| APrIGF 2022 Session Proposal Submission Form | |||||||||||||
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| Part 1 - Lead Organizer | |||||||||||||
| Contact Person | |||||||||||||
| Ms. Ritu Srivastava | |||||||||||||
| Organization / Affiliation (Please state "Individual" if appropriate) * | |||||||||||||
| Jadeite Solutions Pvt. Ltd | |||||||||||||
| Designation | |||||||||||||
| Director | |||||||||||||
| Gender | |||||||||||||
| Female | |||||||||||||
| Economy of Residence | |||||||||||||
| India | |||||||||||||
| Primary Stakeholder Group | |||||||||||||
| Technical Community | |||||||||||||
| List Your Organizing Partners (if any) | |||||||||||||
| 1. Disha Name: Mohd Niyaz Email ID: mohdniyaz@gmail.com 2. Mojo Lab Name: Arjun Venkatraman Email ID: mojoarjun@gmail.com |
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| Part 2 - Session Proposal | |||||||||||||
| Session Title | |||||||||||||
| Community Radio Bolo: Connectivity based community radio network enabling equitable access in rural community of India | |||||||||||||
| Session Format | |||||||||||||
| Showcase | |||||||||||||
| Where do you plan to organize your session? | |||||||||||||
| Onsite at the venue (with online moderator for questions and comments from remote participants) | |||||||||||||
| Specific Issues for Discussion | |||||||||||||
| In times of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to reliable and affordable internet connectivity and having relevant information is key for the social and economic development of many rural and marginalized communities of developing countries. Community radio stations (CRs) acted as the last mile information providers where traditional masses are unable to reach. However, one of the challenges that CR stations faced this pandemic is having reliable internet connectivity not only to share, upload or broadcast their programmes but reaching out to a wider audience was the need of the current scenario. CRs in general complement the strengths of community networks as they have the existing infrastructure such as a 30-meter heightened tower to set up antenna and router and legal requirements including license for spectrum, and human resources to produce and manage the local content and services and capability to engage with communities. However, these two community-led entities work in isolation in rural communities. The Session will focus on how CR stations can be transformed as CN operators to universal access to the internet and local content in democratizing method. The Session will showcase the model of Community Radio Bolo, an initiative led by Jadeite Solutions which has been adopted by CR station – Radio Bulbul, located in Bhadrak district of Orissa state. CR Bolo is a cost-effective wireless-network hybrid model working specifically designed for rural locations where broadband internet is either not available or scarcely accessible. Integrated with plug-in and play interactive voice response (IVR) system and establishes offline-online network that allows people to be connected with or without the internet connectivity. The objective of this session is twofold – 1) showcasing rural communication technologies can be used effectively for bringing reliable connectivity and 2) showcasing transformation of CR as CN operator is bringing sustainability for CR station. |
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| Describe the Relevance of Your Session to APrIGF | |||||||||||||
| The session is directly aligned with APrIGF’s two overarching thematic areas – Inclusion and Sustainability. The session will also share the findings of PoC (Proof of Concept) to have further discussion on commonalities and differences between CRs and CNs and how these existing resources can be leveraged together. In the ‘Inclusion’ thematic area, the session will facilitate discussions on providing equitable access, enabling local access initiatives, multi-stakeholder approaches and imposing universal access opportunities that can be provided through CNs and CRs where connectivity is either not available or scarcely available. CR Bolo uses WiFi and other low-cost deregulated media to share content locally, deploy services, for sub-communities that curate content for their needs and utilize a hyper-media archive architecture for their storytelling, publishing, and navigation needs or for online classes. This is the first kind of model in India where CR station has come forward to act as CN operator and explore the use of connectivity not only for their CR activities and to sustain themselves but also to establish internet connectivity in their regions. Therefore, the session will showcase the local set-up of network infrastructure helping CR stations to be sustainable by minimizing their cost of connectivity and enabling local connectivity. This way, the session touch upon key areas - sustainable development, measurement of success and sustainability under the ‘Sustainability’ thematic area. |
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| Methodology / Agenda (Please add rows by clicking "+" on the right) | |||||||||||||
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| Moderators & Speakers Info (Please complete where possible) | |||||||||||||
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| Please explain the rationale for choosing each of the above contributors to the session. | |||||||||||||
| Each speaker has been working in space of universal access, and implementing rural communication technologies in their region. Each speaker has over two decades of experience in Community Networks and rural broadband. Two speakers have implemented CR Bolo model at the CR stations, therefore they will share their experiences from the ground. Whereas other speakers will share their inputs on improvising the sustainability framework that can be adopted by CR stations in purview of becoming CN operators. | |||||||||||||
| Please declare if you have any potential conflict of interest with the Program Committee 2022. | |||||||||||||
| No | |||||||||||||
| Are you or other session contributors planning to apply for the APrIGF Fellowship Program 2022? | |||||||||||||
| No | |||||||||||||
| APrIGF offers live transcript in English for all sessions. Do you need any other translation support or any disability related requests for your session? APrIGF makes every effort to be a fully inclusive and accessible event, and will do the best to fulfill your needs. | |||||||||||||
| Yes | |||||||||||||
| Number of Attendees (Please fill in numbers) | |||||||||||||
| Consent | |||||||||||||
 I agree that my data can be submitted to forms.for.asia and processed by APrIGF organizers for the program selection of APrIGF 2022. |
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