Computers on Wheels (COW) - Mahboobnagar, Andhra Pradesh, India

Organisers found that in an area constrained by language, literacy, and connectivity barriers, simply installing computer telecentres without providing assistance would be insufficient. To that end, a key programme strategy is response to the needs and circumstances of rural people. Two local men in their early twenties were recruited from the villages and provided with training and access to the COW prototype, which is packed into a weather- and shock-proof solar-powered equipment case that carries and recharges the laptop as well as a printer, camera and accessories, and a portable tent for impromptu meetings in open fields. The entire system mounts onto the rear of a dirt bike, which is designed to enable access to villages without passable roads.

Referred to as "Information Providers" (IPs), these men travel from village to village in the evenings (when farmers have more free time) and demonstrate interactive software and content, which is stored on the hard-drive of a laptop computer. If villagers make requests for particular kinds of information, the agents can return to the village after having connected to the Internet elsewhere. In this way, the IP becomes the intermediary through whom information can be channelled to the villagers. Each IP covers 7 villages, amounting to a total of 14 villages currently covered by the project. The project currently provides each IP with a fixed monthly wage; it is hoped that each IP will earn enough revenue from the services he provides to become financially independent from the project.

When the IP arrives via motorbike, villagers have access to the following services:

1. Health queries and replies; agricultural queries and replies
2. Digital images and printing
3. Adult computing education services such as tutoring in Photoshop, word processing, and desktop publishing
4. CD ROMs with local cultural content like mythological stories
5. Web-based services like health exam results.

An inexpensive second COW has been created in part by locals to support enterprise and to hasten the replication of COW. This model is a suitcase supported by solar energy, and filled with a laptop, digital camera, and mobile telephone with GPRS technology to enable Internet connectivity. In addition, a beta version of a medical software tool has been developed to help doctors give medical advice without the patient having to travel to the primary health centre. The IP fills in a web-based multiple-choice questionnaire according to the ailments the patient is experiencing. A digital photograph is taken of any visible symptoms and all the data is uploaded to the COW website. A doctor who volunteers a few hours a week to work with COW views the data online and posts advice on the same website, to be picked up by the IP. Changes in the COW model are being made to make this medical service free of charge, using popular but often non-essential services like events photography to subsidise it.

Agriculture, Technology, Health.

COW villages depend on agriculture; drought is a continual problem. 70% of villagers do not have access to telephones or electricity. In Almaipalle, many women earn their wages by breaking stones to make gravel. In Upparapalle, people walk as far as 2kms to fetch a pot of drinking water.

Future plans for COW include the development of additional digital content and services, including government-related information, market price information, and trading support. A long-term goal is to promote micro-enterprise for women. Organisers hope that COW will eventually reach 227 villages in a 25 km radius.