Simputer: computers for the poor or an idealistic dream?

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Simputer: computers for the poor or an idealistic dream?

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16 July 2003
 

Simputer: computers for the poor or an idealistic dream?

Frederick Noronha
11 July 2003
Source: SciDev.Net

The Simputer — a cheap, pocket-sized computing device
designed for use by rural populations in India — has been
hailed as a breakthrough in bringing the world of computing
to the poor. But with delays in production, escalating
development costs and a dearth of buyers, can this
idealistic project ever be pulled off?

From lab to village

When the prototype was first announced two years ago by
researchers at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore,
the Simputer captured imaginations across the world. It was
heralded as a way to help the poor and illiterate join the
information age, and many predicted it would bridge the
digital divide in a country with a billion people, but only
a few million computers.

Two years on, the laboratory dream is on the verge of
becoming a full-blown commercial enterprise. Two
Bangalore-based bodies now oversee the Simputer’s
development and production: the established IT company
Encore and BEL-PicoPeta, an alliance between public sector
giant Bharat Electronics and a start-up launched by the
original research team. While the device has yet to go on
sale in retail outlets, it has been used in pilot projects
in the states of Karnataka and Chhattisgarh with promising
results.

The Simputer is a handheld computing device with a
touch-sensitive screen that can carry out many of the
services carried out by 'normal' computers. In addition, it
can function in several Indian languages, and a single
device can be easily shared by a number of users in the same
village.

It may be tempting to see the Simputer as just another
handheld computing device such as a PalmPilot. But
Simputer's supporters say that while the size may be
similar, the device is hardly an executive toy. "You won't
find handhelds with comparable computing power at anything
like this price," says Edward Cherlin, a California-based
designer of multilingual websites. "None of these devices
can replace Simputer in its target niche – support for the
poor of India in their own languages."

Language is crucial to the design of a device whose name
stands for "simple, inexpensive, multilingual computer".
Along with all the familiar services — email, audio files,
Internet access and so on — plans are in place for the
Simputer to provide text-to-speech systems for several
indigenous languages, a boon for the 35 per cent of Indians
who cannot read. Other applications, such as telemedicine
services, micro-banking, information access geared to
farmers and distance education for remote schools, are being
tailored to rural development needs. All in all, it’s a
package that could make a big impact in communities that
currently have no access to information technology.

Opening up technology

The Simputer diverges even more significantly from the world
of Microsoft when it comes to licensing arrangements. By
using Linux, a licence-free operating system, Simputer aims
to break with the bonds of monopoly ownership, reflecting a
growing movement that seeks to treat knowledge as a 'global
public good'. In practice, this means that users do not need
to pay large amounts for software.

In a ploy to speed up the device's development, Simputer's
backers are doing all they can to encourage software
developers to add their own improvements to its design.

"We had to create a unique architecture and platform and
convince solution developers to work on it," explains
Shashank Garg, vice-president of Encore. The effort appears
to be paying off.

Even the Simputer's hardware design is 'open source'. Anyone
can download it from the Internet for personal use (although
commercial exploitation means hefty payouts of US$25,000 for
companies in the developing world, and ten times that in
industrialised countries). And perhaps this is where the
real innovation lies.

Last December, dozens of bright young software developers
assembled in Bangalore — India's Silicon Valley — to learn
how to develop applications for the Simputer. These
individuals are granted exclusive rights to their
innovation, but only for one year of commercial production.
After that time it is placed in the public domain. This
approach not only rewards innovation, but also keeps the
door open to a continually evolving design.

Finding a market

It all sounds like techno-heaven. India's incredible success
in the IT sector is finally being channelled towards
benefiting the country's poor. But can the Simputer survive
the rigours of the commercial world?

Its backers are uncompromisingly optimistic. "The poor are a
largely neglected market," argues Encore CEO Vinay
Deshpande. "But they too have a huge commercial potential."
Work is already underway to explore markets for the Simputer
outside India, he explains, with the Middle East and Africa
looking most promising.

"Our experience has been that the basic need for bridging
the digital divide exists in each of these [regions], and
local communities have appreciated the Simputer as a concept
that could be applied to help solve their problems," adds
Garg.

But their experience to date suggests that such markets are
hard to tap into. Many feel that those living on less than a
dollar a day are unlikely to be persuaded to fork out US$215
— the current market price for a basic Simputer — no matter
how many 'additional features' it boasts.

Proponents counter with the argument that the Simputer is a
'sharable' device, which can be jointly owned by several
people. "Even if a Simputer costing Rs 10,000 (US$215) is
too costly, ten villagers could come together to own one,"
Deshpande explains. Others envision schemes where one device
would be owned by a community, kept by the local shopkeeper
or teacher, and accessed by villagers via smartcards, which
at US$2 are much more affordable.

Current challenges

Development of the Simputer is clearly at a critical
juncture. Orders are beginning to pick up, but the devices
are still being produced on a 'made-to-order' production
schedule. To date, just 600 Simputers have been sold. And
while some of the teething troubles have now been sorted
out, questions remain over its robustness and reliability.

There is an underlying sense of disappointment among some of
its developers, despite their optimism. "While several of
the original claims may have been met, I wouldn't be
satisfied until the product reaches the rural masses in vast
numbers," says Garg. "So it is still too early to start
congratulating ourselves."

PicoPeta’s CEO Swami Manohar blames a lack of financial
support from the government and other agencies. "The major
problem has been the non-realisation of our belief that once
prototype Simputers were demonstrated there would be a huge
groundswell of support [from these bodies]."

Nevertheless, many believe that its backers deserve praise
in attempting to make a real contribution to bringing people
in remote rural areas into the digital age. Not only this:
they are also championing an ethically sound approach in a
sector of industry known for its hard-nosed business
mentality.

"The idea is that we Indians can develop [advanced]
technology appropriate to the needs of the rural masses if
some of us are able to devote a portion of our time and
technology into projects with a social conscience," he says.

That’s all very well. But if the Simputer story is anything
to go by, propelling rural India into the digital age is a
complex and challenging business — and very much a full-time
job.

Frederick Noronha is a Goa-based freelance journalist, who
is interested in the developmental potential of information
technology.  

     

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