Dell India Pvt Ltd. (Dell) in collaboration with Learning Links Foundation (LLF) organized a Roundtable to provide the public domain stakeholders a neutral platform to understand and explore the role of technology in the fields of Environment, Education, Community Development and Governance. The Roundtable was well attended by representatives from various Governmental, Non – Governmental, Corporate and Civil society agencies to discuss unique engagement models and solution sets.

The proceedings commenced with the welcome note, wherein brief backgrounds of both Dell and LLF and also the objective of the roundtable was shared with the audience.

Dr. Subhash Pani, Chairman Planning Commission

The guest of Honor, Dr Subhash Pani, Chairman Planning Commission, in the inaugural session of the roundtable, shared the Priorities and Major Programs of the Government and stated that technology was an integral part of the developmental spectrum. He outlined desired goals of the National Knowledge Networks -the objective of which is to provide Education Facilities across the country and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme- to provide adequate employment opportunities in the rural segment, in order to prevent mass migration to the urban areas. He also mentioned the importance of the premier programs of the government of India, like National Old Age pension Scheme & Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. His vision was to have technology reach all parts of the country beginning with hardwired connectivity on the highways

Dr. Pani’s philosophy caught the attention of the audience “To win wars we have to win battles first “. As in India: a vast country with great numbers, to reach out to all the one billion citizens, we need first to reach out to cities, blocks, tehsils and then cover all the villages.

Mr. Paul Bell, Vice President, Public, Dell

Mr. Paul Bell, Vice President, Public, Dell, in his key note address thanked Dr Pani for sharing the government views and perspectives and shared a brief of the focus areas under the CSR program of Dell.

Mr. Bell expressed the need to best leverage the available IT resources and competencies to focus on the problems at the ground level, especially in the areas of Governance, Education and Environment. He felt that Public Private Partnership using Web Based E-Commerce models would help bring in efficiency in any government system and maximize benefits and reach in a vast country like India. He was glad that Education seemed to be the special focus of the Indian Government He felt that intelligent /connected classrooms and Curriculum transacted through satellites would greatly help in their endeavor.

Mr. Bell concluded by recalling Dell’s commitment to Green IT which runs deep within the organization’s policies. He felt that there should be a strong correlation between IT investment and Environment and that Energy efficient programs should be encouraged. Affordable IT solutions, he felt were the answer to a lot of issues in the country be it Regarding Health Care or Security.

Dr. Leena Shrivastav

Dr. Leena Shrivastav from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi commenced the discussion on the Environment Theme. She was of the opinion that in India, the rapidly growing population, along with a move toward urbanization and industrialization, has placed significant pressure on the economic development of the country and created a variety of environmental problems.
Dr. Shrivastav was glad that the IT industry shared concerns about the environment and believed that ICT had the potential of creating solutions to environmental problems. The discussion was opened to the audience who expressed their valuable opinions on the subject.

Mr. V Raghuraman, Former Senior Advisor - Energy Policies, Environment Division, CII, recommended that real opportunity lies in reaching to the villages through user friendly ICT. Mr. Regunathan, Advisor, National Knowledge Commission suggested that solutions for the environment need to be found by both industry and government working together in a big way. Mr. Neeraj from Dell shared his concern about energy resources while Mr. Chetan from Dell shared that there has been some level of sensitiveness on E-Waste. Key note speaker, Mr. Paul Bell suggested that the Dell recycling program which has been implemented in the European Countries could be taken up in India also.

Mrs. Leena Shrivastav from TERI concluded the session by reminding everyone of the pressing need of a Public Private Partnership to address this issue and take more ownership to find solutions.

Mr. Shantanu Prakash, CEO, Educomp Solutions Ltd

Mr. Shantanu Prakash, CEO Educomp Solutions Ltd, began the session on Education, by sharing with the audience the monumental challenges of education in India where despite having a million schools, large numbers of students are still out of school. He added that there was a huge digital divide between the Private and the Government Schools and this equity problem could be solved by using IT. While applauding the innovative Education programs of the Government like SSA, EDUSAT he felt the need to change the curriculum from Teacher Centric to Student Centric and suggested that Satellites be used to broadcast lessons to touch the remotest corner of the country.

Mr. Shankar Agarwal, Joint Secretary, DIT, said that the huge number of Indian youth should be turned into a huge asset else it will put great burden on the system. Ms Shakila Shamsu, Joint Advisor Planning Commission, shared details of the ICT Mission in Education that ICT be used effectively to change the curriculum to student centric and the content to suit local languages. Mr. Binay Pattnaik, Senior Consultant, MHRD shared that Technology is helping to expose the learners to good practices and a lot of collaboration is taking place. Ms Huma Masood, National Program Officer Education, UNESCO suggested that in order to reach all segments we must have a pool of ICT resources applicable to rural segment as well.

The next issue raised was on the governance theme and how to better e-governance to maintain the balance between strategizing, coordination and action.

Mr. Sameer Kochhar, President of Skoch Development Foundation

Mr. Sameer Kochhar, President of Skoch Development Foundation began the session by sharing that the governments focus on its e-Governance Plan can be helped a great deal by Private Sector initiatives. Mr S Senthilkumaran, Programme Director, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation was of the opinion that while the curriculum should be a joyful learning experience but that was possible only by developing locale - specific content (functional literacy modules) and linking with rural education programs particularly, to create a knowledge based society. Education networks like ISRO’s EDUSAT should concentrate on -- developing programs for each region-- based on local context, culture and current scientific developments / innovations.

Mr. Vivek Mansingh

Mr. Vivek Mansingh of Dell in his vote of thanks shared that in order to be successful we have to innovate and not copy the solutions and with the help of technology the learners across the country can be reached. He said that Dell was committed to working with the Indian government to make a difference.