[ossig] Bridging the digital divide - Asian Technopreneur of the year

[NP Lee]

Asian Technopreneur of the Year

By Isabelle Chan
Wednesday, November 29 2006 01:37 PM

Satyan Mishra is hoping to bridge the digital divide in one of the
world's most populous nations--India--while making money at the same time.

A saint he may not be, but this 33-year-old has honourable and
altruistic intentions which the world could certainly do more of. It is
people like Mishra who, with their business and technology smarts, are
capable of helping the underdeveloped parts of the world enrich their
lives by gaining access to modern technology and services.

The founder of Drishtee Dot Com told ZDNet Asia that he shares his 
Technopreneur of Year award with his team. "It's a great recognition for 
the entire team of Drishtee. We have all worked hard over the last six 
years to build an organization to service the rural community. In the 
process, we also built processes and the financial discipline which is 
being appreciated now. This Asian Technopreneur award puts Drishtee at 
the forefront of world attention."

Looking back on the early days of the company's development, Mishra 
said: "It has been a tough ride for all of us."

Like most startups, Mishra faced challenges like insufficient capital 
and clout, and not to mention the numerous skeptics who doubted 
Drishtee's vision. Few people saw what he envisioned--the potential of 
bringing infocomm technologies to India's villages.

Thinking out of the box, Mishra and his team has facilitated the 
creation of a rural networking infrastructure through a tiered franchise 
and partnership model. So far, Drishtee has installed 1,020 kiosks 
throughout rural India. Together with local businesses, Drishtee 
delivers a wide range of ICT-based services such as enhanced access to 
e-government, education and healthcare information.

Instead of incurring high costs in terms of transportation and wage 
losses, villagers save time and transport costs by accessing government 
services and information on the kiosks, as they do not need to travel to 
government offices located in faraway cities.

Drishtee's has had other far-reaching positive impact: it has helped to 
create employment opportunities, reversed the tide of rural migration, 
and improved access to information and knowledge. It uses IT as a tool 
for basic education thus creating a new breed of IT-literate generation.

"It's a great recognition for the entire team of Drishtee. We have all 
worked hard over the last six years to build an organization to service 
the rural community."
--Satyan Mishra
founder, Drishtee Dot Com

Despite the company's achievements, a modest Mishra said Drishtee has 
merely created "a foundation".

"The difference is still very small to satisfy us or to make us look 
back," he said. "Today, an ICT kiosk solves just 5 percent of the 
problems by providing services such as computer education, insurance and 
governance services."

"The real impact will come when we start our community-driven services 
like health and micro finance. These services will have a fundamental 
impact on the lives of Indian villagers," he said.

"Last financial year, we hit the 1,000-kisok mark which breaks certain 
barriers of skepticism," he added. "But the next target is an ambitious 
number of 10,000 kiosks in the next three years. We have started the 
rollout and we are keeping our fingers crossed."

Mishra holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Delhi 
University. He has extensive software development experience, and says 
he is "not a techie by education but by profession". He combines his 
managerial and technical expertise to realize his dream of making a 
difference in the lives of ordinary Indian villagers.

Perhaps he is a saint after all.

http://www.zdnetasia.com/toptech/2006/0,39063702,61967019,00.htm