Develop regional portals
Portals are Web sites offering easy access to information about specific geographic areas, services or markets A regional portal can present a distinctive face to the global marketplace as well as making it easier for rural communities to source local goods and services electronically, thus helping to arrest business leakage. It can also be a means for the local businesses using e-commerce to negotiate better deals with Internet Service Providers and financial institutions by aggregating their demand

An approach for “Rural” Indian IT
Steps for possible use of computer in local languages like “Lipi” software and Computers specially designed in Indian ‘mass market’ such as ‘Simputer’ and ‘iStation’ should be made available. It is also necessary to increase the popularity of operating systems and the content in local languages which makes it easy for the rural folks.

Creation of learning Infrastructure
Create a learning infrastructure to satisfy then huge unmet demand for skill development and IT education among the rural population. Creation of learning infrastructure which may evoke sufficient response for using it for e-commerce and other IT applications - An example has been cited of a backward semiarid sparsely populated district of Rajasthan, where more than 100 computer training centers have been opened under the franchise of popular brand names in the field of computer training. These centers are meant to run along commercial lines. High enrolment has been observed despite total absence of ‘reliable connectivity’ in the district. It may also help in improving the interaction between the various stakeholders in society seen through efforts like Lokmitra (http://www.himachal.nic.in/lokmitra.htm) in Himachal Pradesh, Naidisha (http://naidisha.nic.in/) in Haryana, etc.

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* Contributed by -
Lijo Isac,
MBA (FT), Batch of 2006,
Faculty Of Management Studies,
Delhi University, Delhi.