DesiCrew is a unique Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) initiative that provides high volume data related services at an affordable cost from rural areas across India. The model provides cost cutting alternatives to urban clients and new sources of income and employment to the villagers, by leveraging Internet technology. The DesiCrew central team in Chennai manages training of rural workforce, distribution and monitoring of work, quality control and client interaction all remotely. In this paper, we describe the Rural BPO model and one specific application, data entry of forms. We describe the software, Pegasus, developed for this purpose and explain the management of the distributed workforce. © 2007 International Federation for Information Processing.

Ashok Jhunjhunwala

Department of Electrical Engineering

Wireless telecommunication systems

BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING

CHENNAI

CLIENT INTERACTION

COST CUTTINGS

HIGH VOLUMES

INTERNET TECHNOLOGY

NEW SOURCES

PEGASUS

Rural areas

Fulltext

IIT Madras is a public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1959, it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.

IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for four years in a row by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the MHRD

It currently offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across 16 disciplines in Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Management. About 596 faculty belonging to science and engineering departments and centres of the Institute are engaged in teaching, research and industrial consultancy.

IIT Madras

Untapped Resources! Amazing Potential! TeNeT’s Rural BPO Initiative

IFIP International Federation for Information Processing

Young people from marginalized communities are applying newly acquired technical know-how to leapfrog the socioeconomic levels of their families and communities. This article explores the impact of basic computer education on the lives of young men and women from a Muslim minority community of India. Twenty-seven young women and 25 young men (median age = 23 years) were interviewed 2 months after they completed a 1-year diploma course, and their reports were content analyzed. It was found that the basic skills program results in multiplier, psychological, social, educational, and economic benefits and also increases computer ownership and usage. Computer education of an individual contributes to a social climate conducive for family, friends, and neighbors to become computer literate and provides a valuable focus on computer literacy programs. Computer education can be a key gender equalizer, as through it women see new possibilities open for them. The psychological and economic impact is greater for young women; young men, on the other hand, register more social and educational benefits. Through application of computer knowledge, women experience a boost in self-confidence and see a possibility of an independent income. On the other hand, young men experience higher positive cues from family and friends. The pursuit of college along with computer learning and their stated aspiration to go in for high-end computer courses gives men a distinct advantage in a knowledge-based society.

Gender, Technology and Development

Gender-differentiated impact on minority youth of basic computer education in Mumbai city

Untapped resources! amazing potential! TeNeT's rural BPO initiative

Journal	IFIP International Federation for Information Processing
ISSN	15715736
Open Access	Yes