ICTs to empower Kerala villagers through information

Citizens of Kannur district (northern part of the Kerala state in India) at the click of the mouse or through a phone call will soon be able to access all kinds of local information. Anything from the sale of a cow, job vacancies or even find brides and grooms!

Akshaya, (state wide ICT project by the Government of Kerala) with support from UNESCO has just operationalised an innovative initiative for the creation of community portals in local language (Malayalam). The primary objective is to create content in local language using free and open software at the various local bodies in Kannur district and for the local communities.

Initially, the project will develop community portals for the District Panchayat, one Municipality and nine Gram Panchayats from Kannur district. The portal will comprise vital information such as: history of the community; organizations; eminent personalities; places of interest; different services/schemes offered by the local self-government; information regarding agriculture; business ventures; products; local job vacancies; educational details; health information; legal rights; local events; interactive forums; e-newsletters providing information on new technological trends and innovations etc.

Content will be produced on an ongoing basis by community reporters appointed in each of the chosen panchayats under the active leadership of Akshaya entrepreneurs and facilitated by the Akshaya District office in Kannur.

To address the issue of sustainability the portals would aim at local advertisements, web based yellow pages and e-business at the local level. In addition to having such database, an information-over-a-phone-call model is envisioned where community members could also call an Akshaya centre to get information.

As part of Finding a Voice project, Ethnographic Action Research (EAR) methodology is being used to understand issues and information needs of the target communities. It is envisaged that research will be able to strengthen the community portal initiative and adapt it to a scalable model.

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For more information log onto http://www.akshaya.net/