The technology revolution in the 21st century
has made an impact on most part of the world. However, a
certain section of the masses has been deprived of these
technological revolution. HP Labs in Bangalore, is working
on ways to bridge the ‘digital divide’ in its various forms,
between rich and poor, computer literate and computer illiterate,
urban and rural communities.
“The model developed by the lab is based
on the needs of individuals. Based on these needs, our aim
is to build an ecosystem of companies who work on new products
and technologies,” said Ajay Gupta, director, HP Labs India.
According to NCAER, by 2006-07 the mid-tier
market size would be estimated at 157.2 million household
with population of 904 million. “This is the consuming class.
The rich class, considered as those who can afford the latest
technologies, is just 5.2 million household. We are targeting
to meet the latent needs of the mid-tier market,” said Mr
Gupta.
According to Mr Gupta, HP Lab worked on
three principles. “First, any product that HP Labs comes
out with should be affordable. Second, less or no dependence
on English and the third, reaching people beyond the PC,”
he said.
Keeping these in mind, HP Labs has come
out with Script Mail, a device to send e-mails without any
language barrier. “The device treats the script as an image.
So the user can write mails in his familiar language and
it will be received in the same language,” added Mr Gupta.
Along with this, HP Labs has come out with
a Voice Portal. “This is a kind of voice blog. If a farmer
wants to know the price of a certain commodity, he can just
use the voice portal. The voice portal will provide him
the details, just like in the case of a call centre,” he
said.
The third technology that the centre is
working on is enhanced form of audio/video transmission
through television broadcasting. “Televisions have penetrated
into the village level. Most of the families have a television
set with them. We want to provide information through television
broadcasting,” said Mr Gupta. A farmer can get the information
about a particular crop, while watching ‘Krishi Darshan’
or any such program. He can even take the print out of details.
“Already technology for this is ready. We are working with
broadcaster level,” he said.
All the products have completed ab trials
and devices are ready for field deployment. The company
is looking at licensing these products to reach the masses.
HP Labs is also planning to make its ‘Script Mail’ available
in STD/ISD telephone booths.
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