It?s not often that IT can directly improve people?s lives, but Intel is using new technology initiatives to transform India?s healthcare, education and agriculture sectors in a subtle manner. The long time technology bellwether feels the humble PC is the key to building a better life here. Its R&D factories located in Bangalore too are humming right along, developing innovative solutions for the local market that can also be used by other emerging geographies
At Intel, a global IT company with local operations in about 63 countries, ?Think Globally, Act Locally? is the new mantra for success in the fast-paced technology industry. Its top management is of the firm view that information technology has the ability to improve processes, enhance customer service and open up new revenue opportunities for the business?in today?s emerging markets, especially India. Products and solutions are therefore created and refined based on ongoing research through innovation workshops, lots of direct customer input and over $10 billion of formal R&D annually, says Gregory R Pearson, corporate vice-president and general manager of World Wide Sales and Operations, Intel.
?Emerging markets are the fuel for ICT industry. They are carrying the growth for Intel,? says Pearson adding, ?consumer spending will triple to $20 trillion in the next decade. From an Intel standpoint, our goal is clear, to make India the leading emerging market.? IT market research firm Gartner has forecast that PC shipments in India would reach 12.5 million units in 2012, a 17% increase over 2011. India is expected to move to No 5 spot worldwide in terms of total PC addressable market by 2016. ?The potential in this market is huge with around 80 million households yet to buy a PC,? says Debjani Ghosh, managing director, sales & marketing, Intel South Asia.
Intel began operations in India with a sales office in Bangalore in 1988. What began as a five-man team in 1999, has now grown to a new technology centre spanning three facilities including a sprawling over 40-acre campus in the heart of Bangalore?s IT corridor. Intel India Development Centre, started in 1998, is creating Intel Architecture-based technology solutions for the local market that can also be used by other emerging markets (see box).
While the $54 billion, Santa Clara-based chip maker is excited on new business opportunities in the Indian IT market, it is using new technology initiatives to truly transform India?s healthcare, education and agriculture sectors in a subtle manner. In order to extend healthcare benefits to the rural population in Karnataka, Intel has executed a pilot project at Angodu primary health centre in Davangere district. This single IT innovation is yielding better public health and reducing expensive emergency care visits and hospitalisations. The telemedicine project was the first of its kind in Karnataka where people got their ECG done for no cost. The patients got the best consulting from Narayana Hrudayalaya cardiac surgeons within a few minutes.
The key stakeholders of this project were Intel, Narayana Hrudayalaya, Tata Consultancy Services, SN Informatics, HCITedu, along with the support from Karnataka government.
Intel provided necessary technology support in terms of IT infrastructure and off site technical resources and identified other like-minded solution providers and healthcare providers who could enhance the scope of the clinical diagnostics. The chipmaker worked along with the concerned parties to chalk out a complete proposal with the Karnataka government towards scaling this project.
IT-driven innovation in healthcare is just one example of a larger trend now taking place, feels Intel?s India MD. ?One of the trends we are starting to see is of widespread desire amongst people to seek new opportunities and build a better life. We feel that PCs are central to this desire of transformation of life. In line with this, we are introducing various initiatives to reach out to people and help them explore the power of a personal computer. The idea is to make the computer the central piece of all aspirations that the consumers have about their lives,? she says. ?I do not see myself as one selling computer chips. I see myself as one enriching the lives of people.?
Another IT-driven innovation is in the field of agriculture. Intel?s eAgro IT-enabled social business programme in Odisha seeks to facilitate large-scale rural transformation for small resource farmers. The initiative has been piloted across 12 locations in the state resulting in a significant rise in income for farmers. This has resulted in some farmers breaking even in less than seven months with a significant reduction in fertiliser and labour cost and an almost double increase in seed cost due to guaranteed quality seed at higher price resulting in better germination rate and better yield.
Interestingly, Kerala is the hot-bed for the US chipmaker?s various initiatives. In 2011, IT@school (the Kerala state ICT) department under Kerala government launched the Accelerated SMART school initiative supported by Intel. Under this collaborative programme, Intel helps the state government implement ICT in education, using Intel-powered Classmate PCs, to improve the quality of education, improve ICT ecosystem and very importantly student skills and competitiveness to increased job opportunities.
The Intel Learn Program, rolled out through state-run Akshaya centres (citizen service centres), has trained more than 1,00,000 learners across Kerala. Intel implemented this programme across all 14 districts of Kerala. Since 2004, over 1,00,000 learners aged 8 to 25 years have been trained, gaining skills in digital literacy, critical thinking and collaboration skills. The Akshaya centres in Kerala have transformed over the years from being a facilitator of e-literacy programmes to being a government-to-citizen services provider. In addition, Akshaya centres provide self-employment to over 3,000 people, with three to five people employed at each of the 1,300 centres statewide.
In the month of August, Intel initiated the National Digital Literacy Mission. This initiative is supported by Nasscom, Dell, HP, Lenovo, NIIT and Microsoft. The National Digital Literacy Mission will work on spreading awareness and creating relevance of digital literacy in the country. Intel is collaborating with NGOs to impart digital literacy through its programme called the Intel Easy Steps. ?We have several initiatives under the Intel Education initiatives like Intel Teach, Intel Learn, ISEF, IRIS, Intel Future Scientist, Intel Embedded Challenge amongst others. We are on track to train 1.8 million teachers, impact 180k learners and 30k higher education learners by reaching out to 7.5k faculty across 500 colleges, by 2013,? says Ghosh.
In sum total, Ghosh feels that IT-driven innovation in India cannot be an Intel only effort. ?So far, we have seen only pockets of excellence in various parts of the country. However, it is not enough and we need to scale up. Political will is needed and empowerment through technology has to be made a national agenda,? she summarises.
Local Innovations
(Some examples of how Intel?s technology is helping the cause of the common people)
* Magic Studio
A powerful user-friendly and portable desktop solution which will transform the classroom into a dynamic interactive learning environment. It is an integrated/all-in-one interactive projector, computer, DVD player, amplifier, powered with 30 W speakers. It has been used in state government schools for aiding teachers to impart knowledge in a very effective manner to students and also make learning a little more interesting compared to the conventional ways.
* ESSAE
The public distribution system project in Karnataka uses an Intel-powered platform which combines three functions?weighing scale, point of sale and biometric and also supports local language. It brings in the automation aspect in improving the efficiency of the public distribution system while addressing the transparency in the overall process. Food is one of the three fundamental needs of common people and this is a great example of Intel?s tech helping the cause of the common people.
