can help you get a better job, how it can help you improve health, these are the common themes across Intel’s brand campaign coupled with programs on-the-ground like 'Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur', Skill development and digital literacy programs that make people aware of the power of technology,” said Ghosh. 
 
Awareness is good, but without solutions they mean nothing – “You can create awareness, but if solutions are not relevant people are still not going to use technology. This is where we feel that we have to tap into the expertise that exists across the value chain - from the large MNCs to the small makers because you never know where a good idea will come from. You have to tap into all of the expertise that exists so you can get the best ideas and the best solutions out. What differentiates our work versus what everyone else is doing today out there us - we are not just after the ideas, but turning those into real solutions by taking them to the market so that you can see the impact on peoples' lives. After all, success of an idea depends on the real impact it has made on the ground,” said Ghosh. 
 On how she has helped Intel create a local ecosystem of entrepreneurship, Ghosh talked of the various stakeholders she works with – “You have to work with academia, government, big companies, makers and small companies for an overall revolution. Via our focus on <keyword id="6433408" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="innovations">innovations</keyword> through various efforts, we have built everything into an ecosystem that can innovate on our solutions and create customized solutions and products and actually solve some of the problems that India faces, thereby increasing technology relevance and impact.”

Meet Intel’s Debjani Ghosh, the woman tech leader driving technology adoption in India

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Intel’s ‘Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur’ has impacted the life of this woman from a village of Telengana in an unexpected way

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How Intel is digitizing rural India

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Meet Intel’s Debjani Ghosh, the woman tech leader driving technology adoption in India

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