'Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur' (EKUKA): Intel's Initiative to Boost Digitization in Rural India

Issues:

» Understand Intel’s initiative to augment digitization in rural India
» Understand the EKUKA program of Intel to drive technology-enabled transformation at the grassroots of rural India.
» Analyze Intel’s partnership with Common Service Centers and MyGov for effective execution of rural digitization programs.
» Discuss and debate whether Intel’s initiative for rural digitization is in line with the ‘Digital India’ initiative of the government.

Introduction

On November 18, 2015, the Indian arm of technology giant Intel Corporation (Intel) launched the ‘Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur’ (One step toward progress) (EKUKA) initiative in association with the national and regional governments to usher in digital literacy in rural India. Under EKUKA, Intel set up Unnati Kendras at select Common Service Centers across eleven states in India where it introduced and trained the citizens on how to use a computer to transform their lives. The program aimed to empower non-urban citizens through technology enabled transformation measures at the grass-root level. Commenting on the strategy behind the campaign, Sandeep Aurora (Aurora), Director, Marketing and Market Development Head, South Asia, Intel, said, “We looked at the data points and we realised that PC penetration in India is still low. It is at 10-11%, compared to other countries like Brazil, Russia, US and China which are in the range of 50-70%. This is actually pulling India back from its own competitive standpoint in the market. We decided to find out the reasons behind this low penetration. We realised that, fundamentally a lot of people say I want a PC, but they don’t know when they want it. Or probably they think they need one for their business, but consider it very difficult for use. The question of relevance comes to the consumer’s mind. To address this issue that PC is not an expense but an integral part of their life, we have launched our new campaign.” ..