The Smart Community Interface Programme aims to develop a community-owned and managed model of information management that uses information and communication technologies to improve the quality of life of village communities in areas with limited physical access and connectivity. 

The Smart Community Interface programme will put together the hardware architecture, content and software applications; and management mechanisms for village-level information-communication systems in remote villages without regular internet/mobile access.

The programme began in April 2018 in the form of a technology action research project focussing on selected villages in Thuamul Rampur block in Kalahandi and Jagannath Prasad block in Ganjam. At the outset, the focus was to build technology interface in four areas.

• Agriculture information for farmers – price information from markets and inputs for improved agronomic practices
• Health and nutrition information for women and adolescent girls
• Services to migrant workers – communication with left-behind families and easier remittances
• Education – smarter learning opportunities for children in the villages

We have tested the hardware configuration at the village level and used Raspberry Pi devices to set up village-wide networks, which connects to smartphones of each user. 

In agriculture, Gram Vikas tied up with Vriddhi Rural Prosperity, a start-up social enterprise for their ‘I am Kisan’ Android application. Villages in Jagannath Prasad block of Ganjam have taken up I-am-Kisan-based farm sector interventions.

Other aspects of the programme related to software development, institutional arrangements and business model development are being taken up.

We are in the second year of this programme. Know more about it here: https://bit.ly/2Z7FLI8