A Closer Look at Rural Computing

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A Closer Look at Rural Computing

• Kentaro Toyama
• Microsoft Research India
• 6th Feburary, ICCC 2005 Keynote at IIT-Kanpur

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Monthly Revenue (INR)
Villages
data from Vivek Dhawans Masters thesis (IIT-B)
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The fastest growing kiosk project (ITCs
e-choupal) would take
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e-choupal kiosk in Kodia, Madhya Pradesh
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VSAT for kiosk in Kodia, Madhya Pradesh
n-Logue corDECT wireless tower
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Kannada Prabha website
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Absolute minimum cost of a PC
Keyboard/mouse 15
CRT display 60
Disk 40
Power supply 15
Memory 10 for 100MB
Other silicon 30
Total 200
Processor 30
courtesy of Chuck Thacker, Microsoft
distinguished engineer
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Absolute minimum cost of a PC
Keyboard/mouse Rs. 300
CRT display Rs. 2000
Disk Rs. 2500
Power supply Rs. 800
Memory Rs. 1000 for 128MB
Other silicon Rs. 2500
Total Rs. 10750
Processor Rs. 1650
According to PC Quest, May 2004
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Needed to break even 70-140/mo.
Monthly Revenue (INR)
Villages
data from Vivek Dhawans Masters thesis (IIT-B)
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• Sustainability as a business is
• the wrong focus for
• rural PC kiosk projects!

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This does not mean

• A rural PC kiosk cant be viable as a business.
• ICTs have no value in rural areas.
• Investing in rural ICTs is a bad idea.
• Sustainability wasnt a worthwhile goal until
  now.
• Sustainability still isnt a worthwhile goal for
  a kiosk operator or agency.

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This does mean

• There is no single killer app for rural kiosks.
• There is no single silver bullet to scale
  sustainable rural kiosks.
• Scalable, sustainable, rural PC kiosks is a
  tempting mirage.
• Sustainability, even when achieved, often does
  not make a dent in socio-economic conditions.
• If we do invest in rural PC kiosk projects, the
  investment should go into something that lasts
  and will drive development!

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Villages that can sustain a connected PC
Income
Literacy education
Knowledge- based needs
Infrastructure
Economies of scale
Villages that cannot sustain a connected PC
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Focus on Sustainability
Villages that can sustain a connected PC
Income
Literacy education
Knowledge- based needs
Infrastructure
Economies of scale
Villages that cannot sustain a connected PC
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Focus on Development
Villages that can sustain a connected PC
Income
Literacy education
Knowledge- based needs
Infrastructure
Economies of scale
Villages that cannot sustain a connected PC
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a student taking typing lessons in a Maharashtra
kiosk
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Monthly Revenue (INR)
Villages
data from Vivek Dhawans Masters thesis (IIT-B)
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Other Possible Focuses for Rural IT

• Improve on computer use in schools
• Digitize panchayat administrations
• Support NGOs in their work
• Implement the back-end for e-government, once and
  for all
• Assist with disaster management

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• The connected PC is overkill for remote rural
  villages today.

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This does not mean

• There arent PCs in rural areas.
• PCs should never be put in rural areas.
• Rural villagers dont want PCs.
• PCs dont solve actual problems in villages.
• Rural villages wont be able to afford PCs one
  day.

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This does mean

• Scaling rural PC kiosks to 600,000 villages is a
  dubious goal.
• The total cost of a connected PC in a rural
  village may be too high for the value it
  delivers
• Especially beyond what phones can deliver
• We should continue to look for other solutions
• E.g., Featherweight Computing

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LeapFrog LeapPad for healthcare education in
Afghanistan
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Summary

• Sustainability of rural PC kiosks is
  distracting us from main goal of development
• Put effort into enduring contributions to
  development, e.g., education
• Technologys place is to support these efforts
• Look for non-PC-based solutions in addition to
  PC-based solutions

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Education ¹ Information
One more caveat
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Education
Information Human Attention
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Thank you!