Day 0: May 31, 2001

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Participants assemble in Pune for bus trip to Baramati.

Venue: HOTEL BLUE DIAMOND, Pune.

6:30 p.m. Departure for Baramati

9:30 pm Reach Baramati and settle in.

10:00 pm Dinner

Day 1: June 1, 2001

8:30 – 9:00 am Reception & Coffee

9:00 – 10:30 am Inauguration: Hon. Shri Pramod Mahajan, Minister of Information Technology, Government of India*

Opening Remarks: Motoo Kusakabe, * Vice President, Resource Mobilization and Co-Financing World Bank

And Usha Rao-Monari,* Country Head IFC, India

Keynote Address: Sam Pitroda, CEO WorldTel*

Dr. Vijay Bhatkar – Creator of PARAM*

Introduction to the Workshop

R. Venkateswaran*, The World Bank, Akhtar Badshah*, Digital Partners and Mr. Amol Goje*, Director, VIIT, Baramati, Satish Jha, CMD, James Martin and Company

10:30 – 10:45 am Coffee Break

10:45 – 12:15 pm Session I: ICT as a Tool for Empowerment: Developing Appropriate Content for the Poor

Chair: Hon. Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of Parliament, Government of India*

Panel Presentations (15 Minutes Each)

· Satyan Mishra, CEO, Drishtee.com*

· K. Raghunandan, India Agriline.com*

· Gopal Rajagopalan, Managing Director SchoolNet, India*

· Prof. Monica Raina, IIM - A, E-Governance Program*

Plenary Discussion

Session will address issues such as the following:

· How can information technology be used to provide government services more effectively to the poor?

How can community organizations contribute to the development of solutions and appropriate content and technology?

· How can information technology be used to give voice to the poor in local and national decision-making?

12:15 – 1:30 pm Lunch

Address: Paul Mylrea, Editor AlertNet – Reuters Foundation*

Keynote Address: Dr. Manu Seth, Chairman and MD, Gyanada*

1:30 – 3:15 pm Session II: ICT as a Tool for Empowerment: Providing Access and Connectivity to the Poor

Chair: Dr. Vijay Bhatkar – PARAM

Panel Presentations (15 Minutes Each)

· Reema Nanavati, SEWA*

· Sunil Abraham, MAHITI*

· Ashok Khosla and Satish Jha TARAhaat*

· Vijay Pratap Singh, Sristi*

Plenary Discussion

Session will address issues such as the following:

· How can e-commerce and e-credit be expanded to reach poor communities?

· What are the physical, institutional and regulatory challenges and limitations to expanding access of ICT to the poor?

· What kinds of major infrastructure investments are required in order to provide access to new technologies for the poor?

· How to expand information and knowledge exchange that supports better service provision and networking among communities and development practitioners at the local level?

3:15 – 3:30 pm Coffee Break

3:30 – 5:15 pm Session III: Sustainable Financing for Poor People’s Networks

Chair: Usha Rao-Monari, Country Manager IFC, India *

Panel Presentations (15 Minutes Each)

· Shibani Sachdeva, PlaNet Finance*

· K. Srinivas, Hindustan Lever Limited, India*

· Vinay Chawla, SKS Foundation*

· Dave Arnold, e.Fund LLC*

Plenary Discussion

Session will address issues such as the following:

· What resources are available for financing of innovative efforts for providing better access for the poor to markets and to information?

· What are some examples of efforts by donor agencies, foundations and other organizations for bringing information communication technology to the poor?

· How can venture capital funds be organized in ways that allow proven, profitable and innovative ideas to access sustainable financing on a large scale?

· What are some examples of sustainable and profitable business models that can be replicated on a large scale?

5:15 – 6:30 pm Participants Create Thematic Interest Groups, Select Group in Which to Participate, and Set Out Broad Strategies

· What specific plans of action, with collaboration among all stakeholders, can lead to spreading innovative ideas to reach a broader range and number of potential users?

· These breakout sessions will aim to identify specific problems faced by peoples in the developing world, which may potentially have a solution, or at least part of a solution, in information technology.

During the breakout session, participants will develop 4 – 6 work groups around topical interests. The organizers are proposing two breakout sessions:

1. Sponsored by the Reuters Foundation Digital Vision Fellowship Program to discuss their new program that gives technologists from around the world the opportunity to spend a year at Stanford University building IT solutions to developing world problems. This session will discuss specific solutions or part solution that could be developed further by the Reuters Foundation Digital Vision Fellows.

2. Incorporating ICT into the Reconstruction Effort in Kutch.

7:00 – 8:30 pm Dinner

Address: Michael Best*, MIT Media Lab

Keynote Address: F.C. Kohli*, Former Chairman, TATA

Consultancy Services

After Dinner Working Session: Participants Meet in Thematic Groups to Begin Brainstorming

Day 2: June 2, 2001

9:00 – 9:30 am Plenary: Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala*, IIT Madras and

9:45 – 10:00 am Coffee Break

10:00 – 11:45 am Thematic Interest Groups: Developing Action

11:45 – 12:30 pm Plenary: Progress Report on Action Plans and Discussion

12:30 – 2:00 pm Lunch

Address: Robert Schware*, Senior Informatics Specialist, World Bank

Keynote Address: Usha Rao-Monari*, Country Head, IFC, India

2:00 – 3:45 pm Session IV: Creating Linkages for Scaling-Up Innovations

Chair: Ram Takwale, Emeritus Professor, Pune University, Advisor, Dishnet DSL*

Panel Presentations (10 Minutes Each)

· Akhtar Badshah*, Executive Director, Digital Partners

· Vasant Gangawane*, Samruddhi

· Swami Manohar*, Simputer, Indian Institute of Technology

· Dr. Edson Kenji Kondo*, Senior Fellow, Institute of Advanced Studies, United Nations University

· Bjron-Soren Gigler*, Development Gateway Team, The World Bank

Plenary Discussion

· How to enable further dialogue among alliances of the poor and local and national stakeholders?

· How to facilitate the two-way transfer of knowledge and skills among local and national actors?

3:45 – 4:00 pm Coffee Break

4:00 – 5:30 pm Thematic Interest Groups: Finalize Plans

5:30 – 7:00 pm Plenary Discussion: Ideas and Next Steps

7:30 pm Dinner

Valedictory Address:

Hon. Shri Chandra Babu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (tentative)

Shri Rajendra Pawar, CEO, NIIT (tentative)

Vote of Thanks

Hon. Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of Parliament, Government of India*

Day 3: June 3, 2001

8:30 am Participants take bus to Pune for return travel.

Stopping on the way for visit local village using ICT for expanding access to markets and information.

Confirmed Speakers

Conference Sponsors:

The World Bank

Vidya Pratishthan's Institute of Information Technology

Digital Partners

James Martin and Company

Conference Supporters:
Hindustan Lever Limited

Reuters Foundation