The Indian software industry has grown at an average annual rate of more
than 50% for the last six years. Software today constitutes India's largest source of export earnings. Cities like Bangalore are seen as the "Silicon Valleys" of India. But how real is this boom? Who benefits from it? Who loses? How does it affect the majority of India's one billion citizens? How could it improve the lives of ordinary Indians, 70% of who live in rural villages, most without electricity or telephones, many without schools?Prof. Jhunjhunwala and his team at IIT-Madras are international pioneers in combining sophisticated information technology with grounding in the realities of Indian life. The work of the Madras group aims at increasing telephone and cellular connectivity from its present level of 2-3% to at least 10-15% by using a variety of innovative technologies to lower the cost of the "last mile."
Contacts:
Abha Sur, South Asia Forum (asur@mit.edu)
Lakshmi Nayak, MIT India Program (lnayak@mit.edu )
Guru Prasanna, MIT Indian Business Club (guru@mit.edu)
Dwarika Agarwal, IIT SINE (dagarwal@mediaone.net)