Abstract

The case study ‘Making of Aakash: The World’s Cheapest Tablet’ discusses how the world’s cheapest tablet Aakash was developed by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Government of India, along with its various partners. The MHRD’s dream of providing a low cost tablet to every student under the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology resulted in the creation of Akash. The case study discusses the various challenges faced by the MHRD in the process of developing Aakash and how the challenges were overcome. It provides sufficient scope to understand the tablet industry, especially the low cost tablet segment. The case study also provides significant scope to examine the impact of the Aakash tablet and its potential to become a ‘Game Changer’ in the tablet industry, especially in developing countries.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the Indian Tablet Industry and the evolution of ‘Aakash’, an ambitious project of the Government of India
• Understand how governments can set an audacious goal for themselves and work with various partners to turn it into reality
• Understand the challenges faced by the Government of India in the development of Aakash
• Analyze the potential of Aakash and its social and economical impact

Keywords

Low cost tablet, Aakash, India, IIT Rajasthan, IIT Kanpur, Hivision Co., Ltd, Suneet Singh Tuli, Datawind Ltd, National Mission on Education Through Information and Communication Technology, NME-ICT, tablet industry, Olive Telecom, Samsung Tablet, iPad, Apple, Research in Motion (RIM), Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, Thailand, Panama, Italy, One Laptop Per Child, OLPC, Education, Online education, Vellore Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Aakash II, Sakshat, Kapil Sibal