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| Addressing “Information Poverty and Rural Unemploy- ment” through Community Information Centres
(CICs) |
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There are “Six Cs” determining whether the Internet will reach India’s villages and stay.
Current – Alternative power supply in areas without electricity
Communication – Landlines/wireless connectivity to internet and online resources
Content – Information on local specific knowledge and in the local language
Community – Prioritizing the peoples’ needs for their development
Commerce – Financial sustainability and viability
Capacity building – Building knowledge or skills resources among the community
The most key work remains in Capacity building or Training. Rural communities need comprehensive
training and long-term support to take the Internet’s benefits to the most underserved and poor
regions of their villages. This is one of the main areas of focus of World Corps India (WCI)
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Kuppam Project |
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During 2001-2002, with the support of Government of Andhra Pradesh, World Corps India facilitated
setting up of 5 Community Information Centres (CICs) at the 5 Mandal Headquarters of Kuppam
Constituency, Chittoor District. Kuppam Constituency comprises of 5 mandals/blocks of Kuppam,
Gudupalli, Rama Kuppam, Santhi Puram and Venkatagiri Kota.
World Corps India’s (WCI’s) experience in the CIC project in Kuppam established the potentials
ICT has for generating employment for young men and women in the rural areas of India. The model
that WCI attempted focused on capacity building of the youth, which enabled them to set up
“Community Information Centres” – for-profit telecentres with broad community development goals.
The CICs provide economic sustenance to the rural youth, while meeting the communication and information needs of the communities in small towns, villages and habitations.
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one roof. The CIC functions both
on behalf
of the community, the government and the private agencies in providing information services related to the government and private agencies that caters to the underserved communities through the usage of IT-enabled and Communication technologies (Computers, Laser and Dot matrix printers, Back-up Power Supplier (UPS) and networking equipment, photocopying unit, STD/ISD/ PCO-telephone unit and other digital equipments such as scanner, CD-writer, multimedia and camera).Apart from taking the benefits of ICT to the underserved communities, this project has created an opportunity for sustainable and meaningful employment for the unemployed youth of rural areas. Empowering the youth with the necessary knowledge, skills and awareness has also enabled them to take leadership roles to bring in other value additions to their communities. |
Hon'ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri. N.Chandra Babu Naidu and Mr.Dwight Wilson, Executive Director, World Corps, Seattle, USA interacting with the CIC entrepreneurs of Kuppam Constituency during the launching ceremony of the Community Information Centres on 26 April 2002 at Kuppam. |
The Community Information Centre is a hybrid model combining the provision of G2C – Government to Citizen, B2B (business to business), B2C (business to citizen) and C2C (Civil Society Organizations to Citizens) services, and information and communication
services all under |
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