The Legatum Center at MIT has been conducting research on Innovation-driven enterprises (IDE) that are unlocking significant business and societal value by solving systemic problems that conventional business models have not been able to solve. In that research, Legatum Center included the Digital Empowerment Foundation as an example of IDE’s. Following is a compilation from the interviews with Osama Manzar.
It’s interesting that we must share and narrate this story with so many friends throughout time. It is hard to begin with describing who I am, especially when there has been an evolution of thinking and applying and a growth of consciousness over time. One is never the same person they were yesterday, and they will never be the same person tomorrow, in a mixed manner. It could be good or bad.
Chouttupal is a one hour drive from Hyderabad on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway. Jagdish, DEF’s project officer in Chouttupal had sent me the location of DEF’s centre in Chinna Kondur village near Chouttupal. As I drove on the busy highway I wondered why DEF had opened a centre so close to the city as we are known to be present in remote locations.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the nationwide lockdown in March 2020. The millions of migrants living in cities lost their source of livelihood and head back to their villages. Deepak Kumar Munda, 21 was one such migrant worker. He used to work in Bangalore as a labourer and returned to his village Khakhra in Jharkhand as the 2020 lockdown left him unemployed.
Jakhopur is a small village near Tijara. As one enters the village one can often be welcomed by camels with a cart tied to them navigating through the narrow lanes of the village. The narrow lanes meet at an intersection where a group of men can be seen sitting and chatting. The dark blue building where they are sitting has a logo that says ‘Smartpur’. Shahrukh Khan came and gave me a warm welcome as I walked towards the blue building. He is the Centre Coordinator for DEF in Tijara block.
Digital Empowerment Foundation has been working in the district of Barabanki for the last seven years. With one hub center in the village of Saidanpur, DEF has expanded to 60 villages in the district through their entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs are digital trainers, digital service providers, weavers, teachers and community leaders who have made community development their primary goal.
DEF held a stakeholder’s discussion on “The role of the Internet and international Internet-related public policy in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 and possible future pandemics” on 13th August 2021. The discussion focused on low access and connectivity issues, whether new internet applications in the Internet of Things (IoT) and other platforms can be accelerated to overcome…
India is a diverse geopolitical and socio-economic country, where a significant population of people are specially abled. The majority of them face economical exclusion, resulting in dependency on others. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the condition of people with disabilities has turned worst and chances of economic inclusion have fallen drastically. There are schemes run by…
Akhtari had never thought of raising her children alone, but the death of her husband put her through difficult times. With three children to look after and earn a living in Jakhopur village located in Alwar, Rajasthan was undoubtedly a daunting task. With the support from her community people, Akhtari learnt about a scheme run…
Chaitanya Bharati, a young woman from a small town of Andhra Pradesh grew up seeing her father working hard as a daily wager. Being the only child, she was not sure how she would be able to carry the responsibilities of her aging parents, in a society where boys are the only hope. Nevertheless, she…
