Original Title : Enabling Innovative Deployment of Mobile Phone for Empowerment of Indian Farmers
Media Format : Mobile based / Internet
Website : http://www.iksl.in
Producer : IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL)
Language : English, Hindi, Punjabi, Oriya, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada
Location : Delhi, INDIA
Contact : ssrinivasan@iffco.in

‘IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited’ (IKSL) leverages mobile phone to provide timely and pertinent advice to farmers to improve their income, reduce cost, improve yield, enhance quality, reduce wastage and educate them on livelihood, health, environment and other aspects. The uniqueness of the messages is that they are in local languages and provided in voice format to overcome illiteracy and language barrier. A Helpline is also set up to address specific problems faced by farmers or to obtain additional information. IKSL conducts other innovative special programs like ‘Phone In’ to talk to Specialists on a specific subject and Quizzes on mobile phone to encourage active interaction.The services are provided in 10 Indian languages covering 18 states. IKSL also promotes focused communities with a common interest for intensive information services. Necessary ICT Infrastructure is developed for managing all aspects of services. Integrated Information management System (IIMS) is a Internet Content Management System (CMS), developed to assist the Content Team to plan, document, and monitor the voice messages and also helpline conversations.

It was appreciated the innovativeness of overall concept in leveraging a normal communication need of farmers, for the purpose of improving the quality of decision making and empowerment. It was also noted with appreciation that inclusion, accessibility, scalability, sustainability are the inherent strengths of the model. It was further noted that at present, about 10 lakh farmers are actively using IKSL’s services. It was observed that IIMS incorporated by IKSL in the programme as the content management system addresses wide variety of challenges in a single system that are, content collation as a digital library, planning, content creation for voice messages, content delivery to farmers (millions of out bound messages per day), call back facility for re-access, managing new types of services, documentation, helpline monitoring, QA Processes – MIS and analytics.

Original Title : Indiavibes Web TV
Media Format : Web TV based
Website : http://www.indiavibes.tv
Producer : Vibes Media Pvt Ltd
Language : Multi-Lingual
Location : Kerala, INDIA
Contact : mail@andrinemendez.com

Indiavibes is the first web TV, launched by Vibes Media Pvt Ltd, with User Generated Content in Hyper Local Content/Language. Through the portal, IndiaVibes Web TV provides streaming for visually rich content to the world and since the whole world is their target audience, English will be the primary language of communication. Using Internet for such concept, helps it to spread in the market attracting people of all age groups. Indiavibes’s strives to provide enriching user experience by delivering free legitimate content which is good quality with excellent usability. Users do not need any special downloads to view Indiavibes.tv which is optimized for best performance according to Broadband speeds using adaptive streaming which will practically remove ‘buffering’ to deliver uninterrupted video in good quality. Users can use Adobe Flash Player 10 to view Indiavibes for uninterrupted entertainment completely free. Indiavibes.tv will also be optimized for mobiles and also provide application platforms for many mobiles making Indiavibes.tv available on 3G, CDMA, WiFi or WiMAX network. Users can log in to http://www.indiavibes.tv and enjoy the content.

It was noted that the IndiaVibes Web TV is India’s first web TV which has UGC driven content. It was appreciated that this initiative intends to create a ‘People’s Media Platform’ where every mobile phone is turned into a content source i.e. content from people, thereby users themselves become a part of content generation.

Original Title : The Better India
Media Format : WordPress / Web
Website : http://www.thebetterindia.com
Producer : The Better India
Language : English
Location : Karnataka, INDIA
Contact : contact@thebetterindia.com

The Better India is a media website that focuses on spreading positive news in India. The Better India is an attempt to bring to the spotlight on little known organizations and individuals, who are attempting to have a positive impact on their communities or environment or any other entity that can benefit from their actions. The initiative seeks to reduce the impact of sensational news carried by mainstream media and try to instil hope in people. One of the main goals of this initiative is to help volunteers connect with NGOs, fundraisers with funds and small organizations with resources. The initiative helps organizations to spread awareness on their initiatives to help them gain recognition and reach. The Better India also posts information about jobs and events related to organizations in order to help garner resources. It acts as an online voice for all small to medium organizations who cannot afford to set up their own channel of public relations and contact thousands of people to inform them of their necessities and achievements.

It was appreciated that The Better India has enabled small organizations to gain recognition and be able to attract volunteers to aid in their projects. The initiative has also helped NGOs find resources through their “jobs” portal. The organizations have benefited by reaching out to a larger audience and receiving healthy response and participation in their events and activities. Additionally, the organizations featured by The Better India have been able to raise funds and attract investors to further their cause by having a voice to proclaim their good work to the audience at large. The specific feature of the initiative is that in three years of existence and through hundreds of articles, BI has reached out to thousands of people and helped them realize that there is a better India.

Original Title : NIIT nguru
Media Format : ICT / Web / eLearning based
Website : www.niitnguru.com
Producer : NIIT
Language : English
Location : Haryana, INDIA
Contact : nguru@niit.com

National Institute of information Technology (NIIT) launched its new initiative named NIIT NGuru. It is a comprehensive learning solution for all the schools. It provides Accreditation Standards for Quality School governance, which enables schools to deliver quality education for overall development of students. Accreditation establishes the School’s competence in delivering requisite elements of education covering curriculum, faculty, administration, student services, training, consultancy and evaluation. NGuru also announced the launch of a new-age International Pedagogical ICT Teacher Training Programs, to upgrade the existing skills of the teachers by leveraging ICT. These certification programs would help in empowering teachers with the latest technology and pedagogic skills and encourage collaborative peer learning. This would also encourage teacher-student participation in the classroom and make learning more fun for students. The courses offered are – International Pedagogical ICT Certification and training program on Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation. NGuru suite consists of ‘Interactive Classrooms’ for teachers, Math lab, Mobile Science Lab, IT Wizard, Learning lab for students and Quick School, an ‘Education Resource Planning’ solution for the school management.

It was appreciated that Nguru is an ICT-based lerning programme, started to spread computer literacy amongst school students from all segments of the society. It was noted that NIIT nguru presently covers 15000 government and private schools across the country thereby making learning a pleasure for over 10 million students. It was also observed that through such initiatives, NIIT is trying to take computers and computer based learning to the remotest parts of the country, further aiming to transform the whole education experience. It was also noted that this holistic suite innovatively designed for ICT enabled teaching-learning solutions has been deployed in other countries such as Bhutan and South Africa.

Original Title : HarVa
Media Format : ICT / Internet
Website : http://www.harva.co.in
Producer : HarVa
Language : Multilingual (English, Hindi, Marwari, Haryanvi, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi)
Location : Haryana, INDIA
Contact : ajay.chaturvedi@harva.co.in

The initiative Harva aims to assist rural India to access and harness the opportunities that urban India / local environment offers for a better quality of life. It specializes in finding the right approach to achieve maximum social, economic and environmental sustainability through appropriate development in rural India. At the same time, they focus on enhancing the capacity of the villagers who then become HarVa brand ambassadors and implement these sustainable development changes.It includes supporting various development projects that create employment for villagers. HarVa is a unique and first of its kind enterprise that focuses building rural ecosystems, through skill development, BPO, community based farming, microfinance, and renewable sources of energy such as gobar gas. HarVa aspires for sustainable inclusive growth by creating value in the heart of rural or real India. Spread across five states, the HarVa has gained momentum and it employed over 200 rural women and youth. The innovation introduced by HarVa is the quintessential village hut (HarVa Hut) that creates an entire rural ecosystem through productive communities that enhance the intrinsic value of the village.

It was appreciated that the innovative concept of HarVa “parivaar”, a byproduct of the HarVa Hut, gives this project a cutting edge. It was observed that People from HarVa endeavour to train entire families and employ them according to their skill. This helps them to build strong relationships and ensure that attrition is minimal. It was further observed that each member of the family experiences great competitive pressure from each other to perform to the best of their ability. It was opined that Harva has the potential of building income generating rural ecosystems, building a profitable business model, creating socio-economic value and not merely rural sales models.

Original Title : Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Cell Phone Technology as Community based Intervention to Improve Exclusive Breast Feeding & Reduce Infant Morbidity Rates
Media Format : Mobile phone based
Website : http://www.latamedicalresearchfoundation.org
Producer : Lata Medical Research Foundation
Language : English
Location : Maharashtra, INDIA
Contact : dr_apatel@yahoo.com

This project, launched Lata Medical Research Foundation, has the main objective to assess the feasibility, acceptance and cost effectiveness of using mobiles for personalized lactation consultation/health messaging, in addition to Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), to promote appropriate breastfeeding practices and timely initiation of complementary feeding, child growth and to reduce morbidity in infants. For the purpose of this study project, mobile phones have been provided to 157 pregnant women and other 168 women are using their own mobile phones. Training for promotion of breast feeding using UNICEF module for Baby Friendly Hospital Initiatives was conducted in 4 urban hospitals catering to women of low socio-economic strata (SES) and minority. Maternal and infant health advice is provided using mobile phones starting from antenatal period to 6 months after delivery with an emphasis on preparation of pregnant women for exclusive breast feeding (EBF) of newborns for at least 6 months and then introduction of semi-solid, home prepared foods in addition to breast feeding.

It was appreciated that the initiative has increased the accessibility, affordability and availability of healthcare at the doorsteps of the people through the use of mobile phones. It was observed that the beneficiaries of the project are from poor families with limited access to healthcare at times when they need it the most. It was further noted with appreciation that the subject of breastfeeding has been taken for the project, when it has been proved that breastfeeding has profound beneficial health effects in infants. It substantially protects against malnutrition and also prevents infection and adult diseases like diabetes and ischemic heart diseases. It was appreciated that the initiative works in line with the efforts of WHO/UNICEF in this regard and fills the existing gap of finding innovative ways to promote exclusive breastfeeding. The project is more commendable in the sense that it has taken mobile phone as the media as India has at least 600 million active mobile users in around 150 million households.