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Computers on Motorbikes Bring Information to Rural India

"The grid can help alleviate human misery. Questions they have can be answered, information can be found. Information can be delivered to them faster than when they seek it in the physical space"

Residents of small rural villages in India are beset with barriers. Many are illiterate, have no access to medical services or resources to pay for them, roads are bad and access to information is extremely slow.

While he would be the first to admit it is not a total answer to such a series of obstacles, Pingali Maharshi thinks Computers on Wheels (COW) is a good start to bringing information and assistance to 21 remote villages in Mahbubnagar District of Andhra Pradesh.

Pingali Maharshi
COW, a Stockholm Challenge finalist project, is a simple if ingenious idea. Put laptop computers on motorbikes, power the laptops with solar panels and backup batteries, connect them to the Internet via satellite and take the technology and the Internet to those villages.

The technology is housed in a waterproof box on the back of a small motorbike. The bike also carries a tent so the equipment can be used even in bad weather. "The laptop is used as a querying machine," said Maharshi, meaning it helps find answers to questions as diverse as "these are my symptoms, what is wrong with me?" to "how did my child do in school examinations?" or even "Where can I get a better price for my produce?"

A Computers on Wheels Demonstration in a Village
The person riding the bike must understand the regional culture, digital technology and the role of computers, said Maharshi. The project is aimed at empowerment, and it serves a valuable data collection purpose as well. "It could be that produce has not been very good this year because the seeds have not been proper," said Maharshi, "or the rains have been sparse, or they have not found proper markets. That's at one level. At another level ... this helps people get doctor appointments."

Data collected on the type and scope of problems in the rural areas are also useful to government agencies, he said. However, project funding is not from the government. Even though government has expressed interest from time to time there has been no follow-through.

The project itself -- which was started by Rajeswari Pingali
while at Stanford University on a Reuters Digital Vision Program fellowship -- was funded by Stanford and the Reuters Foundation, then won a competition in 2003 and gained World Bank funding. VIDAL, the parent organization of COW, is an NGO, and attempts are under way to gain additional funding and also to make the project self-sustaining. For example, the bikes provide fee-based photographic services for families, and the possibility of using ICT to assist with prescriptions is also under study.

"The grid can help alleviate human misery," said Maharshi. "Questions they have can be answered, information can be found. Information can be delivered to them faster than when they seek it in the physical space."

Maharshi said that several banks have expressed interest in using COW to develop microcredit in rural areas, although it is just in the discussion stage so far.
Wayne E. Hanson served as a writer and editor with e.Republic from 1989 to 2013, having worked for several business units including Government Technology magazine, the Center for Digital Government, Governing, and Digital Communities. Hanson was a juror from 1999 to 2004 with the Stockholm Challenge and Global Junior Challenge competitions in information technology and education.