DEF launches Digital Emergency Relief Program
Shivkumari, an Internet Saathi from Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, is currently producing 300 masks per day and is supplying it to the local hospitals. At the time of writing, she had received an order
Roti, Kapda, Makan ya Internet?
Roti, Kapda, Makan (trans. Food, Clothing, and Shelter) has been the refrain resonating throughout India’s tryst with social and economic development from Independence until the present times. These basic needs characterize the modalities of survival and their acquisition signals a foot out of the threshold of poverty. Today, despite significant progressive steps towards social and…
Smartpurs’ fight against coronavirus
The world is facing a threat of coronavirus with the World Health Organisation declaring it as a pandemic. But it does not change the fact that one can avoid being affected by following simple precautionary steps. Our Smartpur center co-ordinators across India ensured that there is no panic and spread of misinformation surrounding coronavirus. They…
Digital Rights Foundation
Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) is working to create a pool of resources to help women netizens remain safe and secure online. They launched Hamara Internet (Our Internet) campaign to encourage use of Internet among women in Pakistan by teaching them how to protect their online rights. The initiative was selected as a Winner for Digital…
Elders for Digital Inclusion
Dr. Amita Joseph Director, Business & Community Foundation (BCF) It is high time that no one is left behind, in the current interconnected world, we have to help the elderly to learn and reap the benefits of the digital era. In India, there are 106 million elderly of which 98 % of them do not…
Women’s labour as disguised employment in informal sector
As a part of our ongoing research on empowering rural communities digitally, the research department of Digital Empowerment Foundation produced two reports on Understanding Agriculture and ICT Practices in India and Enhancing Livelihood of Artisans and Weavers in Knowledge Economy in the month of February 2020. Both the reports have tried to shed light on…
Soochnapreneur ensures quality maternal healthcare
Mohini, a resident of Saidanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is a housewife. Due to her husband’s busy schedule she was unable to get regular checkups during her pregnancy. Pooja Devi, one of the DEF’s Soochnapreneurs, with her smartphone and internet met her and the first thing she did was to link her to the maternity benefit program…
GOAL knows no age
Navti, a 42-year-old mentee from Village Sawroli of Palgarh District, Maharashtra, has been supporting her family financially since the age of 10. She started as a next-door babysitter and earned bare minimum wages. But soon her capabilities and integrity attracted bigger opportunities and she moved to Mumbai to be an in-house babysitter. She travelled internationally…
Enabling equal access, equal rights
Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) supported by US India Policy Institute (USIPI) has set up eight community information resource. Most of these places do not even have a motorable road or direct transport. But the coordinators of these digital centers with the help of their laptops and internet ensure access to information to them. One of…