May, 2025
Cover Story
At the heart of Digital Empowerment Foundation’s mission lies a simple yet powerful belief: everyone, regardless of where they live or what language they speak, should have equitable access to digital tools, knowledge, and opportunities. This month’s newsletter focuses on digital resilience and how DEF is helping communities cope with digital changes. Read more
Digital Op-Ed
AI-detection tools must compel us to question—exactly whose tongue the AI speaks? Since large language models mimic human voices trained for their algorithms, it is ironic when one is accused of imitating the machine. Since the machine has learned from us, this tongue is undoubtedly ours. It fuels one to ponder whether a more profound bias in our digital tools leads us to suspect those who manage to sound articulate. More importantly, who does society think deserves to sound like a wordsmith?
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Stories from the Ground
Access and Infrastructure
In the small village of Mithiyawas, nestled in the Tijara tehsil of Alwar district, Rajasthan, lives 65-year-old Ramkali. A widow, she has been managing her life with the help of her widow’s pension. However, for the past three to four months, she had not received her pension, making her daily life increasingly difficult. Unaware of the reason behind the stoppage, Ramkali struggled in silence. Read more
Women’s contributions to building holistic communities have long gone unrecognised. Often, the silent workforce, their commitment and labour remain overlooked. However, initiatives like Smartpur, a digital village ecosystem, are helping change that narrative by providing women a platform to harness their skills, become entrepreneurs, and lead their information centres. Read more
Education and Empowerment
Pammi Shukla, a Digital Sarthak from the village of Naseempur in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, is an inspiring figure in her community. At 30, she has become a beacon of empowerment not only for her own family but also for countless women and girls in her village. Her commitment and longstanding association with the Digital Empowerment Foundation over the past four years have made her a symbol of positive change, first as a Digital Sarthak, and now as a proud Digital Didi. Read more
A Media and Information Literacy (MIL) workshop was organised in Bagpur, Cachar, Assam, drawing 54 participants from diverse backgrounds, including local youth, members of Self-Help Groups (SHGs), and other community members. The workshop aimed to equip participants with the tools to critically assess information, identify misinformation, and engage more responsibly with digital platforms. Read more
Market & Social Enterprises
Rosna never imagined that her jute products, once crafted quietly in a corner of her home, would one day be displayed proudly in a pop-up shop in Islampur, Murshidabad. She never imagined strangers would walk in, touch her weaves, ask about the patterns, listen to the stories behind them, and walk away with something she had poured her hands and heart into. Read more
Elaiya, a nursing diploma holder and 22-year-old mother of two, resides in Pudumund, Ooty. Although well-educated, she has always been passionate about traditional handloom art, particularly the Toda embroidery work she grew up seeing at home and in her community. This craft, passed down through generations, is now fading, which deeply saddens her. Elaiya envisions a future where this art thrives as a substantial business. Read more
Governance and Citizen Services
Karthika Rajenderan, a resident of Masinaickenpatty in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, has emerged as a strong pillar of empowerment in her community. She was selected as a Soochnapreneur by the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) and was provided with an e-service centre near her home. This opportunity has enabled her to offer digital and financial literacy services to people in her area, especially women, helping them improve their livelihoods and confidence. Read more
In the remote Gram Panchayat of Bhagwanpura, located in Neemuch district, Madhya Pradesh, 80-year-old Ghisi Gurjar has witnessed a quiet but powerful transformation. Living in a region where education is scarce and agriculture is the mainstay, villagers like Ghisi have long struggled to access essential services due to limited transport options. Read more
Research and Advocacy
The session delved into the dual-edged nature of end-to-end encrypted (E2E) messaging platforms, highlighting their role in safeguarding human rights and their potential misuse in political manipulation. Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat, Policy Advisor on Technology and Law at the NYU Stern Centre for Business and Human Rights presented findings from a comprehensive study spanning 17 countries, revealing how political operatives exploit features of encrypted messaging apps to disseminate propaganda and influence elections. Read more
The Development Policy and Practice Conference 2025 brought together academics, lawmakers, and practitioners to talk about the most important problems of our time. The world is still trying to figure out how to deal with issues like inequality, social justice, and development. The meeting, which took place at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) in Hyderabad... Read more
Regular Features
Oral Bytes
Empowering Women's Health with Digital Innovation
Empowering Villages Through Technology
Expert Says
Addressing Bias and Discrimination: Building Responsible AI with Big Data
At the Digital Citizen Summit 2024, this thought-provoking lightning session dives into the critical issue of bias and discrimination in AI systems and the role of big data in fostering responsible innovation. Delivered by Rahul Paith, CEO of MATH, the session highlights how biases can seep into AI models at multiple levels—data collection, design, and societal usage—resulting in flawed outcomes that impact healthcare, recruitment, and financial systems.
Rahul underscores the social responsibility of addressing data biases, emphasising that creating fair and accurate AI solutions is not solely the job of AI engineers but requires collective effort from society at large. The session demonstrates how biased data can perpetuate inequalities, misdiagnosis, and flawed decisions through examples in healthcare diagnostics, hiring systems, and fintech solutions. The session calls for a holistic approach to remove biases at every stage—from data generation to algorithm design—ensuring AI systems serve society responsibly and equitably. A must-watch for anyone committed to ethical AI development and tackling discrimination in the digital age.
eChampion
The article below is from November 2016. For Indians, this month and year are not easily forgettable. With stated aims of curbing 'black money' and controlling the informal economy, the government had decided to demonetise the highest two denominations of currency, leading to chaos, long queues, confusion, and even hunger and deaths. Read more