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Bytes For All
READING AID FOR
THE BLIND
The International Institute for Information Technology at Hyderabad
(IIIT-Hyd) has developed a software package for the visually impaired,
which makes information in Telugu and Hindi easy to access. The
package was launched by the President of India, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam,
when he visited Hyderabad recently to formally dedicate the institute
of higher learning and advanced research to the nation. The reading
aid enhances the reading capability of the visually impaired. With
the help of this software, text on-screen can be transformed to
speech. The computer then reads this out to the user. This project
has been funded by Satyam Computers and the software was developed
in collaboration with the National Association for the Blind (NAB).
The software has been released for free use and can be obtained
either from IIIT-Hyd or NAB. More information at http://www.iiit.net
or http://www.nabindia.org
CHEAPER PCs CLOSER?
Business daily The Hindu Business Line reports that the promised
5KPC (priced at just Rs 5,000) could be closer than thought. Two
companies—Via Technologies and NetCore (promoted by Rajesh
Jain of IndiaWorld fame) are jointly making this possible by bringing
down prices of hardware and software respectively. The 5KPC, as
Jain calls it, is expected to revolutionise the usage of computers.
The Via machine is a thin client, with a motherboard and processor
but no hard disk or floppy drives. Marketed with a full OS—Netcore’s
Emergic Freedom, based on Linux—it offers e-mail, browser,
Office suite, instant messenger and supports specialised Windows
applications through add-on software.
PDAs FOR INFOACCESS
Rahul Nainwal <nainwal@mitra.org.in> is doing a series of
case studies on ICT initiatives in India. He is keen to know of
any initiatives in India worth studying where PDAs or other access
devices are being used to provide information access to communities.
More details from Rahul Nainwal, director of MITRA, located at F-48,
Lajpat Nagar-1, New Delhi 110024.
HEALTH INITIATIVE
IIT Madras and IIT Bombay are planning to link rural patients with
the doctor through the Internet. They are attempting to use kiosks
and Bluetooth technologies for rural healthcare. The TeNet group
of IIT Madras in alliance with HP Labs India is planning a kiosk
Internet link with a doctor for primary ailments. The plan is to
equip the kiosk with certain basic devices like a stethoscope, thermistor,
blood pressure meter and ECG. The readings of these devices are
transferred through the Internet to the doctor at the district or
taluka level. There will also be a provision for videoconferencing
between the doctor and the patient. IIT Bombay is working on use
of wireless technology for healthcare by application of Bluetooth
and WLAN technologies for patient monitoring.
LOOKING AT INDIA’S
ROLE
A US National Science Foundation supported workshop on the Indian
development experience in the context of ICTs was jointly organised
by the School of Public Policy at George Mason University and the
Department of Management Studies, the Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore. The workshop was co-sponsored by the Indian Institute
of Information Technology and held in Bangalore during March 3-5,
2003. A CD containing the profile of participants and abstracts
of papers has been released for limited private circulation, according
to Sreekumar <sosk@ust.hk> of the Hong Kong University of
Science & Technology.
LOCALISED BROWSERS
One of India’s prominent Internet companies has been looking
for programmers who will help localise Mozilla to Indian languages.
Those who apply need to have at least 2-3 years experience, but
above all, a passion for the Internet and for free/open-source software.
The objective of Indianising Mozilla is to revolutionise computing
in Indian languages, especially on the Internet. The selected individuals
will be based in Mumbai. Contact venky@indlinux.org or karunakar@indlinux.org.
CONSEQUENCES
OF IT
Anil Kanhangad of the ATPS <eiidp@md3.vsnl.net.in> informs
about Vivarasangamam, that was scheduled for March 8-9. It was a
joint meeting of various organisations and individuals for discussing
the consequences of information technology in different sectors,
with special reference to Kerala. ATPS, the Appropriate Technology
Promotion Society, is a society of engineers and workers, linking
the scientific community and the working class; formed in April
2001, it has the intention of promoting appropriate technology that
simplifies human labour and promotes development that is sustainable,
maintaining the balance of nature. ATPS feels that profit motives
often prevent technology from reaching the masses. Check the website
atpskerala.org for more details.
BACK TO BARAMATI
Digital Partners and Vidya Pratishthan’s Institute of Information
Technology (VIIT) will be holding its third annual Baramati Initiative
on ICT and Development from May 30-June 2 this year. The Third Annual
Baramati Initiative on ICT and Development will explore ways in
which information communication technology is being used as a tool
to empower the poor. It will emphasise the role of social entrepreneurs
using ICT in opening new avenues for the poor in markets, e-commerce,
and information sharing, and will explore models that demonstrate
both social impact and financial sustainability. More details from
Vipasha Gupta at vipashag@hotmail.com.
DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY
Check out the Digital Opportunity Channel coming in from OneWorld
South Asia in New Delhi. (www.digitalopportunity.org) You can contact
the editor at kanti.kumar@oneworld.net
India Computes! is presented by Frederick Noronha,
a freelance journalist based in Goa. He is the co-founder of BytesForAll,
a voluntary, unfunded venture focusing on how IT and the Internet
can benefit the common man, particularly in South Asia. To join
the BytesForAll mailing list sign up at: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/bytesforall_readers
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