Canada India Telecommunications Operations Project (ICTOP)

Client: Canadian International Development Agency and IBM Canada, Ottawa, Canada. Project Office – Bhopal, India.

Project: ICT Applications Team Co-lead for $7.5 million project to connect 33 rural villages in the state of Madhya Pradesh (central India) with broadband while providing Village Information Centres (VICs). The purpose of the VICs was for computer and Internet access to local citizens and to foster computer literacy through training and increase citizen access to information and services via VIC facilities, thereby accelerating local socio-economic development.

Conducted: June 2003 – January 2004

Results: Identified the service and content requirements for 33 village sites, procured applications and established the plan for their implementation and operation, which were successfully launched in September 2003. Conducted interviews with senior government officials, business stakeholders and local community leaders to assess local needs for VIC services and developed a structured business model to generate sustainability revenues. Evaluated service and content availability for the VICs, developed roll-out plan and implemented urgently needed services based on hierarchy of villager needs – services included tele-medicine, Hindi speech-to-text, e-government services and computer-based learning / vocational training. Initiated and managed development of a Web Portal to provide a focal point for user access and VIC program content.Client: Canadian International Development Agency and IBM Canada, Ottawa, Canada. Project Office – Bhopal, India.

Project: ICT Applications Team Co-lead for $7.5 million project to connect 33 rural villages in the state of Madhya Pradesh (central India) with broadband while providing Village Information Centres (VICs). The purpose of the VICs was for computer and Internet access to local citizens and to foster computer literacy through training and increase citizen access to information and services via VIC facilities, thereby accelerating local socio-economic development.

Conducted: June 2003 – January 2004

Results: Identified the service and content requirements for 33 village sites, procured applications and established the plan for their implementation and operation, which were successfully
launched in September 2003. Conducted interviews with senior government officials, business stakeholders and local community leaders to assess local needs for VIC services and developed a structured business model to generate sustainability revenues. Evaluated service and content availability for the VICs, developed roll-out plan and implemented urgently needed services based on hierarchy of villager needs – services included tele-medicine, Hindi speech-to-text, e-government services and computer-based learning / vocational training. Initiated and managed development of a Web Portal to provide a focal point for user access and VIC program content.