Centre for Internet and Society

Bright lights, geek city

praskrishna — 2011-05-01T02:41:34Z

Bangalore serves as my anchor because this is where the geek is, says Nishant Shah. The news was published in the Hindu on April 28, 2011.

I have spent the last couple of years on the fly, measuring life in cups of coffee consumed in transit at airports, working largely with young people in the Global South about their use of digital technologies for social change and political transformation.

It was interesting to live in non-localised time zones and out of suitcases, treating Bangalore as some sort of a laundermat where I largely came to get fresh clothes. But, in this year, as I spend more time in the city, I have started rediscovering the reason why I came to Bangalore eight years ago and decided to call it home.

I realise now, that despite my geographically distributed lifestyle, Bangalore serves as my anchor because this is where the Geek is! And I use the word ‘geek' not only to refer to the (largely male) technology population of the city, but to the people who, in their own quest for knowledge, have made a supportive, symbiotic and inclusive ecosystem of interventions, interests and interactions.

Over the years, many small and big spaces and organisations, collectives and meet-ups have made the city into a mashup that willingly or unwittingly, is a consequence of the digital technologies which are often held responsible for the ‘ruin and decline' of ‘good old Bangalore'.

Here are my three favourite such spaces: one, the experimental make-shift curatorial space Jagaa that ‘makes things happen' in the crowded topography of Shanthinagar. Over time, I have been a part of a bar-camp on digital archiving, audience to an electronic music remix concert, and learned about Dutch Colonial history at Jagaa, making it the official Geek Centre for those who want to be a part of things as they happen.

Two, the Blank Noise Project (BNP) that has now made substantial interventions in discourse on safety on our streets and gender. Using digital technologies and capital, BNP constantly involves young people in and outside the city to reclaim the public spaces through performances and writing.

Three, Kiran ‘Jace' Jonallagadda, who should be in a travel book for Geeks. Jace started the first bar-camps in Bangalore so that geeks of a feather could flock together. His technology-based, community-based venture called HasGeek is all set to become the only way of capturing the burgeoning tech interest and talent in the city.

I realise, as I write this, that this list of ‘Geeks' Up!' in Bangalore is almost exhaustive. I run through the fun, the excitement and the energy that digital and internet technologies have brought the city and I feel recharged. And I am glad that the Centre for Internet and Society, which I co-founded and work with, is in this city, with all these exciting people, just a click or a corner away.

Read the original news published in the Hindu here

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/geek-city

Bridging the gap: Tech giants bring the internet to women in rural India

praskrishna — 2016-10-30T07:23:05Z

This Diwali is going to be a cracker of a festival for Nisha Chanderwal, a second year BA student.

The article by KumKum Dasgupta was published in the Hindustan Times on October 28, 2016. Pranesh Prakash and Rohini Lakshané were quoted.

“I bought a bright red kurta with gold-colour zari dupatta from Snapdeal, my first online purchase,” the 19-year-old resident of Alwar’s Umren village told HT recently.

“No courier service reaches my village. So I gave my aunt’s home address in Alwar. They paid in cash…I paid her when I picked up the parcel,” she added, explaining the circuitous delivery and payment process that is common in rural India.

Nisha is elated for one more reason: She has finally got even with her 20-year-old brother, Ashok. “He has a smartphone, but doesn’t even let me touch it, saying girls should not use the Internet. But now thanks to Google’s Internet Saathi Programme (ISP), I don’t need his phone or his help,” said an elated Nisha.

In July 2015, technology giant Google launched ISP in partnership with Tata Trusts, one of the country’s oldest philanthropic organisations, to bring rural women online in India. Today, the initiative is live in 25,000 villages across 10 states with 1,900 saathis. The final mission is to reach 300,000 villages. Google is adding up to 500 additional ‘saathis’ per week. More than 100,000 women have been trained so far.

Google started this programme because Internet usage by women in rural areas is low.

“Only one in 10 Internet users in rural India is a woman,” Sapna Chadha, marketing head, Google India, told HT. “With ISP, we are creating an enabling environment that empowers them while also bridging the technology gender divide. We believe that easy access to information can transform lives. Our mission is to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible”.

Along with access to information, getting more and more women online has other benefits: “If women are a minority online, they become vulnerable to harassment and violence. Women can’t only be consumers of the Internet but must contribute their views, and make the space equitable,” said Rohini Lakshané of the Bangalore-based The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), which is funded by the Kusuma Trust.

Google and Tata Trusts are leveraging their core strengths for ISP. While Google provides the hardware (phones and tablets), training and Internet connectivity. Tata Trusts does the identification of saathis and the monitoring.

“We tie up with government departments to roll out the project. For example, in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, we are working with the rural livelihood mission. The government helps us to identify villages, set selection criteria and logistics such as venues,” explained Prabhat Pani, project director, Tata Trusts.

The programme first chooses a few women and trains them on how to use a mobile phone, shoot photos and videos and the basics of Internet. Then the women are sent out on bicycles with a smartphone and a tablet to teach others in their villages.

The programme has opened a new world for many. “Google is like a book. You can get whatever information you need. I am illiterate but I use voice search for information,” said Phoolwati, a 45-year-old resident of Nangli Jamawat, Umren.

Her friend Manju is now the village’s undisputed ‘selfie queen’. “I love taking videos and photos,” she said, adding that she also searches for information on MGNREGA or education loans for her children.

According to Google, the new online entrants are searching for news, recipes, designs for clothes, images and information on pilgrimages, farming and cattle-related information and government schemes.

For Google, it makes immense sense to get more people online. “The company is targeting huge and untapped demographics who are entry-level users. Going forward, they will have a huge first-mover advantage if there is scope to monetise Google’s services,” explained Lakshané.

By 2020, about 315 million rural Indians will be connected to the Internet, compared to around 120 million now. That’s about 36% of the country’s online population. By 2020, this share of rural India will jump to 48%, creating a huge opportunity for brands and marketers in places where establishing stores is a challenge,” says a study by the Boston Consulting Group, The Rising Connected Consumer in Rural India.

The first signs of this market potential were evident during the pre-Diwali online festival season sale. E-tailers posted growth in sales compared to last year thanks to growing smartphone penetration in small towns and villages, cheaper data tariffs and free hotspots. While Google did not divulge the exact revenues that it is spending on ISP, Chadha said it has helped the company to understand the needs of users in rural areas and what role the Internet can play.

Along with ISP, Google is also working with the Indian government on two projects that aims to give more people access to the Internet.

First, the Project Loon, which uses high-altitude balloons to create an aerial wireless network with up to 4G speeds for providing Internet access to rural and remote areas.

Second, the company is partnering with RailTel to provide free wi-fi access in stations.

“The ISP has no immediate profits for Google. The average revenue Indian per user is less than say a user in US. But getting more people online helps Google because its search engine is most used,” Pranesh Prakash, policy director, CIS, told HT. “In the long run, the company will earn when people access its services and also from advertising revenue.”

Nevertheless, the ISP is addressing a major problem. “Many are afraid to go online because they don’t know how they can benefit. While the Saathi programme is not a philanthropic effort, it’s good that Google is addressing this issue through its training programmes,” Prakash said.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindustan-times-october-28-2016-kumkum-dasgupta-bridging-the-gap

Bridging the Digital Divide

praskrishna — 2016-08-24T16:50:41Z

Nirmita Narasimhan will be a panelist at an annual event called "All Hands Meet" organized by Wipro on August 25, 2016 in Bangalore.

Nirmita Narasimhan will be speaking on digital accessibility. The session will be moderated by Rama Chari, Director DEOC. For more info contact sucheta.narang@wipro.com

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/bridging-the-digital-divide

Bridging Gender Gap

praskrishna — 2013-09-23T07:16:05Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/bridging-gender-gap.pdf

Braitenberg Cybernetic Vehicles: Workshop, Film Screening & Discussion

praskrishna — 2012-07-30T13:13:31Z

The Metaculture Media Lab at the Centre for Internet & Society, Bangalore is organizing a fun event, next Saturday, April 14, 2012. The event will begin at 2.30 p.m. and will end at 6.00 p.m.

A tentative schedule of the event in three parts:

A short presentation about Braitenberg Vehicles :
It is based on a thought experiment by Italian cyberneticist, in his book : ''Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology'' where 'vehicles' with simple sensorimotor capabilites display interesting life-like behaviour WITHOUT the need for internal memory, representation of the environment, or inference. (Basically none of the task based hyper robotic coding/processing) Read more about it here on the wiki page : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braitenberg_vehicle
This will be followed by a quick Hands-on-proactive-workshop, where we will build some simple Braitenberg Vehicles, using common motors, wheels, and light sensors, and watch them interact and play with each other.
- The Technically inclined might ( Well If you don't know electronics, the block digram will be self explanatory anyway) have fun teaching eachother how to couple motors with light sensors. Designers can also contribute to the interaction paradigm/visuals. While others may chill in the shady part of the lawn with juice, until the vehicle action starts)
Finally, a film screening followed by a short discussion about it , revisiting our ideas about robots, autonomous vehicles, transport, society and policy, possibly moderated by volunteers/students/citizen researchers in this field, in a dialogue with the rest of the audience.

Additionally , if anyone want to build their own vehicles to take home, please email yelena@cis-india.org (by April 10) for instructions on what to pick up from SP Road.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/cybernetic-vehicles

Braitenberg

praskrishna — 2012-07-30T13:12:57Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Braitenberg.jpg

Brainstorming Workshop on PG Programme on Media Studies for UGC E-Pathshala Programme

praskrishna — 2016-04-02T07:00:42Z

Nehaa Chaudhari will be speaking at this conference to be organized by Jamia Milla Islamia on April 5, 2016 in New Delhi.

Session I

11:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m.
Introducing the programme: Prof. Biswajit Das
Chair: Prof. G. Ravindran
Issues and areas in communication

Panelists

Prof Biswajit Das
Dr. Durgesh Tripathi

Lunch

Session II

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Chair: Vibodh Parthasarathi
Indentifying course curriculum for Moocs programme,UGC
Panelists:

Merajur Baruah
Nehaa Chaudhari

Tea

Session III

3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Chair: Vibodh Parthasarathi
Finalization of contributors/topics for Moocs programme, UGC

Vote of Thanks – Dishanka Gogoi, Project Fellow, UGC-DRS

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/brainstorming-workshop-on-pg-programme-on-media-studies-for-ugc-e-pathshala-programme

BPM Agenda

praskrishna — 2014-08-06T06:15:25Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/bpm-2014-meet.pdf

Boys

praskrishna — 2011-12-23T06:49:34Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/boyz.jpg

Bowing to public pressure, govt withdraws draft encryption policy

praskrishna — 2015-10-01T02:15:17Z

Bowing to pressure from the public, the government on Tuesday withdrew a draft policy that sought to control secured online communication, including through mass-use social media and web applications such as WhatsApp and Twitter.

The article was published by the Hindustan Times on September 22, 2015. Pranesh Prakash was quoted.

Communications and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced the government’s decision at a news conference, saying the draft National Encryption Policy will be reviewed before it is again presented to the public for their suggestions.

“I read the draft. I understand that the manner in which it is written can lead to misconceptions. I have asked for the draft policy to be withdrawn and reworded,” Prasad said. He said the draft would be re-released, but did not say when it would be made public.

“Experts had framed a draft policy...This draft policy is not the government’s final view,” he added. “There were concerns in some quarters. There were some words (in the draft policy) that caused concern.”

The draft will be reviewed and experts will be asked to specify to whom the policy will be applicable, Prasad said. He did not say when the new draft will be made public.

Those using social media platforms and web applications fell outside the scope of an encryption policy, Prasad said.

Several countries have felt the need for an encryption policy because of the boom in e-commerce and e-governance, he remarked. “Cyber space interactions are on the rise. There are concerns about security. We need a sound encryption policy,” he said.

Before Prasad announced the withdrawal of the draft policy, the government had issued an addendum early on Tuesday to keep social media and web applications like WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook out of its purview.

Secure banking transactions and password protected e-commerce businesses too will be kept out of the ambit of the proposed policy, the addendum said.

The climb down by the government came following a storm of protests from users who objected to any stringent state controls on the use of email, social media accounts and apps.

According to the original draft, users of apps such as WhatsApp and Snapchat would be required to save all messages for up to 90 days and be able to produce them if asked by authorities.

Experts told Hindustan Times the draft policy, if implemented in its current form, could compromise the privacy of users and hamper the functioning of several multi-national service providers in India.

Nikhil Pahwa, editor of the MediaNama website that tracks cyber issues and tech news, said there were several problems even with the addendum to the draft policy.

“The usage of the phrase ‘currently in use’ renders the policy vague: Firstly, when is ‘currently’?” he questioned in a post on his website.

“Will a new service that uses a different kind of encryption to protect its users, still be covered? Why should users be ‘restricted to encryption currently in use’? Why should services like Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter define our security standards?” said Pahwa, who also volunteers for savetheinternet.in.

Pranesh Prakash, policy director for The Centre for Internet and Society, tweeted that even the addendum “does not clarify anything, but further muddles the encryption policy”.

Social media users called the draft “draconian” and “delusional”, and Congress leader Manish Tewari too attacked the Union government.

“The encryption policy (draft) is a snooping and spying orgy. After net chats, the government may want you to keep a video record of what you do in your bedroom for 90 days,” the Congress spokesperson told reporters.

The draft policy had been posted online last week to seek suggestions from the public.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindustan-times-september-22-2015-bowing-to-public-pressure-govt-withdraws-draft-encryption-policy

Bouquets & brickbats for Google's new privacy policy

praskrishna — 2013-10-25T05:40:56Z

Google's recent privacy policy change that allows the internet search company to use names, photographs and endorsements by its users in online advertisements is getting mixed reviews in India - advertisers love it, and activists love to hate it.

This article by Indu Nandakumar was published in the Economic Times on October 18, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

Internet rights activists called it another incursion into individual privacy by the California-based company that uses 'Don't be evil' as an informal corporate motto. Brand advisers and marketers praised the ingenuity of personalisation that can make advertising much more effective.

"From a user perspective, there is a higher chance of them buying a product if it is endorsed by a friend," said Kunal Jeswani, chief digital officer at Ogilvy & Mather India. To his mind, the argument about user privacy is "naive" because when a user enters a social network, he/she should know his/her personal information, such as profile photographs and names, is already on the web.

Google announced its policy change regarding user information will be effective on November 11, giving the company the right to use profile names, photos and comments alongside advertisements by clients who use its online advertising network of over 2 million websites.

For instance, if a user has endorsed a product by giving it a "+1" or rated a product on the Google Play app store, his/her image will appear next to the ad when it is displayed to people who are part of his/her social circle on the social networking service Google Plus. The move is seen as Google's attempt to catch up with rival Facebook, which first introduced the concept of 'social ads' that let corporations use the power of influence of people within a person's social network to sell products.

Internet rights activists said such practices raise privacy concerns as they do not take prior consent of users.

"We are not comfortable with user information being used without their permission, especially since Google's privacy standards are not very high," said Uday Mehta, associate director at Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS International).

Last year, the agency complained to Competition Commission of India to investigate Google's alleged anti-competitive practices here. An investigation is ongoing.

In an emailed response, Google said it is notifying users about the change in policy, so that if a user does not like it, he/she can turn it off.

"Since we're updating an existing setting, we will continue to respect the choice you made about the old setting. That means if you already told us that you didn't want your +1s to appear in ads, none of your other shared endorsements will appear in ads," a Google spokesman said.

For example, Google said, if a user reviewed a restaurant, people who aren't in his/her Google Plus Circles of friends would not see that review in an ad that the restaurant might run through Google.

The latest ad strategy comes at a time when companies such as Google and Facebook have been attempting to increase their ad revenues by personalising advertisements to attract user attention. Over 90% of Google's $46-billion revenue in 2012 came from advertisements.

Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Center for Internet and Society said the issue highlights the need for a stronger internet privacy statute in India. The absence of clear privacy laws makes it impossible for government officials to understand the harm caused to personal rights because of the default settings of Google, he observed.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/economic-times-october-18-2013-indu-nandakumar-bouquets-brickbats-google-new-privacy-policy

Bottom

praskrishna — 2011-06-06T06:49:16Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/bottom.jpg

Books vs Cigarettes

praskrishna — 2011-12-01T13:28:14Z

CIS is hosting the scanned pages of George Orwell's essay Books vs Cigarettes in public domain.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/books-vs-cigarettes.zip

Books at a Click

praskrishna — 2016-06-18T17:52:06Z

The OdiaWikimedia community and Bhubaneswar-based Srujanika have come together to make rare science books available online for readers, students & science educators.

The article by Diana Sahu was published in the New Indian Express on January 9, 2016.

Readers can now access rare science books in Odia language at Odia Wikisource, an online library of popular books in the language. The Odia Wikimedia community and Bhubaneswar-based Srujanika have come together to make these books available online for readers, students and science educators. This apart, books of Sahitya Akademi award winning writer Jagannath Prasad Das have been added to the library. Srujanika's co-founder Puspashree Pattnaik recently provided 700 popular science books that were published by the organisation to the Wikimedia community for digitisation. “These books were appreciated by many and even in demand after going out of print. Hence, we thought if these can be shared under free licence then they can reach a wider population. Wikipedia contributors can use these as resources and enhance science content in Odia Wikipedia as well", says Puspashree, a former teacher. She along with her husband Nikhil Pattnaik, a former scientist with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, had published several science books as part of their project to popularise the subject among children. With support from Vigyan Prasar in New Delhi, the couple had also documented rare works of science published in books, magazines, periodicals and newspapers from 1850 to 1950 in electronic format, a few years back. Around science 765 articles written over a century have been put on CDs and DVDs according to the names of authors and year of publication. The science books have been digitised by volunteers of the Odia Wikimedia community and the Centre for Internet and Society, a non-profit working for supporting Indian language Wikipedia projects and the communities.

Pushpashree Pattnaik

Similarly, the Wikimedia community has re-licensed 30 books of Das under a free license CC-by-SA 4.0. His books can now be accessed at https://orwikisource.org and anyone can use them for academic or research work. “My tryst with internet started very late. I was introduced to digital books through Srujanika's online version of Purnachandra Odia Bhashakosha - comprising 9,500 pages in seven volumes- which was impossible to handle on the writing table. That made me think how convenient it would be to have Odia books avail. able on the internet. As a beginning. I decided to put my own writings on the internet", said Das. Prior to Das, eminent writers and litterateurs Debi Prasanna Pattanayak, Manoj Panda, Subrat Prusty, Bharat Majhi and organisations like 'Manik Biswanath Smrutinyasa' and Aama Odisha' had come forward to make their books available online for free using Odia Wikisource as a platform. At present, Odia Wikisource has 280 Odia books and all are either under Public Domain or Creative Commons Share Alike licences. A team of 10 active contributors, known as "Uikiali' in Odia, are digitising books of various genres ranging from science writing, fiction to 0dia classics. “Apart from the science writ. ings, we are also working on digitising the biography of Nandini Satpathy which has been published by Ashisa Ranjan Mohapatra of Srimati Nandini Satpathy Memorial Trust,” says Mrutyunjaya Kar, administrator of Odia Wikisource and Odia Wikipedia who has been contributing to the Wikimedia projects in Odia, Hindi, Sanskrit and English for the last four years. Odia Wikisource is a sister project of Odia Wikipedia.

These books were appreciated by many and going out of print. If these can be shared under free licence then they can reach a wider population.
Pushpashree Pattnaik

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/new-indian-express-january-9-2016-diana-sahu-books-at-a-click

Books are a bridge between generations

praskrishna — 2014-05-05T09:27:05Z

Kannada litterateurs stressed on the importance of books and cultivating the habit of reading on the occasion of ‘World Book Day’ on Wednesday.

The article was published in the Deccan Herald on April 23, 2014. Dr. U.B.Pavanaja was a speaker on the occasion.

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, writer Narahalli Balasubramanya said “We should ensure children emulate great minds if we want them to be responsible citizens. This is possible only if we make them read good books.

Today, we are increasingly finding ourselves in the company of corrupt people. It is through books that we can interact with great literary figures such as Bendre and Kuvempu.”

The event was jointly organised by Karnataka Publishers Association, Kendra Sahitya Akademi, Karnataka Lekhakiyara Sangha and Indian Institute of World Culture.

Balasubramanya maintained that the Kendra Sahitya Academy sold books at affordable rates and also gave a funding of Rs 400 crore to the book publishers, annually. “But not many people are aware of books entering market and the works don’t reach people,” he added.

A series of Kannada works written by authors were released on the occasion. Writer Dr Siddalingaiah who released the books said “Books are bridges between our minds and our ancestors’ minds. Every home should have a small library.”

‘Pustaka Bhagya’

“The State government has introduced Anna Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya and other schemes. Similarly, they should also implement Pustaka Bhagya,” said M V Nagaraj Rao of Shrungara Prakashana.

Technical writer in Kannada U B Pavanaja maintained that in Kannada Wikipedia there was dearth of information on Kannada literary works. “There is enough information about English works but not on Kannada novels and literary publications. The Kannada publishers should strive to feed information and synopsis of each work into the Kannada wikipedia,” he added.

Public Library Department celebrated the occasion by holding a book exhibition and essay competition for children at City Central Library premises on Wednesday.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/deccan-herald-april-23-2014-books-are-a-bridge-between-generations