Swaminathan Foundation Lauds Rural Knowledge Movement in India

A small step initiated by Prof. M. S. Swaminathan under the auspices of M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) has become a national movement in bridging the urban-rural digital divide for ensuring knowledge connectivity in rural areas in India.  A 2007 mission of empowering every village, a Knowledge Center through "Grameen Gyan Abhiyan", commonly known as GGA,  has become a platform for knowledge and technological empowerment of rural communities.  

An ambitious mission to digitally connect around 600,000 plus villages in India has achieved a remarkable progress in the short span of time. It is supported by renowned national and international developmental institutions including Tata Trusts, ISRO, NASSCOM, IIT Chennai, Microsoft and Department of Information Technology of the Government of India.

The GGA holds an annual convention on various themes of importance to bridge the digital divide in different parts of the country. The 7th convention of the Grameen Gyan Abhiyan will be held on 27-28 November, 2010 at University of Mumbai, India. The theme of the convention is "Information Communication Technology and Food, Health and Livelihood Security in an Era of Climate Change". The convention aims to discuss the UN Millennium Development Goals in collaboration with 127 agro-climatic sub-zones, identified by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) based on cropping systems and weather patterns of the country.

The convention will also provide a neutral platform to the partners of GGA to share experiences on conducting experiments on different technologies and developing applications for ICT-based rural centers by various stakeholders under the mission. It will also hold discussions on the various new initiatives in the area of mobile applications, showcasing various rural applications, and various state governments' initiatives in the area of ICT policy, particularly to address rural developmental issues and capacity building needs for various ICT-centers.

For more details of the Grameen Gyan Abhiyan (GGA) visit http://www.mission2007.in/ and contact Dr. Senthilkumaran, Director - Information, Education and Communication of MSSRF at senthil@mssrf.res.in