Osama Manzar is the Founder-Director of Digital Empowerment Foundation and Chair of Manthan and mBillionth Awards. He is member, advisory board, at Alliance for Affordable Internet and has co-authored NetCh@kra–15 Years of Internet in India and Internet Economy of India. He tweets @osamamanzar. Manzar’s complete bio can be read here.
The status of the BharatNet project and the government’s claims need to be taken with a large dose of salt
DetailsThis article was first published by Mint on April 27, 2018. There are close to 7,100 living languages in the world but as many as 90% of them are spoken by less than 100,000 people in the world, according to Ethnologue, an annual publication on world languages. In India, where there are more than 780…
DetailsWe need quality infrastructure to truly allow institutions to leverage information and communication technology (ICT) in education
DetailsWe are moving towards a time where a script would no more be the medium of dependency for literacy or governance or even communication
DetailsIt’s time we put an end to an education system that produces passive consumers of textbook information, and rekindle the knowledge system that produces inquisitive minds, active innovators and conscious citizens
DetailsMandatory linking of the public distribution system to Aadhaar has made access to some basic needs, especially ration, even more difficult for some
DetailsTo truly prevent incidents of hate speech online, there is a need for a massive campaign that sensitizes people towards media consumption and helps them differentiate between free speech and hate speech
DetailsOur government websites are just an archive of digital formats of printed pieces of information. Their character hasn’t changed, neither has their appearance
DetailsCollective efforts must be put in place to protect children from the negative effects of the internet
DetailsA world where a few companies control the way we live is a frightening one. These companies have already asserted their dominance—zero net neutrality will only give them monopoly status
DetailsWe have a long way to cover before we can make quality internet connectivity a reality in this nation that envisions a Digital India
DetailsIt has been 15 years since we took an oath to work with the poorest of the poor in rural India to fight information poverty
DetailsConcrete and long-term efforts are required to include specially-abled persons under the National Digital Literacy Mission
DetailsFemales make up for almost 50% of the world population; yet the proportion of women using the internet is 12% lower than the proportion of men using the internet worldwide
DetailsBlocking communication channels as part of shutdowns will only push people to find alternative ways of resistance, dissent and communication: the crux of a democracy
DetailsThe death of the tribal girl Santoshi Kumari, 11, in Jharkhand was caused not due to lack of availability of food, but due to the lack of access to available food
DetailsWhile all of the post offices in India are supposed to have internet (and be digitized by the end of the year), internet connectivity is non-functional at several units
DetailsWith the government gung-ho about a Digital India and Smart India, here are a few apps that it can develop to bring in accountability, transparency, efficiency
DetailsDilip Tripathi, a businessman from Lucknow, used his personal savings of Rs20 lakh to transform Hasuri Ausanpur into Digital Hasuri
DetailsFor more than three-fourths of the population that is yet to be connected, the information superhighway is a long and winding road
DetailsIndia has neither looked at communication nor information as ‘private’. There is also little understanding of private life in India.
DetailsEquipped with MeraApp, which comes with information on government schemes, the SoochnaPreneurs serve their community with information and digital services
DetailsInternet has a lot to offer to tribes living in forests, as rural connectivity can ensure better access to government schemes, entitlements and rights
DetailsUse of a simple smartphone can ensure equitable access to facilities, challenging patriarchal insensitivity and facilitating gender equality
DetailsIt is time for India to restructure itself in order to offer skills and jobs of the future—a future where jobs aren’t only a source of income but also to create a peaceful, information-rich society
DetailsThere is a need for electronics consumers to become conscious users of their gadgets, and for the govt to take a more proactive role in ensuring that e-waste is recycled under proper international guidelines
DetailsThis article was first published in the Mint on July 26, 2017. Early life on the planet was self-sustainable, that is how nature and humans coexisted. If someone needed shelter, they built a home with resources indigenously available to them. If someone was hungry, they hunted for food in their vicinity. Over a period of…
DetailsWhen women hold technology in their hands, they never fail to do wonders
DetailsThe situation of daily-wage earners, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, transgenders has not improved over the years
DetailsProvided with scooters equipped with a tablet and a mobile hotspot to offer digital literacy and digital services, women can be mentored to become entrepreneurs
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