Making of Aakash: The World's Cheapest Tablet
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Case Code: PROM012 Case Length: 17 Pages Period: 2006-2012 Pub Date: 2012 Teaching Note: Not Available |
Price: Rs.500 Organization: Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Government of India, Datawind Limited Industry: Tablet Countries: India Themes: Project Management, Public-Private Partnership, Infrastructure |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts
Introduction
On October 5, 2011, the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Government of India, launched the much awaited ultra low cost tablet 'Aakash'. The Made in India Aakash tablet would be available in the retail market at a fraction of the price of Apple's iPad, the popular tablet from Apple Inc. The Government of India was buying this device from Datawind Limited5 (Datawind) for US$ 50 and providing it to students at a subsidized price of US$ 35. The tablet was also to be made available at retail stores with some extra features at a maximum price of US$ 60. On the successful launch of the Aakash tablet, - Kapil Sibal (Sibal), Telecom and Human Resource Development Minister, Government of India, said, "The rich have access to the digital world, the poor and ordinary have been excluded. Aakash will end that digital divide."
An industry observer noted that the launch of a low cost tablet was very important, especially in a country like India where there was a lack of proper education at all the levels and poverty was rampant. Kit Eaton wrote in his article published at FastCompany.com, "It's of course admirable that the Indian government and technology companies wanted to develop their own low-cost educational machine. After all, this is a country that has orbital satellite launching capability where simultaneously 85% of the population was living on less than US$ 2.50 per day (in 2005 at least.) And trying to improve the education of so many impoverished children is a wonderful goal."
Some industry observers were rather skeptical about Aakash's capability to transform education in India. Satish Jha (Jha), President and CEO, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), India project wrote in his article published in Economics Times , "It is unlikely Aakash will address the key demands of India's education. It is designed to be an access device that can be used by someone already educated enough to use it. But 95% children of India need to get to a point where they can begin learning."
Some analysts claimed that the tablet would not only have a positive impact on the education sector but would also lead to positive changes in the healthcare and other sectors besides improving internet penetration in the country. In his study, Rajat Kathuria (Kathuria), External Consultant at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER),13 stated that the Indian economy could grow 10.08% faster with every 10% increase in the internet and broadband connections in the country. All this would become possible by the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NME-ICT) under which the Aakash tablet had been developed to provide education to a vast majority of learners with ease, as and when they demanded it...
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