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FAQ on the Aadhaar Project and the Bill
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/aadhaar-project-and-bill-faq
<b>This FAQ attempts to address the key questions regarding the Aadhaar/UIDAI project and the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 (henceforth, Bill). This is neither a comprehensive list of questions, nor does it contain fully developed answers. We will continue to add questions to this list, and edit/expand the answers, based on our ongoing research. We will be grateful to receive your comments, criticisms, evidences, edits, suggestions for new answers, and any other responses. These can either be shared as comments in the document hosted on Google Drive, or via tweets sent to the information policy team at @CIS_InfoPolicy. </b>
<p> </p>
<h4>To comment on and/or download the file, click <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ib5bQUgZZ7PABurMHlzmfwZK6932DFQI6hUlad-vwfI/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">here</a>.</h4>
<hr />
<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ib5bQUgZZ7PABurMHlzmfwZK6932DFQI6hUlad-vwfI/pub?embedded=true" height="500" width="100%"></iframe>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/aadhaar-project-and-bill-faq'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/aadhaar-project-and-bill-faq</a>
</p>
No publisherElonnai Hickok, Vanya Rakesh, and Vipul KharbandaUIDPrivacyInternet GovernanceFeaturedDigital IndiaAadhaarBiometricsHomepage2016-04-13T14:06:43ZBlog EntryThe Bots That Got Some Votes Home
https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/bots-got-some-votes-home
<b>Nilofar Ansher gives us some startling updates on the "Digital Natives Video Contest" voting results declared in May 2012, in this blog post.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify;">It was a hint of suspicion raised by one of our colleagues at the Centre for Internet & Society that spurred our Web Analytics team to check into the voting activity of the contest that was all about the ‘<a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/vote-for-digital-natives" class="external-link">Everyday Digital Native</a>’. And while we acknowledged and celebrated the ‘digital’ in the native (users of technology), we forgot the human part that the digital has to engage with. Following weeks of deliberations, we now have conclusive evidence that points to irregularities in voting numbers of the Top 10 contestants. We are now staring at the elephant in the room: those innocuous little automated scripts we sweetly nicknamed, ‘bots’.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Internet bots, also known as web robots or simply bots, are software applications that run automated tasks over the Internet. Typically, bots perform tasks that are both simple and structurally repetitive, at a much higher rate than would be possible for a human alone. The largest use of bots is in web spidering, in which an automated script fetches, analyzes and files information from web servers at many times the speed of a human. Each server can have a file called robots.txt, containing rules for the spidering of that server that the bot is supposed to obey. In addition to their uses outlined above, bots may also be implemented where a response speed faster than that of humans is required (e.g., gaming bots and auction-site robots) or less commonly in situations where the emulation of human activity is required, for example chat bots (Source: Wikipedia).</p>
<h3>What irregularities?</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">You would see how a script or bot would have played a role in ‘automating’ the votes for a video. The Top 10 videos received a combined voting number of 20,000+. The discrepancy occurs at the juncture where the votes polled on the front end (the webpage where the contestant video was visible to the public) did not match with the number of hits the page received on the backend (this is the analytics part). For instance, the top polled video has some few thousand votes more than the number of people who actually visited our CIS website in the same duration. This prompted a review of the logs and the possible “hand” of a nonhuman agent acting on its human creator’s command to drive up the votes.</p>
<h3>How was this done? The Technicalities</h3>
<p>The following graph shows the extremely high level of voting requests just before the closing date (March 31, 2012). This would not be extraordinary except for the fact that two or three entries had an exceptionally higher vote count relative to their page views as per the analytics statistics.</p>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/scripted-voting-report/quickhist_march_april.png" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="Voting requests by date" /></p>
<h3>Analysis of the voting against the http requests for the voting link against page views</h3>
<div>
<table class="vertical listing">
<tbody>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<th>
<p>Entry</p>
</th>
<th>Actual Votes Recorded (1)<br /></th>
<th>Direct http requests to votes (2)<br /></th>
<th>http requests for normal page view access (3)<br /></th>
<th>Recommended adjusted vote count (4)<br /></th>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right;">
<td>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/entries/digital-media-dance" class="internal-link">Digital Dance</a></p>
</td>
<td>268</td>
<td>448</td>
<td>198</td>
<td><span class="visualHighlight">198</span></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right;">
<td>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/entries/big-stories-small-towns" class="internal-link">Big Stories, Small Town</a></p>
</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>112</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right;">
<td>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/entries/digital-natives-contest/entries/connecting-souls-bridging-dreams" class="internal-link">Connecting Souls, Bridging Dreams</a></p>
</td>
<td>1113</td>
<td>2018</td>
<td>1685</td>
<td>1113</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right;">
<td>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/entries/finalist-summary/deployed" class="internal-link">Deployed</a></p>
</td>
<td>191</td>
<td>479</td>
<td>195</td>
<td>191</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right;">
<td>
<p class="internal-link"><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/entries/from-the-wild-into-the-digital-world" class="internal-link">From The Wild Into The Digital World</a></p>
</td>
<td>10317</td>
<td>11880</td>
<td>810</td>
<td><span class="visualHighlight">810</span></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right;">
<td>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/entries/i-am-a-ghetto-digital-native" class="internal-link">I Am A Ghetto Digital Native</a></p>
</td>
<td>321</td>
<td>365</td>
<td>844</td>
<td>321</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right;">
<td>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/entries/life-in-the-city-slums" class="internal-link">Life in the City Slums</a></p>
</td>
<td>13</td>
<td>18</td>
<td>94</td>
<td>13</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right;">
<td>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/entries/who-is-a-digital-native" class="internal-link">Digital Natives</a></p>
</td>
<td>111</td>
<td>328</td>
<td>102</td>
<td><span class="visualHighlight">102</span></td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right;">
<td>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/entries/with-no-distinction" class="internal-link">With No Distinction</a></p>
</td>
<td>369</td>
<td>557</td>
<td>1232</td>
<td>369</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right;">
<td>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/entries/digital-coverage-in-a-digital-world" class="internal-link">Digital Coverage in a Digital World</a></p>
</td>
<td>9622</td>
<td>13650</td>
<td>181</td>
<td><span class="visualHighlight">181</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3></h3>
<span class="internal-link"> </span>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;">These are the public votes displayed on the contestant’s page through the thumbs up icon</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">These are http requests to the voting link against each video when the user clicked on the thumbs up icon.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">These are http requests which are collectively related to the video page (page view). A normal human user would browse through a page first, which downloads some other urls, such as the HTML for the page, JavaScript, images, and so on. A normal vote request would be included collectively. A direct http request to the voting link on the other hand does not do this, and only makes a specific request to vote without downloading the other parts that make up the page.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A normal human vote count should be the same or less than the number of page views. Only three videos highlighted show abnormal behaviour and it is recommended these be adjusted to the page view counts.</li></ol>
<h3>Are you saying contestants cheated?</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">While the use of programming scripts to accrue votes is no new tactic and we should, in fact, have a more robust mechanism to monitor such activity during a contest, we cannot prove the culpability of the human agents. The contestants might be innocent actors with overzealous friends or colleagues who ran the voting scripts. As of now, since there is no way to ascertain their part in this irregularity, it’s best we give them the benefit of the doubt. What comes through loud and clear is that once you do away with the scripted votes, four contestants still manage to have enough votes to maintain their positions in the final five. In the fifth position, we now have a contestant from the top ten finalists, who has secured the requisite votes (after vote adjustment) to propel him into the final five.</p>
<h3>Recommendation</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">‘Digital Dance’ (Cijo Abraham), ‘From the Wild into the Digital World’ (John Musila) and ‘Digital Coverage in a Digital World’ (T.J. Burks) had additional vote url counts than page views. It is recommended that the total votes for these videos be adjusted to the page view counts, and not the actual vote counts as displayed on their individual web pages (thumbs up icon) during the voting period.</p>
<p>The rankings of the adjusted voting would now read as:</p>
<ol>
<li>Connecting Souls, Bridging Dreams – Marie Jude Bendiola (1113)</li>
<li>From The Wild Into The Digital World - John Musila (810)</li>
<li>With No Distinction - T.J. K. M. (369)</li>
<li>I Am A Ghetto Digital Native – MJ (321)</li>
<li>Digital Dance – Cijo Abraham (198)</li></ol>
<h3>Transparency at CIS</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">‘The Digital Natives with a Cause?’ research inquiry is shaped around concerns of transparency, equity and community accountability. In our research methods as well as in outputs of the different activities, we have always maintained a complete transparency of decision making processes as well as in depending upon the incredible people we work with to help us learn, grow and reflect openly on the concerns that we have been engaged with. We strive to follow this method and in publishing these statistics, we want to ensure that there is complete transparency about the votes that were accrued and how the final winners were selected. We also take this opportunity as a learning experience to re-think the question of the non-human actors in our networks and further about the nature of participation and reputation online. We hope that the publishing of these results will help answer any inquiries on how the process unfolded.</p>
<h3>View Logs and Source Code</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/scripted-voting-report/logs-during-voting-period" class="external-link">All logs from the web server for this period</a> (24.7MB) Identical IPs are from caching server.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://www.cis-india.org/digital-natives/video-contest/scripted-voting-report/main.R">R script to evaluate data for table</a></li></ul>
<h3>What next?</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Since we spotted the error in time, we haven’t disbursed the prize money of EUR 500 to each of the Top 5 contestants. They will now receive the prize along with a chance to participate in the Digital Native workshop-cum-Webinar, slated to be held in July 2012. The top 10 videos will be showcased in this event.</p>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/bots-got-some-votes-home'>https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/bots-got-some-votes-home</a>
</p>
No publisherNilofar AnsherFeaturedResearchers at WorkDigital Natives2015-04-24T11:56:10ZBlog EntryInstitute on Internet & Society: Event Report
https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/institute-on-internet-and-society-event-report
<b>The Institute on Internet and Society organized by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) with grant supported by the Ford Foundation took place from June 8 to 14, 2013 at the Golden Palms Resort in Bangalore.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A total of 20 participants spent the seven days in a residential institute, learning about the fundamental technologies of the Internet and topics on which CIS has expertise on such as Accessibility, Openness, Privacy, Digital Natives and Internet Governance.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The participants belonged to various stakeholder groups and it provided a common forum (first of its kind in India) to discuss and share ideas. Twenty-four expert speakers from various domains came to share their knowledge and speak about their work, so as to encourage activity in the field and supply resources from which participants could learn to increase their accessibility, range and funding possibilities, as well as network with the speakers and amongst themselves.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Institute has triggered a number of follow-up events — those that the participants organized themselves with the help of CIS staff, including Crypto Parties in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, that taught netizens to keep their online communication private. In addition to that, the CIS Access2Knowledge (A2K) team could rope in eight new Wikipedians who will contribute to Wikipedia in Indic languages.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The day wise talks and activities that took place are listed below:</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Day 1: June 8, 2013</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The seven day residential Institute began on Saturday, the 8th of June with a warm welcome by Dr. Ravina Aggarwal and Dr. Nirmita Narasimhan. They outlined the purpose of the residential institute and briefly went over the topics which would get covered over the week long duration. This was followed by each of the participants introducing themselves briefly and also stating their expectations from the Institute, why they were attending the same and what they hope to get at the end.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<h3>Session 1: History of the Internet</h3>
<p>(by Pranesh Prakash and Bernadette Längle)</p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Pranesh.png/@@images/539b71f7-111a-4700-a90b-17cbdb5589bc.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Pranesh Prakash" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Above is a picture of Pranesh Prakash <br />speaking about the History of the Internet during <br />the first session on Day 1.</em></p>
</td>
<td>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Institute proceedings kicked off with the first session, <strong>History of the Internet</strong> by Pranesh Prakash and Bernadette Längle. Participants learned where the Internet originally came from and how it is organized, as well as different technologies surrounding the Internet. Pranesh Prakash and Bernadette Längle set the start point of the Internet in the late 50's when the Russians send the first satellite in space (Sputnik) and the US founded the DARPA(<em>Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency</em>), a research agency that was tasked with creating new technologies for military use. DARPA is credited with development of many technologies which have had a major effect on the world, including computer networking, as well as NLS, which was both the first hypertext system, and an important precursor to the contemporary ubiquitous graphical user interface (GUI). A few years later the first four computers were connected to a network.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">After the Network Control Protocol (NCP, later replaced by the TCP/IP) was invented in 1970, the first applications were made: email (connecting people), telnet (connecting computers) and the file transport protocol (FTP) (connecting information) — all of these are still in use today. Participants were surprised to learn that the Web, most commonly used today, known to be invented by one single person in the 90's, actually existed for a long time prior to the '90s.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/p4iFqDnhNZI" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 2: Domestic Bodies and Mechanisms</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">(by Pranesh Prakash)<br />After lunch, Pranesh Prakash led the second session about Domestic Bodies and Mechanisms and he started with some of the problems associated with the Domestic Regulatory Bodies:</p>
<ol>
<li>Lack of coherence and consistency in Internet related policies</li>
<li>Rather than co-operating, the different agencies compete with each other.</li>
<li>Communication with the public is of different degrees and openness of different agencies varies.</li></ol>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY), is one of the most important public agencies & the CERT-in focuses on issues like malware and content regulation. There is also the STQC (Standard Setting and Quality Setting Body).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The work of these organizations is to govern the Internet, bring about better privacy policies and ensure freedom of speech.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Other governing bodies include DOT (Department of Telecommunications) which governs the telecom and internet policies of India. In India, certain content regulation takes place under a notification as part of the IT Act, 2003.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) also looks into the tariff, interconnections and quality of telecom sector, spectrum regulation and so on.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The USOF (Universal Service Obligation Fund) seeks to provide funds for setting up telecom services in rural areas.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has been extending copyright restrictions to online publications.</li></ul>
<h3> VIDEO<br /></h3>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/e0VlI12fODE" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3>Session 3: Emerging trends in Internet usage in India</h3>
<p>(by Nandini C and Vir Kamal Chopra)<br /><strong>Emerging Trends in Internet Usage with specific focus on BSNL offerings</strong> (by Vir Kamal Chopra)<br />Some of the salient points discussed were:</p>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">In 1995, the VSNL provided internet in 4 metros of India, by 1998 DOT had provided internet in 42 cities.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Some of the facilities internet provides include Tele-education, Tele-medicine, mobile banking, payment of bills via mobile internet, etc.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> BSNL has got maximum broadband market share in India.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Present Scenario, there are 900 million mobiles in India, 430 million wireless connections with capability to access data.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> The total broadband connections are 15 million in country, 10 million provided by BSNL.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Total internet users are 120 million with a growth rate of 30%.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Public access is not only about network intermediaries but about info-mediaries who understand internet.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> BSNL lost Rs 18,000 crores from 3G license.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> 2G to 3G shifting is not seamless and leads to lot of packet loss, and 3G coverage is not as extensive as 2G. Thus 3G is not efficient however; the government has made a lot of money from selling 3G licenses.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Future trends include technology trends for internet access, optical fiber technologies, fiber to the curb, fibre to the home, metro Ethernet, etc. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Internet has created an online Public sphere.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> In 2000 Parliament passed the Information Technology Act 2000 and the dot.com boom is seen.</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Making internet access meaningful in the Indian Context</strong> (by Nandini.C) <br />(<a class="external-link" href="http://internet-institute.in/repository/womens-access-to-the-internet">Click to see the presentation slides</a>)<br />Some of the salient points discussed were: <br /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Status of internet access today sees low level of overall penetration of internet, high rate of household mobile penetration and huge rural-urban divide in internet access.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Relationship b/w women and internet in India</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> 8.4% of women in India have access to internet in India and 43% of women using internet in India perceived it as being an important part of their life.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Some area of concerns include ensuring adequate access of internet for the women, entrenched patriarchies, contextual relevance, the imaginary of ‘public access’.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The importance of an existing strong social support network, ITC itself cannot open up economic/social empowerment opportunities for women</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> ICT-enabled micro-enterprises may also force the burden of double work on women, who undertake both productive activities for the micro-enterprise and re/productive activities for the household.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Internet today has created an online public sphere.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Countering the threat of online violence.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Censorship and content regulation.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Women’s rights and the spaces of internet governance.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Arbitrary censorship and self-regulation by the corporate and slide towards an illusory freedom; state is used as a bogeyman by corporate to create an online culture that is suitable to the corporate values.</li></ul>
<p> <strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CUaGZh5nNR4" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe></p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Activity</strong><br />Day 1 featured an interesting activity called the Creative Handshake. The goal of the game was to teach the participants the concept of "Handshake" in Internet terms and why it is important to make sure that integrity of data transferred is maintained.</div>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Day 2: June 9, 2013</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The focus of the second day was more on the nuts and bolts behind the working of the Internet by Dr. Nadeem Akhtar, Wireless Technologies and a case-study in Air Jaldi by Michael Ginguld, Collaborative Knowledge base building by Vishnu Vardhan and Affordable Devices on the Internet by Ravikiran Annaswamy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The salient points of each of the talks are listed below.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 1: How Internet Works</h3>
<p>(by Nadeem Akhtar)<br /><a class="external-link" href="http://internet-institute.in/repository/how-internet-works">Click to read the presentation slides</a></p>
<ul>
<li>Internet structure and hierarchy:<br />
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Data Networks comprise of set of nodes, connected by transmission links, for exchange of data between nodes. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Some of the key principles which underpin data networks include digital transmission, multiplexing and data forwarding/routing.</li></ol>
</li>
<li>Data networks through ownership include public and private networks.</li>
<li>Data networks through coverage include local area networks (small area), metro area networks (may comprise of a city) and wide area networks (wide geographic area across cities).</li>
<li>Protocols include:<br />
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Open systems interconnection (OSI) model divides a communication system into smaller parts. Each part is referred to as a layer. Similar communication functions are grouped into logical layers.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">OSI model defines the different stages that data must go through to travel from one device to another over a network & this enables a modular approach towards developing complex system functionality i.e. functionality at layer X does not depend on how layer Y is implemented.</li></ol>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Nadeem.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Nadeem Akhtar" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>Above is a picture of Dr. Nadeem Akhtar speaking on the working of the internet on Day 2</em></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</li>
<li>Internet networks or connections.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Internet backbone refers to the principal data routes between large, strategically interconnected networks and core routers on the internet and these data routes are hosted by commercial, government, academic and other high-capacity network centers, the internet exchange points and network access points. The internet back bone is decentralized.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Transit Service - Passing information from small ISP to large ISP.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Peering Service - The passing of information between two similar ISP’s os similar size to let network traffic pass.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Three levels of network Tier1, Tier2 and Tier 3. TATA Company is the only Tier 1 Indian Company.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Backhaul- Transport Links which connects access edge networks with the ‘core’ network. The transmitters have to be mounted on a high level. </li></ul>
<p> <strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8skb7ykF9jI" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3>Session 2: Wireless Technologies</h3>
<p>(by Michael Ginguld)<br /><a class="external-link" href="http://prezi.com/tjaiatxtz1ch/walking-on-the-wireless-side/">Click to read the presentation slides</a></p>
<ul>
<li>We are surrounded by electromagnetic radiation</li>
<li>All about transmission waves and there are both advantages and disadvantages of the same:<br />
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Pros: higher reach for lower price, overcomes topographic challenges, lower maintenance, less to damage/lose</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Cons: limited resources, maintenance (energy), physical limitations to transfer rates.</li></ol>
</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Satellite/VSAT is a very small aperture tech: a small satellite dish that connects to a geo-static satellite.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Strength: globally usable, can connect from anywhere.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Weakness: signal problems, relatively high installation charge, upstream connection is lower than the downstream, transmitter on satellite is extremely expensive, hence limitation on transmission capacity of the satellite.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> VSATs are not scalable. It is a dead-end tech for usages where data transmission volume is expected to grow.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> 2G Technology for mobile connection.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Limitation in transfer of data, due to technology and encryption limitations but great availability and reasonable price.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">3G Technology has a problem in India; low uptake, leading to low investment, leading to low speed, leading to low uptake. The technology allows for high-speed data transfer but the market condition in India still does not make adequate infrastructural support feasible.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">4G license auction.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A company bought the country-wide 4G license in the auction. Mukesh Ambani bought the company after some days.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The present legislation does not allow for VoIP-based Telco operation but that is expected to change soon.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Wifi technology is wireless technology. It is low cost wireless transfer of data. The Public dissemination of the ranges in which data transfer using the WiFi protocol can take place. It was made public in India in January 2005.<br />
<ol>
<li>Limitations: needs line of sight, limit to data transfer.</li>
<li>Strength: cheap, de-licensed spectrum usage, easily deployable. </li></ol>
</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> 2G spectrum, 3G spectrum and now 4G spectrum all are part of the wireless technology.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Air Jaldi started in Dharamshala; building wifi connection spanning campuses.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Three types of consumer categories: (1) no coverage, (2) under-served, and (3) ‘deserving clients’. #2 is the most common group. #3 are people who should be served but cannot pay fully for the service, hence are cross-subsidised by group #2.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Deployed and managed by local staff, trained by AirJaldi.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Customer premise equipment: Rs. 3-4k.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> User charges: Rs 975 per month for 512 kbps, Rs 1500 per month for 1 mbps.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Content: by and large, AirJaldi brings infrastructure on which content can ride on, teams with various content providers (like e-learning, rural BPOs, local e-banking etc) for the content side. The biggest drivers are local BPO, banking and retail. The next big driver coming up is entertainment.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> WiMax includes 4g spectrum. </li></ul>
<p> <strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/btd4MqOSRe0" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 3: Building Knowledge Bases and Platform via Mass Collaboration on the Internet</h3>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Building_Knowledge_Bases_and_Platforms_via_Mass_Collaboration_on_the_Internet.pdf">Click to read the presentation slides</a></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
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<td style="text-align: justify;">
<p>The session started off with some physical activity in the form of "Kasa Kasa Warte, Chan Chan Warte" to break off the lunch induced sleep and a mental activity where the participants were divided into two groups and both the groups were asked to collect information on "Water". One group was left to itself while the other had some expert inputs from Vishnu Vardhan on how to collaborate and organize the data. After the activity, both teams presented the information that they had collected on "Water".</p>
<p>The benefits of collaborative authoring such as "everyone's voice is heard", "various inputs leading to a multi-dimensional thinking" etc were evident as against a single dimensional thought process that was seen from the group that was un-assisted.</p>
</td>
<td><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Participant.png/@@images/0bd8de0e-6e85-4100-80c7-070dd046fabf.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Participants" /><br /><em>Given above is a picture of the participants involved in a group activity</em></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Salient points discussed during the presentation:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The Concept of Knowledge today is not something of modern phenomena, but it is something which has been existent since print culture was developed. Print technology shapes what we consider as knowledge, and hence as knowledge platform </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Techno-sociality of knowledge production</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The Concept of Knowledge today is not something of modern phenomena, but it is something which has been existent since print culture was developed. Print technology shapes what we consider as knowledge, and hence as knowledge platform </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Techno-sociality of knowledge production<br />Examples of knowledge platforms:<br />
<ol>
<li>Baidu baike </li>
<li> English wikipedia </li>
<li> Hudong </li>
<li>Catawiki </li>
<li>Wikieducator </li>
<li>Open street map </li>
<li>Pad.ma </li>
<li> Sahapedia </li>
<li> Internet archive </li>
<li> Jstor </li>
<li> Dsal </li>
<li> Dli</li></ol>
</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> In 1994 Cunningham developed the ‘Wiki Wiki Web’ also known as the ‘Ward Wiki’. Basically it is a knowledge platform.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Internet since then has been used for dissemination of information especially in the education sector. Digital Archived have developed over the years which provide information across various platforms like Wikipedia.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> The spread of the internet has made possible the building of knowledge bases by seamless and mass collaboration. </li></ul>
<p><strong> Generic challenges for Wikipedia</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>Quality, relevance, consistency of knowledge </li>
<li>Suitable motivation of the contributors</li>
<li>Another issue is the scalability</li></ul>
<p>Some of the problems faced by Indian Wikipedian pages:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Technical infrastructure for Indian languages </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Typing in the regional language </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">OCR: complexity of Indian language scripts</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Various other technical troubles like browser compatibility, font display, etc., which deter new users</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Dearth of quality content available in digital format</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Different standards/formats/generations (gov.in/DLI)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Relative lack of research/academic standards, which is transferred on to Indic wikipedias. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Lack of knowledge sharing culture.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Building a mass knowledge platform is the need of the hour.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The platform should be user friendly, easily available and adoptable; offline outreach is key to effective use of online platforms.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The programme should have feedback loop key, behavior statistics data, reinvent and replicate the programme, multi-channel awareness, ‘user connect’ programmes.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The people should communicate knowledge sharing objectives, make knowledge sharing fun, appoint ambassadors; virtual volunteer community building looks simple but its complex and leads to failure.</li></ul>
<p> <strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/2cM7CZ2hMeg" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3>Session: 4 Affordable Devices to access the Internet</h3>
<p>(by Ravikiran Annaswamy)<br /><a class="external-link" href="http://internet-institute.in/repository/MeetMobileInternet.pdf">Click to read the presentation slides</a></p>
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<td><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Ravikiran.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Ravikiran Annaswamy" /></td>
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<tr>
<td><em>Given above is a picture of the speaker Ravikiran Annaswamy giving a demo of the low cost Akash tablet</em>.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>Overview of Affordable Mobile Phones such as Lava Iris, Karbonn A1, Nokia Asha, etc.</li>
<li>Overview of Affordable Tablets such as Aakash, Ubislate, Karbonn Smart A34, etc.</li>
<li> The number of Internet users in India is expected to nearly triple from 125 million in 2011 to 330 million by 2016, says a report by Boston Consulting Group.</li>
<li> How Internet Penetration impacts society.</li>
<li> Demo of the devices.</li>
<li> Need for Mobile Internet</li>
<li> Sugata Mitra & Arvind Eye Care examples.</li></ul>
<p> <strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/TUcbcFaX-v4" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<hr />
<h2>Day 3: June 10, 2013</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The third day of the Institute focussed on Wired means of accessing the Internet, the technology involved followed by an assignment time where the participants were introduced to 2 topics and asked to work on an assignment. This was followed by a site visit in the afternoon to MapUnity. <strong>MapUnity</strong> develops technology to tackle social problems and development challenges. Their GIS, MIS and mobile technologies are used mostly by government departments and civil society organisations and in the R&D initiatives of commercial ventures.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 1: Wired Access Technology</h3>
<p>(by Dr. Nadeem Akhtar)<br /><a class="external-link" href="http://internet-institute.in/repository/wired-access-nadeem-akhtar">Click to read the presentation slides</a></p>
<p>Some of the salient points discussed were:</p>
<p><strong>Wired and Wireless</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wired:</p>
<ul>
<li>Separate communication channel for each users</li>
<li> Low signal attenuation</li>
<li> No interference</li>
<li> Fixed point-of-attachment</li></ul>
<p>Wireless:</p>
<ul>
<li> Shared medium of communication</li>
<li> Signal is attenuated by a number of factors</li>
<li> Interference between adjacent channels</li>
<li> Points-of-attachment can be changed on-the-fly</li></ul>
<p>Ethernet:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> A family of computer networking technologies for LANs which was Invented in 1973 and commercially introduced in 1980. The systems communicating over ethernet divide a stream o data into individual packets called frames. Each frame contains source and destination addresses and error-checking data so that damaged data can be detected and re-transmitted.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Ethernet, by definition, is a broadcast protocol</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Any signal can be received by all hosts</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Switching enables individual hosts to communicate</li></ul>
<p>Digital subscriber line (DSL):</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> DSL uses existing telephone lines to transport data to internet subscribers and the term xDSL is used to refer to a number of similar yet competing forms of DSL technologies which includes ADSL, SDSL, HDSL, HDSL-2, G.SHDL, IDSL, and VDSL. DSL service is delivered simultaneously with wired telephone service on the same telephone line and this is possible because DSL uses higher frequency bands for data.</li></ul>
<p>Asymmetric DSL (ADSL):</p>
<ul>
<li> ADSL is the most commonly installed technology and an ADSL tech can provide maximum downstream speeds of up to 8 mbps.</li></ul>
<p>Modem and router:</p>
<ul>
<li> Modem is specific to a technology</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Modem is de/modulator, it takes bits coming from one protocol/technology, demodulates it (converts it into original data), and re-modulated the original data to another protocol/technology.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Router allows creation of a local area network, allowing multiple devices to connect to the network and access internet together through the router. It has very high bitrate DSL (VDSL) and goes up to 52 mbps downstream and 16 mbps upstream. The length of the physical connection is limited to 300 meters and the second generation VDSL (CDSL2) provides data rates up to 100 mbps simultaneously in both direction, but maximum available bit rate is still achieved about 300 meters.</li></ul>
<p>Cable:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Cable broadband uses existing CATV infrastructure to provide high-access internet access; uses channels specifically reserved for data transfer</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Support simultaneous access to broadband and TV programs</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Cable access tech is built for one-way transmission; hence some congestion takes place for bi-way data transfer, leading to much lower upstream connection relative to downstream connection for data.</li></ul>
<p>Fiber:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> It is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber; fiber to the neighborhood; fiber to the curb; the street cabinet is much closer to the user’s premises, typically within 300m, thus allowing ethernet or radio-based connection to the final users; fiber to the basement; fiber to the home (BSNL already providing); fiber to the desktop</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Passive optical networks (PON)</li></ul>
<p>Advantages of fiber:</p>
<ul>
<li> Immunity to electromagnetic interference.</li>
<li> Provides very high data rates at long distances.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> When network links run over several 1000s of meters (e.g., metro area networks), fiber significantly outperforms copper.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Replacing at least part of these links with fiber shortens the remaining copper segments and allows them to run much faster.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> The data rate of a fiber link is typically limited by the terminal equipment rather than the fiber itself.</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Assignment</strong><br />Participants were given two options for an assignment to work on in the coming days and they could choose either one.</p>
<p>Assignment A<br />The Universal Service Obligation Fund of India has put out a Call for Proposals under two schemes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Mobile Connectivity and ICT related livelihood skills for womens’ SHGs (<a href="http://www.usof.gov.in/usof-cms/pdf21may/Concept_Paper.pdf%29">http://www.usof.gov.in/usof-cms/pdf21may/Concept_Paper.pdf)</a>, and</li></ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Access to ICTs and ICT enabled services for persons with disabilities in rural India. (<a href="http://www.usof.gov.in/usof-cms/usofsub/Concept%20paper_USOF%20Scheme_PwDs_A.G.Gulati.pdf">http://www.usof.gov.in/usof-cms/usofsub/Concept%20paper_USOF%20Scheme_PwDs_A.G.Gulati.pdf</a>)</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Your NGO is committed to the task of facilitating access to the Internet for women/ persons with disabilities in rural parts of Kerala and wishes to submit a proposal/ project idea in partnership with a service provider to the USOF.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Assignment B<strong><br />You</strong> are a member of the ancient tribe of Meithis residing in Manipur. Over the years, there is a strong feeling in your community that although the Government has rolled out projects to connect the rural areas throughout India, these have not been successful for your tribe and there is still even a lack of basic fixed telephony, let alone mobile and broadband services. You have hence come to the conclusion that there is a need for focused efforts to target such communities as yours and have decided to submit a concept note to the USOF requesting that ‘ethnic and rural tribal communities’ be specifically included within the mandate of the USOF’s activities by defining them as an ‘underserved community’.</p>
<table class="listing">
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<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Raveena.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Participants in Discussion" /></th>
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<td><em>Given above is a picture of the participants engaged in a discussion.</em> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Field Trip - Destination: MapUnity.</strong> <strong><br />MapUnity</strong> develops technology to tackle social problems and development challenges. Their GIS, MIS and mobile technologies are used mostly by government departments and civil society organisations, and in the R&D initiatives of commercial ventures. MapUnity presented their product offerings to the participants.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="http://blip.tv/play/AYOT%2BQwA.html?p=1" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://a.blip.tv/api.swf#AYOT+QwA" style="display:none"></embed>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Day 4: June 11, 2013</h2>
<h3>Session 1: Universal Access</h3>
<p>(by Archana Gulati)<br /><a class="external-link" href="http://internet-institute.in/repository/UniversalServiceConceptsandPractices_Archana.G.Gulati.pdf">Click to read the presentation slides</a></p>
<table class="listing">
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<td><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Archana.png/@@images/a1f18756-20b4-4732-b032-502b59078819.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Archana" /><br /><br />
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Given above is a picture of Archana Gulati speaking on Universal Access</em>.</p>
</td>
<td>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Tuesday revolved around questions of access and openness. The day kicked off with Archana Gulati, a policy expert in access to ICTs for people with disabilities talking on <strong>Universal Access</strong>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Ms. Gulati stressed the importance of ICTs for social development. ICTs are a necessary aid in development structures including education, health and increased citizen participation in national affairs & they provide crucial knowledge inputs into productive activities. However, even with the Telecom boom, there still exists an access gap in India, which cannot be covered by commercially viable systems.</p>
<p> </p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This 'actual access gap' exists because of geographic (scattered population, low income, low perceived utility of service, lack of commercial/industrial customers, lack of roads, power, difficult terrain, insurgency), economic (urban poor) and social inequality (gender, disabilities) differences. To achieve Universal Access or Universal Service, additional efforts must be made, so as to include these groups. However, Universal Access and Universal Service, while they may imply the same thing, are very different approaches to deal with the problematic access gap.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Universal service, a term coined by Theodore Vail, president of AT&T in 1906, argued that the government should enforce the usage of only one network. This approach suggests a monopolization of the market and goes against the liberal market principle.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Universal access on the other hand suggests cross-subsidizing the low and no profit service areas by high profit service areas. However, this results in the urban population to get over-charged while the rich rural areas benefit from rural subsidizing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So how do we enable a fair and inexpensive network to be able to create access for a large number of people equally? <br />Ms. Archana Gulati went on to introduce the Sanchar Shakti scheme as a contribution to national access in India. It was initiated with the objective of improving rural SHG access skills, knowledge, financial services and markets through mobile connections and involved several stakeholders like NABARD, handset/modem manufacturers, DoT USOF, Mobile VAS Providers, Lead NGOs, Mobile Service Providers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This scheme shows how important is, for the commercial, private and public sector to work together on obtaining accessibility to ITCs.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 2: Free and Open Internet</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">(by Pranesh Prakash) <br />The following session by Pranesh Prakash on <strong>Free and Open Internet</strong> showed how the internet can still be a restrictive place which does not allow for internet equality. His talk focussed on the concepts of free and open Internet. Prakash started by stating the Freedom of Speech and Expression Article of the Indian Constitution and in an interactive round it was discussed, how these articles are fundamental for securing other basic human rights. This was demonstrated by an example in which the distribution of food did not proceed equally, as misinformation and restrictions led to an inappropriate hoarding of goods. Therefore, it is important for everyone to have that right. In fact, the Indian constitution formulates Article 19 in a positive way, implying not only everyone should have that right, but that the government must promote the upholding of these rights.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">However, in the case of Article 66a, the law actually caused a problem with freedom of speech in itself, as it penalizes sending false and offensive messages through communication services. This is a massive impediment on free speech, as outsiders decide upon what is offensive and what is false.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The other side of freedom of speech and expression is censorship. Online, the removal of websites and editing of content often happens quietly and obscures the fact that someone or something is being censored. Unlike book burnings in the past, which were always made a big political spectacle, often websites are simply removed without a trace, or one is faced with a 404 error, when trying to access it. Because of the offensive content law, journals and magazines are quick to remove supposedly offensive content, as it seems more difficult to engage in argument with the people claiming offense. The CIS proposed a counter-law to secure for this to happen less, as freedom of speech includes the freedom to receive that speech.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/SGxYxLEA8OY" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 3: Openness</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">(by Sunil Abraham)</p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
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<td>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Next to ensuring freedom of speech and access, the third session of the day focussed on Openness in terms of Open Source software. Sunil Abraham, CIS executive director, stated the importance of free software and open access of data, as they ensure what he called the four freedoms of internet usage, namely the freedom to use for any purpose, the freedom to study, to modify and to share (freely or for a fee). Proprietary software imposes on these freedoms, as it only has restrictive use and a strong copyright. However, there are alternatives that have moderate copyrights, or so-called copy centred perspectives, or even copyleft, including the above mentioned rights into the terms of the software usage.</p>
</td>
<td><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_Sunil.png/@@images/92ac30ac-90da-4fcd-a0b2-0469aa2ecc75.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Sunil Abraham" /><br /><br /><em>Above is a picture of Sunil Abraham speaking on Openness</em></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In alignment with Sunil Abraham’s talk Pranesh Prakash criticized copyright law cutting into accessibility rights, as copyright infringements include translation into other languages, audio versions and also integral parts of education. The key is not to have a "one size fits all" copyright solution, as it is impossible to treat twitter content the same as a blockbuster movie. However, the government of India is doing exactly that and needs to interlink questions of access with copyright law.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vqv7qai5c-s" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 4: Open Content</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">(by Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam)<br />Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam, who led the next session, discussed <strong>Open Content</strong>. He had seen during the course of his experience India's poor performance in Science & Technology and outlined the reasons for the same. The lack of access to information essential in scientific research and knowledge production, he said, was the major limiting cause.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BFJyUTNzYvE" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 5: Quick Talk on Copyright Law and Access</h3>
<p>This short session dealt with implications of copyright law on internet access.</p>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Activity</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The participants were divided into two groups, and they were asked build as huge a network as possible with their personal belongings and present their creations. The participants had good ideas. One group placed their mobiles and laptops into the network to have them as nodes. The other group implemented the re-routing around censorship.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nSLy1eRAndQ" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
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<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Network.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Networking" /></th>
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<tr>
<td><em>Given above is a picture of the participants in an activity making the longest network possible with their personal belongings</em>.<br /><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Day 5: (June 12, 2013)</h2>
<h3>Session 1: Privacy on the Internet in India</h3>
<p>(by Sunil Abraham and Elonnai Hickok)</p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://internet-institute.in/repository/privacy-on-the-internet-by-elonnai">Click to view the presentation slides</a></p>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
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<td>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Elonnai.png" title="Elonnai" height="211" width="317" alt="" class="image-inline" /></p>
<p></p>
<p> <em>Given above is a picture of Elonnai Hickock speaking about privacy</em></p>
</td>
<td style="text-align: justify;">
<p>The following day, June 12th started off with “Privacy” as the theme. The session Privacy on the Internet in India was led by CIS privacy experts Sunil Abraham and Elonnai Hickock.</p>
<p>In an exchange of anecdotes, it was made clear how there needs to be a certain degree of state surveillance to secure the citizens safety.</p>
<p>This can happen through off air interception and active or passive cell phone towers that can track mobile devices.</p>
<p>However, encryption is an important tool to secure one’s own privacy against cyber espionage.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Some of the salient points discussed were:</p>
<ul>
<li> Off-the Air Interception</li>
<li> Possible to set up active or passive cell phone tower. </li>
<li> The signal strength will be strong and everyone looks for it.</li>
<li> Capacity to identify itself as a service provider. </li>
<li> Interception can begin with encryption Technology today used by security agencies.</li>
<li> NTRO- national technical Research Org and Outlook </li></ul>
<p> <strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PQWi9hHHSpc" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3>Session 2: E-Accessibility</h3>
<p>(by Nirmita Narasimhan)<br /><a class="external-link" href="http://internet-institute.in/repository/eAccessibility.pdf">Click to view the presentation slides</a></p>
<table class="listing">
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<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_Eaccessibility.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="E-accessibility" /></th>
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<td><em>Given above is a picture of Dr. Nirmita Narasimhan speaking on e-accessibility</em></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
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</tbody>
</table>
<p>The second<strong> </strong>session was on<strong> “E-Accessibility” </strong>led by Dr. Nirmita Narasimhan<strong>. </strong>Some of the salient points discussed were:</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li> Problems arising out of disability</li>
<li> Accessibility-Infrastructure and ICT</li>
<li> Assistive technologies for PWD’s.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Reasonable accommodation (not available or cannot be and requires extra effort and putting up an accessible copy up) and universal Design (for both for PWD’s and non-PWD’s).</li>
<li> Web Content Accessibility is operable and easily understandable. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Accessibility standards include; Daisy (6 types of books including audio and text books) is all about marking up the documents. Really a good way to read but is expensive and time consuming, also need Daisy tools and player to make it work.</li>
<li> In 1808 the first typewriter was developed to help the blind.</li>
<li> Considerations involved in Web Accessibility </li>
<li> Overlap b/w mobile accessibility and web accessibility.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Example- Raku Raku phone captured 60% of market share in Japan. It has many assistive features.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Relay Services has a middle man who passes on the message b/w different PWD’s in many countries, but it is not yet available in India.</li>
<li> PWD’s communicating with customer care – the issues involved. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Accessibility Policy- very few people are adopting accessible technologies. There is a need to have a strong policy. U.K. and U.S. already have strong policies related to accessible and assistive technology for PWD’s.</li></ul>
<p> <strong> Video</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vI8mixgTgCM" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3>Session 3: International Bodies and Mechanisms</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">(by Tulika Pandey and Gaurab Raj Upadhyay)<br /><strong>Activity</strong><br />Gaurab incorporated an <strong>Activity</strong> into his talk to enable the students to have a clearer understanding of International Bodies and Mechanisms.</p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Gaurab.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Gaurab" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>Given above is a picture of the speaker Gaurab Raj Upadhaya explaining the International Bodies and Mechanisms</em></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;"></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p>Some of the salient points discussed during his talk were:</p>
<ul>
<li> Definition: “Internet Governance is the development and application by Govt., the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures and programmes which shape the evolution and use of internet.”</li>
<li>It should be multilateral, transparent and democratic</li>
<li> Enhanced cooperation means to enable govt…</li></ul>
<p>Technical issues to keep in mind while talking about internet:<br /></p>
<p> </p>
<ol>
<li> Critical internet resources</li>
<li>Root server locations </li>
<li> Open Standards (CIS leads the initiative) </li>
<li> Interoperability </li>
<li> Search Engines </li>
<li> Internationalized Domain names (in own script & language) </li>
<li> Content</li></ol>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>Virtual yet real space and most important question to be understood is that whether, the governance of internet is possible?</li>
<li> Public Policy- to monitor cross-border data flow, Openness vs Privacy</li>
<li> India’s Outlook in internet policies-Pillars of Internet which is not fully addressed by the Indian government today. </li>
<li> Established an Inter- Ministerial Group by including various government departments into the arena.</li>
<li> Layer 0-7 Names and Numbers</li>
<li> Layer 8 and above</li>
<li> Applications and Usage </li>
<li> Legal business, policy, etc.</li></ul>
<h3>Session-4: E-Governance</h3>
<p>(by Tulika Pandey and Sunil Abraham)</p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Tulika.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Tulika" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>Given above is a picture of the speaker Tulika Pandey speaking about e-Governance</em> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Some of the salient points discussed were:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Making policies in India is difficult because the population is huge and implementation at rural level is difficult.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Bombarded by Techno utopians- who believe in technology’s ability to change lives.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Techno determinants- Corruption solved through technology through open government data. More technology is better, the most sophisticated ones are the best are gross misconceptions.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> Bhoomi project tried to deal with corruption at village level. Important policy change made all paper work illegal and digitized the land records etc. every action and request will be logged. But this led to creation of new corruption. Bribes were taken even before data was logged!</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> UID Project (Cobra Post Scam) around 20 public sector and 30 private banks were involved in money laundering scams. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> People who design the systems in Delhi prepare sub-contracts<strong>.</strong></li></ul>
<p><strong> </strong>VIDEO</p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Le3b-kka5Hs" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<hr />
<h2>Day 6: (June 13, 2013)</h2>
<h3>Session 1: Critical Perspectives of the Internet</h3>
<p>(by Dr. Nishant Shah)<br /><a class="external-link" href="http://internet-institute.in/repository/critical-perspectives-of-internet-society-dr-nishant-shah">Click to view the presentation slides</a></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify;">The sixth day of the Institute kicked off with Nishant Shah, director of research at CIS, looking into Critical Perspectives of the Internet. Nishant made a very important distinction between the internet as infrastructure and as social network constructing alternative universes. Nonetheless it was important to stress that technology should not be alienated in the process of this separation but seen as an integral part of it, as the digital is as much part of reality as any other technology and has become essential as a technology of change that it brings about not only in scientific but also in social development. Quoting Michel Foucault, Shah argued that technology becomes influential when it changes life, labour and language, which is why research in the field should involve critical ways of thinking about body, space and community.</td>
<td><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Nishant.png/@@images/836aa919-b1aa-4e61-86d2-2e4a6e5fc62f.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Nishant Shah" /><br /><br /> <em>Above is a picture of Dr. Nishant Shah speaking on Critical Perspectives of the Internet.</em> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The body perception can be perceived through the way bodily agencies change through technology. Technology does not necessarily taint or corrupt the body, but can also be a way to escape its confines. To put it to a point, we are all born into technology and cannot free ourselves from them, as for example pregnancy already starts with nutritional supplements, regulatory diets and exercise and essentially ends with birth technologies that do not necessarily involve only the digital - we must remember, speech is one of the oldest technologies available today.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HAnwjxLGA-g" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 2: Strategies for Policy Intervention</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">(by Chakshu Roy)<br />The second session on “Strategies for Policy Intervention” was led by Chakshu Roy. This session dealt with various ways in which policy intervention can be made and the various factors necessary to successfully engage in policy forums.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/B-tiOPu6WaU" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 3: Profile of Internet Service Providers</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">(by Satyen Gupta)<br /><a class="external-link" href="http://internet-institute.in/repository/profile-of-isps-by-satyen-gupta">Click to view the presentation slides</a></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/SatyenGupta.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Satyen Gupta" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>Given above is a picture of Satyen Gupta speaking about Internet Service Providers</em></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Satyen Gupta during his talk on “Profile of Internet Service Providers” discussed the nature, offerings and profile of various ISPs in India, their market share and dynamics.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The salient points discussed were:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">National Broadband Plans</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Spectrum Issues “Management”</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Reality check of Indian ISPs</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Broadband Definition & Penetration</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roadblocks for Broadband in India, Governments Role, Regulation</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Institutional Framework for the Indian Telecom</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Broadband Access in India- Technology-Neutrality</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Satellite based DTH Services offer alternate for the Broadband via Receive Only Internet Service (ROIS)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Broadband using DTH for Receive-only Internet</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">VSAT has the potential for significant impact on Broadband Penetration in Remote Areas</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Fixed Wireless Access- an important access technology</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Facilitating Radio Spectrum for Broadband Access</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Fiscal measures to reduce the cost of access devices, infrastructure and broadband service</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Reduction in the cost of connectivity</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) -National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) has been set up on recommendation of TRAI by DIT, Government of India to ensure that Internet traffic, originating and destined for India, should be routed within India.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Emerging Broadband Services</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Broadband Commission for Digital Development (BCDD)-UN Targets for Universal Broadband,2015</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">NOFN India-Existing Fiber Infrastructure and Coverage by Various Service Providers</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012- Salient Features</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">State of Internet Services and ISPs in India:<br />
<ol>
<li>India’s Ranking on Key Broadband Indicators</li>
<li>Regulator’s Report – Growth of Internet in India</li>
<li>Internet Subscribers Base & Market share of top 10 ISPs</li>
<li>Technology trends for Internet/Broadband Access</li>
<li>Internet/broadband Subscribers for top 10 states</li>
<li>Tariff Plans for USO funded Broadband</li>
<li>Contribution of Telcos in Development of Internet Services</li>
<li>Incumbent’s Role in Growth of Broadband</li>
<li>Plugging rural missing link- BBNL</li></ol>
</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Internet Subscribers Base & Market share of top 10 ISPs</li></ul>
<p> <strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/DOSeo-ASOQ8" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 4: Competition in the Market by Helani Galpaya</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Helani Galpaya during her talk on “Competition in the Market” discussed about what competition meant, <em>Herfindahl–Hirschman</em> Index to measure how competitive a market is, what are the dangers of monopoly markets and the landscape of the Telecom market in India.</p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Helani.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Helani" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>Above is a picture of Helani Galpaya speaking about Competition in the Market</em></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Day 7: (June 14, 2013)</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The final day of the Institute focussed on how the Internet can be used to effect change on society – Activism was the theme.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 1: Leveraging Internet for activism</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">(by Ananth Guruswamy)<br /><a class="external-link" href="http://internet-institute.in/repository/LeveragingInternetforActivism.pdf">Click to read the presentation slides</a></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/AnanthGuruswamy.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Ananth Guruswamy" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>Above is a picture of Ananth Guruswamy speaking during the session on leveraging internet for activism</em></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Some of the salient points discussed were:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Digital Activism</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Target Omar Abdullah. It is about an act called Administrative detention Act. One can be detained without act i.e. The Preventive Detention Act. He directly responded to the threat.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Twitter seems to be a place where the political leaders are actually accessible. This kind of access was not possible in day to day life earlier if one was a common man. This phenomenon is developing. Even in Corporate setup writing a mail directly to the CEO seems possible. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Strengths: Wide reach, Freedom of speech, Data collection is made easy, Issues can be tackled swiftly, Global communities, singular identities have lot of power. Eg: 190 Million people stood up against Poverty; this kind of mobilization impossible without internet.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Besides local issues even Global issues are addressed an collection of funds becomes easy. Onion.com once a struggling publication in U.S., but now with a global audience it is thriving and it has a healthy reader base today. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The Earth Hour helps people connect across space and time.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Weakness: More popularity, more attention; Traditional/Real Protest has become rare and a threat; There is no real action beyond internet, threat of movement is low, there is no real commitment involved in digital activism and just one click is enough to make one ‘feel good’.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Opportunities: Recruitment of protestors for real protests. Diff. b/w real and virtual blurred; anything that affects the mind space is real. The intersection is interesting.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Threats: Total removal of privacy, Government intervention in private issues and there could be misinterpretation of people’s thoughts by certain people.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Traditional vs Digital activism: Traditional fails to provide results whereas clicking a button is as easy as wearing a badge.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Facebook activism: ‘Like Buttons’, People moving away from reading emails, a shift towards use of facebook; creates a sense of belongingness which the traditional activism failed to achieve.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">India against Corruption: used mobile phone effectively.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Social Media has changed the way protests happen globally and in India, one example is Twitter. Change.org is a website which gives freedom to anybody to start a petition without any external source; Awaaz.org another such petition website.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Green Peace launched a Green peace X which was a runaway success. YouTube is another platform for the masses. People today are more interested in watching rather than reading.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Pakistan in 2007: “Flash protests”; Free Fraizan Movement on Twitter.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Something to keep in mind regarding while launching a campaign online is to think who the audience is and what we want them to do and how will the campaign help our objectives?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">How to measure success of a social media campaign?</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Reach</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Engagement- likes, tweets, comments, etc.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Influence</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Attrition Score</li></ul>
<p> <strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PXZE7y1qxlo" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Session 2: Internet Access Activism</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">(by Parminder Jeet Singh)<br />The next session on “INTERNET ACCESS” ACTIVISM by Parminder Jeet Singh dealt with how people can contribute to initiatives for improving internet access amongst masses.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_zyM3_OiUxM" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<h3>Session 3: Ensuring Access to the Internet</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">(by A.K. Bhargava)<br /><a class="external-link" href="http://internet-institute.in/repository/BBNLiis.pdf">Click to view the presentation</a><br />The last session on “Ensuring Access to the Internet” by A.K. Bhargava discussed strategies to enhance access to the Internet in India with special focus on National Optical Fibre Network.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The salient points discussed were:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">- Role of Broadband in Nation Building<br />- Policy Aspiration of Broadband - How do we meet aspiration?<br />- Telecom Network Layers‐Gaps in OFC Reach<br />- BBNL Interconnection<br />- NOFN - Bridging The Gap<br />- Digital Knowledge Centres (DKCs)<br />- Architecture of BBNL<br />- NOFN Impact</p>
<ol>
<li>Societal<br />
<ul>
<li>Bridging the digital divide</li></ul>
</li>
<li>Business<br />
<ul>
<li>Job creation, indigenous industry growth</li></ul>
</li>
<li>Sectoral<br />
<ul>
<li>Improved connectivity, data growth</li></ul>
</li>
<li>Technological<br />
<ul>
<li>Differentiators</li></ul>
<p><strong>VIDEO</strong></p>
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4X3WSn1u3WM" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe>
</li></ol>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Speaker Presentation Slides</strong><br />All the presentation aids/slide shows barring a few have been uploaded to the website at <a class="external-link" href="http://internet-institute.in/repository">http://internet-institute.in/repository</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Presentation of Assignments</strong><br />The participants presented their assignments which were given to them to work on the 3rd day. The participants were presented with Wikipedia T-Shirts as a token of appreciation.</p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Assignments.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Assignments" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>Given above is a picture of the participants presenting their assignments</em> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Participant Feedback</strong><br />All participants were asked to fill a "Session Feedback Form" for each of the sessions and also an "Overall Feedback Form". They were also constantly encouraged to come up with suggestions and inputs on how to make the Institute more interesting.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The key findings from the <strong>Quantitative Feedback</strong> provided are:<br />(The figures below are averaged scores (out of 5) provided by participants in the Overall Feedback Forms)</p>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>S.No.</th>
<th>Parameter</th>
<th>Score (Out of 5)</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>Relevance of Content</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">3.6</td>
</tr>
<tr style="text-align: right;">
<td style="text-align: justify;">2</td>
<td style="text-align: justify;">Comprehensiveness of Content</td>
<td>3.44</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3</td>
<td>Easy to Understand</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">3.55</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>4</td>
<td>Well Paced</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">3.33</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5</td>
<td>Sufficient Breaks</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>6</td>
<td>Duration of Talks</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">3.2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>7</td>
<td>Mix between Learning & Activities</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">3</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The key findings from the <strong>Qualitative Feedback</strong> provided are:</p>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>S.No.</th>
<th>Points observed</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Presentations</strong> – Participants felt sessions with accompanying slides/aids were most helpful. Some felt that accompanying notes could also be useful for future reference.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2</td>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Use of Examples/Case Studies</strong> – Participants felt concepts can be better assimilated if case-studies/examples are used. Some also felt that for the technological advancements discussed, it would have been better had the social/economic impact of the same was discussed too.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3</td>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Implementation Gaps</strong>– One participant, who is working at the field level in Kolkata had a specific thing to say about the talk about BSNL and its offerings– Although BSNL has so many options available on paper to connect to the Internet, common service centres in West Bengal are mostly run on Tata Indicom’s network even though the board outside says “BSNL” etc. She felt that the reality is far different from what exists on paper.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>4</td>
<td><strong>Interactive sessions</strong> were most appreciated than speaker led sessions.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5</td>
<td style="text-align: justify;">There were many responses to the question “<strong>How will you apply this new information in the future</strong>” and it is very encouraging. People have given thought to contributing to Wikipedia in their mother tongue, take the knowledge to the field work that they are associated with, continue with their research, change their Internet connections, to help file RTIs, to adopt more open source software, sharing with students, advocacy efforts, etc</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>6</td>
<td>The responses to the question “<strong>What did you learn from the session/workshop that was new?</strong>” elicited more responses for the following sessions<br />
<ol>
<li>Domestic Bodies and Mechanisms</li>
<li>Case-studies such as Air Jaldi</li>
<li>Low cost devices in India</li>
<li>USOF</li>
<li>Free & Open Internet</li>
<li>Copyright laws</li>
<li>Privacy</li>
<li>Accessibility</li>
<li>Digital Natives</li>
<li>ISPs</li></ol>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>7</td>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Field Trip</strong> – One participant said “<em>One or two of the persons from MapUnity could have made the presentation at the institute venue itself. A visit to an underserved or un-served community with interactions with the people there could also have given a good understanding of on-ground challenges and needs.”</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>8</td>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Follow-up Session</strong> –One participant had ideas about having a follow-up session “<em>A follow-up call [webinar?] after 6 months to see if any of these concepts were useful would be an interesting exercise to take up”</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>9</td>
<td><strong>Assignment – </strong>Participants felt that the assignments were good but they needed more time to work on the same.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Other Feedback:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>The food and the facilities were enjoyed and appreciated by all.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The remote location of the Golden Palms Resort was a concern for most of the participants.</li></ol>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Participation Certificates</strong><br />Participation Certificates (template shown below) have been mailed to all the participants in the third week of July 2013.</p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Certificate.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Certificate of Participation" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>Given above is the certificate declaring the successful completion of the event</em></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Institute Expenses</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A total of Rs. 19, 91,889 (Rupees nineteen lakhs ninety one thousand eight hundred and eighty nine only) was spent towards organizing and conducting the Internet Institute. A breakup of the Institute Expenditures is given below:</p>
<table class="vertical listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>S.No.</th>
<th style="text-align: left;">Type of Expense</th>
<th style="text-align: left;">Description</th>
<th style="text-align: right;">Total</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>Venue – Golden Palms Resort</td>
<td>Accommodation for participants, speakers and food</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">12,91,176</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2</td>
<td>Travel</td>
<td>Cost of Air tickets</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">2,94,515</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3</td>
<td>Local Travel</td>
<td>Airport Pickup/Drop, Local City Travel</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">1,41,001</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>4</td>
<td>Gifts & Printing</td>
<td>Gifts for speakers and ad hoc document printing charges</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">24,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5</td>
<td>Infrastructure</td>
<td>Telephony, Audio, Video, Stage</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">1,05,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>6</td>
<td>Participant Bags</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: right;">10,650</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>7</td>
<td>Reimbursements</td>
<td>Reimbursements to participants and speakers</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">1,25,547</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;" colspan="3"><strong>Total Expenses</strong></td>
<td style="text-align: right;">19,91,889</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">What the participants had to say</h3>
<blockquote class="quoted">Sangh Priya Rahul – “<em>One of my organisation's work is more or less related to empowerment of rural areas so knowledge about USOF will be useful there</em><em>.” </em>(On USOF)</blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;" class="quoted">Rashmi. M – “<em>Makes me more sensitized towards the disabled people.”</em> (On e-Accessibility)</blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;" class="quoted">Preethi Ayyaluswamy – “<em>Would help me in strategically planning for an online campaign” </em>(On digital activism).</blockquote>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Conclusion</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Institute was highly engaging and enabled the participants to explore the various facets of Internet & Society. As was evident from the feedback forms, participants had given thought to contributing to Wikipedia in their mother tongue, take the knowledge to the field work that they are associated with, continue with their research, change their Internet connections, help file RTIs, adopt more open source software, sharing with students, advocacy efforts etc. There was a very high level of expertise amongst speakers at the Institute which was apparent from the participatory discussions and a lot of insightful perspectives were brought forth. There was a common consensus amongst all participants that inclusive growth across all dimensions would take efforts from all stakeholders.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We hope to learn from the findings of this Institute and work towards a better second Institute.</p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/GroupPhoto.png" alt="" class="image-inline" title="Group Photo of Participants" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>Above is a group picture of all the participants and the organizers</em></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<ul></ul>
<ul></ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/institute-on-internet-and-society-event-report'>https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/institute-on-internet-and-society-event-report</a>
</p>
No publishersrividyaVideoInternet StudiesFeaturedHomepage2013-10-15T06:48:00ZBlog EntryBanking and Accessibility in India: A Report by CIS
https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/banking-and-accessibility-in-india-report
<b>The report gives an analysis of banking accessibility for persons with disabilities in India. Besides a detailed look at the legal provisions and guidelines on banking and technology, the report also provides a view on different disabilities in relation to banking and accessibility in India and contains case studies and guidelines from countries such as New Zealand, Australia, the United States of America, Canada and the Netherlands. The report sums up the analysis with suggestions and recommendations to improve banking accessibility for persons with disabilities in India.</b>
<h2>Executive Summary</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and has an obligation to provide equal opportunities and facilities to everyone, irrespective of any disabilities they might suffer from. This is guaranteed in the right to equality and the right to life, which are enshrined in the fundamental rights in the Constitution of India. There are specific Reserve Bank of India (RBI) notifications that mandate banks to offer banking facilities in a non-discriminatory manner to all customers. Nevertheless, there are many problems faced by people with disabilities while accessing banking and financial services in India. For instance, many banks and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) are not physically accessible, staff has no training or expertise in dealing with customers who have special needs, and despite the existence of technology, and ATMs are not equipped to be used by people with disabilities.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There are several international guidelines which can be referred to while formulating policy on banking accessibility, such as guidelines on ATM construction and modification (USA) and guidelines on making websites accessible for people with disabilities (the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), as well as voluntary standards that have been taken up by banking associations in countries like Australia and New Zealand in order to make banking more accessible to people with disabilities and the elderly population.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The adoption of accessibility features and technologies in Indian banks today is very low, despite there being a legislative as well as executive push for the same. Banks which do not follow these guidelines are not meeting their legal requirements, and it is important for them to understand not just their obligations, but also the benefits that will accrue to them if they follow the suggested guidelines. To that end, this report looks at the current notifications and guidelines that govern this area, the problems faced by people with disabilities, and looks at guidelines from other countries to suggest solutions that can be incorporated by different banks in India.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Introduction</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As per the 2001 Census, there are around 2.19 crore persons with disabilities in India. They constitute 2.13 per cent of the total population of the country.<a href="#fn1" name="fr1">[1]</a> This includes persons with visual, hearing, speech, locomotor and mental disabilities. Despite these numbers, there is a lack of understanding of their needs, and people with disabilities face a number of obstacles when it comes to living a normal life, and availing banking facilities is a big part of the problem. Consider the fact that only 50 out of the 1.04 lakh Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in India are accessible to people with disabilities.<a href="#fn2" name="fr2">[2]</a> There is a general lack of infrastructure and awareness in India that permits people with disabilities to use banking services. This translates to problems not just in accessing a physical bank and seeking help from a bank official, but also extends to accessing services such as ATM machines and online banking options. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that around 75 per cent of persons with disabilities live in rural areas, and only around 49 per cent of the disabled population is literate and only 34 per cent is employed.<a href="#fn3" name="fr3">[3]</a> Although one may find some rare cases of disabled-friendly banking options in the metros, in the rural areas, there are neither facilities nor is there any sensitisation towards meeting the needs of the disabled.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">India is a signatory to both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006<a href="#fn4" name="fr4">[4]</a> (hereinafter, “UNCRPD”) and Biwako Millennium Framework towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for PWDs in Asia and the Pacific, 2002<a href="#fn5" name="fr5">[5]</a> and thus has an international obligation to ensure equal access to all members of the population. This obligation extends to giving people with disabilities the right to conduct banking services. This has been recognised by several Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directives as well, although these guidelines have not been fully implemented so far.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Currently, it is very difficult for people with disabilities to use banking services in India. If a person who has a hearing disability walks into a branch for a home loan, the branch does not have a person who can understand or interpret sign language. More usually, the branch does not even have the resources or knowledge about whom to contact to facilitate the interaction by interpreting. These obstacles mean that a person with disability/ies always has to latch on to someone who is fully capable to help them. Without such help in the form of guarantors or co-borrowers who are fully capable, the chances of obtaining finance from the banks are low because bank's probably give a person with disability/ies a much lower credit rating based on their own internal criteria. These determinations automatically put the disabled at a disadvantage. A person with a learning disability, for example, dyslexia, will face severe difficulty filling out an application form (or any document for that matter) and banks are not disabled friendly in terms of the attitude of the staff towards such difficulties.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Making banking accessible for people with disabilities is both a best practice that should be followed, as well as a sound commercial decision. There are a large number of people in India with differing levels of disability, who would benefit from using banking services. Additionally, the number of people will only increase with time as India’s young population grows old, since incidence of disability increases with age.<a href="#fn6" name="fr6">[6]</a> The Internet, above all, is a tool for people with disabilities to bridge the differences between them and others, and all efforts must be made to ensure that they are not at a disadvantage when it comes to using services such as net banking. There is also the consideration that improving accessibility improves access for all users, and makes it possible for them to make use of more services. A lot of accessibility issues (such as the physical accessibility to branches and ATMs, signature mismatches due to hand tremors or strokes) are common to the disabled, the elderly and those with neurological conditions. Taken together, this constitutes a significant percentage of the customer base — so these issues should be addressed by banks for that reason alone.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This report will look at the legal imperatives that govern accessibility in banking services in India, and look at the various problems being faced by people with disabilities when trying to use banks. It will also look at sample guidelines from other countries and suggest best practices for banking institutions, as well as take a look at the various costs that could be incurred in trying to make their banks more accessible.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The scope of this report is restricted to covering only basic banking services in India, and other financial services, such as insurance and loans, have not been dealt with.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Legal Imperatives</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The rights of persons with disabilities have been recognised under various legal instruments, and it has been established that they are to be given the same services and privileges as other members of society.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Constitutional Provisions</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Part III of the Constitution of India, which deals with the fundamental rights of citizens, recognizes the principle of equality of all people. Article 14 states that the government must accord equal protection of the law to any person within the territory of India.<a href="#fn7" name="fr7">[7] </a>This recognition of the importance of non-discrimination means that the state must ensure that people with disabilities do not suffer disadvantages when it comes to accessing public services.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Article 15, which deals with prohibition of discrimination on various grounds states that no citizen is to be subject to any disability, liability or restriction with regard to access to shops, public restaurants, and other public places.<a href="#fn8" name="fr8">[8]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It is evident that this important constitutional protection extends to people with disabilities, and it is their right to gain equal and accessible access to all manner of services, including banking.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Legislation dealing with Disability</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There are several national laws that deal with the rights of people with disabilities, though not all of these laws have a direct bearing with banking.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (“the PWD Act”) was enacted to give effect to the proclamation on the full participation and equality of people with disabilities on both central and state governments. The PWD Act has been enacted under Article 253 of the Constitution.<a href="#fn9" name="fr9">[9] </a>It has several provisions for people with disabilities, including education, employment, creation of barrier free environment, social security and similar overlooked areas. It provides for a three tier arrangement:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">For evolution of policy for the benefit of persons with disabilities Implementation of the provisions of the Act and laws, policies, etc., and monitoring implementation and redressing grievances.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The implementation of the Act relies on collaboration between the appropriate governments, which includes various central ministries and departments, state and union territories, and local bodies.<a href="#fn10" name="fr10">[10]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Chapter VIII of the Act deals with non-discrimination, and one of the measures it recommends is making buildings accessible by simple measures such as curb cuts and slopes in the pavements for wheelchair users.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There are several problems with the enactment.<a href="#fn11" name="fr11">[11]</a> The terms "accessibility" and "disability" are not clearly defined. They are also not provided as a matter of right but are based on the economic capacity of the service provider. It also fails to consider the access to services and information. However, public banks need to be conscious, since they will usually be considered to have sufficient economic capacity, and might be bound to deliver their services to people with disabilities. This has often become an issue in other jurisdictions as well. In 2009, the Royal Bank of Scotland, for example, was forced to pay extensive damages to a disabled student who was unable to access the bank due to a lack of wheelchair lifts.<a href="#fn12" name="fr12">[12]</a></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The trust is intended to give complete care to people with mental retardation and cerebral palsy, and also manage the properties bequeathed to the trust. The trust supports programmes that promotes independence and address the concerns of these special persons, especially the ones who do not have family support. The trust is also empowered to receive grants, donations, benefactions, requests and transfers.<a href="#fn13" name="fr13">[13]</a></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The Mental Health Act, 1987</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b>The Act consolidates and amends the law relating to the treatment and care of mentally ill persons, in order to make better provisions with respect to their property and affairs, and other incidental matters.<a href="#fn14" name="fr14">[14]</a></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b>The Act was created to provide for the constitution of the Rehabilitation Council of India for regulating training of the rehabilitation professionals and maintaining of a central rehabilitation register. It also regulates the recognized rehabilitation qualifications, and prescribes minimum standards of education.<a href="#fn15" name="fr15">[15]</a></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">RBI Notifications</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The most important resource when it comes to banking guidelines is the RBI, which comes out with regular notifications. The RBI has been conferred wide powers under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (BRA),<a href="#fn16" name="fr16">[16]</a> under which it can supervise and control the various banking companies, and they are bound to follow its directions. Section 35A of the Act specifies that in public interest or in the interest of banking policy, the RBI can issue such directions as it deems fit, and the banking companies or the banking company, as the case may be, shall be bound to comply with such directions.<a href="#fn17" name="fr17">[17]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">RBI has released several notifications dealing with the rights of the disabled.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Circular on grant of banking facilities to the visually challenged</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b>In its Circular DBOD. No. Leg BC. 91 /09.07.005/2007-08 dated June 4, 2008,<a href="#fn18" name="fr18">[18]</a> the RBI mandated that banking facilities (including cheque book facility, operation of ATM, locker, etc.) cannot be denied to the visually challenged as they are legally competent to contract.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the notification, the RBI recalled the order of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, which had earlier been passed by the Indian Banks’ Association (“IBA”) to its member banks. The Order instructed that banks should offer all the banking facilities including cheque book facility, ATM facility and locker facility to the visually challenged and also assist them in withdrawal of cash. This order has reiterated that there can be no denial of services just because there is an apprehension of risk in operating or using the facility; it said that a similar security threat exists for all members of the population.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As per the RBI notification, the banks are therefore bound to:<br />Ensure that all the banking facilities such as cheque books are offered to the visually impaired without any discrimination. These facilities should include third party cheques, ATM, net banking, locker, retail loan and credit card facilities.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Advise their branches to render all possible assistance to the visually impaired for availing the various banking facilities.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Circular on making ATMs accessible</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b>The RBI had been receiving several suggestions to make branches and ATMs easily accessible to people with disabilities by providing ramps so that wheel chair users can access them and the height of the machine is also appropriate for them. It had also been receiving suggestions for installing speaking software and key pads with letters in Braille to facilitate use by persons with visual impairment. After considering these suggestions, the RBI passed a notification, directing the banks to implement such measures.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As per its Circular DBOD. No. Leg BC. 91 /09.07.005/2007-08 dated June 4, 2008, RBI has directed all banks to provide:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Ramps to ATMs: Banks have to take necessary steps to provide all existing ATMs or future ATMs with ramps so that wheelchair users or persons with disabilities can easily access them and also make arrangements in such a way that the height of the ATM does not create an impediment in its use by a wheelchair user.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Ramps at bank entrances: Banks may also take appropriate steps including providing ramps at the entrance of the bank branches so that the persons with disabilities or wheelchair users can enter the bank branches and conduct business without much difficulty.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Accessible ATMs: Banks should make at least one third of new ATMs installed as talking ATMs with Braille keypads and place them strategically <span>in consultation with other banks</span> to ensure that at least one talking ATM with Braille keypad is generally available in each locality for catering to needs of visually impaired persons.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Information about the ATMs: Banks should also bring the locations of such talking ATMs to the notice of their disabled customers.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Circular on implementation of the guidelines</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b>These guidelines were strongly reiterated as recently as September 5, 2012, where the RBI by its notification numbered DBOD.No. Leg.BC. 38/09.07.005/2012-13<a href="#fn20" name="fr20">[20] </a>highlighted the abovementioned circulars. It said that it had been brought to their notice by the Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities that visually challenged persons are facing problems in availing banking facilities like internet banking.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Banks were advised under this notification to strictly adhere to instructions contained in the above circulars and extend all banking facilities to persons with blindness, low-vision and other disabilities.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Circular on guardianship certificates</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b>The RBI, by its Master Circular DBOD.No.Leg.BC.9/ 09.07.006/ 2009-10<a href="#fn21" name="fr21">[21]</a>dated July 1, 2009 on Customer Service, directed banks to accept guardianship certificates issued by local level committees set up under the National Trust Act, enabling persons with disabilities like autism and cerebral palsy to open and operate accounts. Banks were advised to rely on the guardianship certificate issued either by the district court under the Mental Health Act or by the local level committees under the National Trust Act for the purposes of opening and operating bank accounts<a href="#fn22" name="fr22">[22]</a> by the legal guardians for people with disabilities that is covered under the Act. Banks were also advised to ensure that their branches give proper guidance so that the parents or relatives of the person with disability/ies do not face any difficulties in this regard. It has also directed that information about the opening of such bank accounts be displayed conspicuously, in both English as well as the regional language, in its circular RBI /2009-10/142.<a href="#fn23" name="fr23">[23]</a><i> This notification was in response to a Delhi High Court decision that directed banks to put up such information</i>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Banks are therefore directed to:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Accept guardianship certificates: Banks can accept certificates issued by local level committees set up under the National Trust Act or district court under the Mental Health Act, so that persons with disabilities like autism and cerebral palsy can open and operate accounts.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Provide assistance: Banks should ensure that their branches give proper guidance so that the parents or relatives of the person with disability/ies do not face any difficulties.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Display information: Banks should ensure that information about the opening of such bank accounts be displayed conspicuously, in both English as well as the regional language.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">National Policy on Disability</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b>The National Policy for Persons with Disabilities, which was published in 2006, recognizes the extent of problems faced by the disabled in India. The report also discusses the number of citizens who are affected by disability: “According to the Census 2001, there are 2.19 crore persons with disabilities in India who constitute 2.13 per cent of the total population. This includes persons with visual, hearing, speech, locomotor and mental disabilities. Seventy five per cent of persons with disabilities live in rural areas, 49 per cent of disabled population is literate and only 34 per cent are employed. The earlier emphasis on medical rehabilitation has now been replaced by an emphasis on social rehabilitation. There has been an increasing recognition of the abilities of persons with disabilities and emphasis on mainstreaming them in the society based on their capabilities.”<a href="#fn24" name="fr24">[24] </a>The policy endorses accessibility and says that a barrier-free environment enables people with disabilities to move about safely and freely, and use the facilities within the built environment. In the principle areas of intervention identified by the policy, it ensures that banking services are made barrier free and accessible.<a href="#fn25" name="fr25">[25] </a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The National Policy is intended to inform the disability plan to be incorporated in the 11th Five Year plan,<a href="#fn26" name="fr26">[26] </a>which will have a timeline and funds for programmes which can be allotted through the Finance Commission.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Explaining Disabilities</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There are many problems faced by people with disabilities when they consider banking and financial services. From the very beginning, banks are a complicated route to charter for people with disabilities. Banks often resort to complex schemes and pricing systems, which can be difficult to understand for people with cognitive disabilities.<a href="#fn27" name="fr27">[27] </a>Finding bank branches and ATMs in their neighbourhood which are disabled-friendly and can be accessible to them is another difficulty, especially in a place like India where finding information is often a problem. There might be problems with physical accessibility — lack of ramp which makes it impossible for a wheelchair-bound person to use a bank or uncomfortable height of an ATM which makes it unwieldy for a wheelchair-bound person to access it — which can extend to the virtual realm as well: if a bank’s website is not complying with the standards for web-accessibility (discussed below) and is difficult to use by people with disabilities, they will be unable to take recourse to internet banking, as well.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In many countries such as Australia<a href="#fn28" name="fr28">[28]</a> there is great reliance on phone banking, which can be especially helpful to blind customers, or on audio-based telephone devices, which can be used by deaf-blind or the deaf customers. However, neither technology is at present available in India; text-based alternatives or spoken prompts (TTY based telephone banking) are not used by any banks. It is therefore essential that if a customer is using the interactive voice response (“IVR”) system of a bank and speaking to a bank representative on the phone to get a transaction done that the communication be clear, precise and easy to follow — as anyone who has attempted phone banking in India would testify, that is certainly not the case.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Let us take a look at some specific disabilities and what banks can do to ensure accessibility to their customers:</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Problems faced by the hearing impaired while banking</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b>When a person who cannot hear goes to a bank, the first problem they face is the fact that unless they are proficient at lip reading, they will find it difficult to communicate with the bank officials or tellers even when undertaking simple tasks like withdrawing money or depositing cheques. An important point to remember is that most hearing impaired people are more familiar with sign language than with English, and so can get confused by the complicated language used by the banks in their brochures and information booklets. If a deaf customer is communicating with the bank official by writing out instructions, it could take a longer time than other customers and they might face problems with other customers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Another problem that might occur is that error messages or other audio cues might not be picked up by customers who are using multimedia based banking services or ATM machines.<a href="#fn29" name="fr29">[29]</a> This problem is exacerbated when using customer care services for banks, which are usually available only on the phone. With a lack of technological options for the hearing impaired, they are unable to access the IVR systems, or interact with customer care executives, which make it difficult for them to avail of all banking service facilities.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What can banks do?</p>
<ul>
<li>Training: Ensure that the bank staff is sensitised to the needs of the disabled and deaf customers, and know of a sign language translator who can be called if a customer requires it.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Ease of understanding: Make the instructions — both in the physical banks as well as in ATMs and websites — simple and precise, so they are easily understood. This will help all customers, not just those with disabilities.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Technical solutions: One solution available in some countries is using a phone-to-text machine or software that enables hearing impaired customers to use the phone banking and customer care services of a bank. For example, the Royal Bank of Scotland users can use a Typetalk or BT Textdirect service which will enable them to speak to an operator and so convey their messages.<a href="#fn30" name="fr30">[30]</a> If a bank feels that sufficient customers will benefit from such a technology, it should invest in it.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Sign language interpretation: A more low-tech solution is to offer interpretative services, where customers who need it can be assisted by someone who is proficient in sign language to help relay their point across to the bank.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Problems faced by the visually impaired while banking</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Visually impaired customers can find it difficult to navigate and even reach their banks, if the path is not clear and if the building is not provided with enough ramps and clear entrances. Even understanding the terms and conditions of banks and their services are difficult to comprehend, because the language used to describe services and procedures is confusing and complicated. Often, a booklet with the terms and conditions is simply handed over with no concern for how the person is supposed to read them. Visually impaired people might also face problems in distinguishing details on cheques and other financial instruments which, unlike currency, do not have physically distinguishable marks on them.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Visually impaired customers often face a lot of problems while using ATMs, because the keys are not marked with recognisable lettering in Braille. Even when there is a token raised symbol on the middle key or Braille markings on the keypad for tactile recognition, there is still the problem that what is being displayed on the touchscreen, as well as the instructions on how to proceed with a transaction, are not capable of being communicated. Most ATMs in India are not equipped with an audio jack, and so can’t be used by blind customers who want to connect headphones and hear the display on the screen.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There is also the problem of signature mismatches, especially when it comes to opening accounts and signing cheques. Currently the bank’s solution is to not have the person with disability/ies sign the cheque, which is not a solution that works consistently, especially when a person with disabilities is running a company. There should be a separate process in place to facilitate issuance of cheques by the visually impaired.<a href="#fn31" name="fr31">[31]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The first and most obvious problem with the visually impaired using net banking and other services on the internet is that they won’t be able to see the screen. Similarly, when they attempt to use the ATM machines, the screen cannot be read and the keyboard functions are often unclear. The problem is often accentuated for people with low vision, because the improper lighting, low contrast print and other glares make it difficult to make out what the screen says.<a href="#fn32" name="fr32">[32]</a> Some sites have a security requirement where users have to input CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) codes in order to validate their payment or to register for a particular service; using such security codes can be particularly problematic for blind customers.<a href="#fn33" name="fr33">[33]</a> Banks websites might have pop ups or automatic music playing, which makes it difficult for the visually impaired to use their screen readers. Another problem arises in the mobile applications (“apps”) that are used by various banks; the format is not supported by screen readers on smartphones, and so customers with disabilities can’t use the facility made available to others.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What can banks do?</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Training: Sensitise the staff to the needs of blind customers, and ensure that there is a customer care executive who is present when a visually impaired customer needs assistance with a particular service.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Accessible formats: Printing out bank documents or statements in large size fonts, Braille or in audio script format if required is the first thing that banks can do to assist their visually impaired customers. Banks can also try to migrate towards accessible e-text or DAISY formats for their disabled customers.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Banking Guide: Coming out with a bank note guide to help identify the different bank notes and counterfeits, if any, is also important for visually impaired people who rely on their sense of touch. Similarly, an accessible format guide that takes you through the various steps that are involved in withdrawing cash or using an ATM would greatly assist blind customers who are using a new format or type of bank machine for the first time. At the same time, increasing the screen size and resolution of ATM screens would go a long way in improving access to the customers.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Templates: Banks can also be encouraged to come out with cheque book templates, so that blind users can familiarise themselves with using such bank documents and the process of writing cheques becomes easier for them.<a href="#fn34" name="fr34">[34] </a>Banks should also develop a better solution to the problem of visually impaired customer’s inability to sign cheques.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Open format statements: Banks should also ensure that when they provide customers with statements, they are made available in open formats, such as HTML or RTF, so that they can easily be read by screen readers. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Technical solutions: There are some alternatives to the CAPTCHA codes available, such as audio codes or maths questions. Some sites have the option of hearing the codes, instead of just seeing them. There are also human aided accessible CAPTCHA services (such as Solona), where the customer can send a screenshot of the screen to an aide. However, this has several security and privacy implications, and so is not an ideal solution. Multimedia on the websites of banks should be made optional, with a clear possibility of turning the music or animation off, so that users can use the screen reader without any problems. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Mobile apps: Banks should work with their technology partners to ensure that their mobile apps are accessible on all devices and can be used by customers using assistive technology. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Improved ATMs: Several banks around the world are switching to ATMs which give output in multiple formats, such as audio and large-font print,<a href="#fn35" name="fr35">[35]</a> making them more user friendly. There are several guidelines in effect in various jurisdictions which describe better design for ATMs, which takes into account the physical needs of disabled customers; newer ATMs which are set up should be asked to conform to such standards. While this is slowly starting to take place, more banks need to expand and improve their building structures keeping such guidelines and needs in mind. This has been discussed in the next section on ATM Guidelines. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Sensitisation: Special care should be taken to explain terms and conditions to visually impaired persons — there should be an effort to ensure that the person who is opening an account has understood the various terms and conditions and not just heard them.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Problems faced by those with physical disabilities while banking</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b>In India, a major problem is the physical accessibility of banks, with hardly any buildings being equipped with ramps and elevators; even if the bank itself is made accessible via these architectural modifications, the area surrounding the bank, for example, the market place, might be difficult to reach for people in wheelchairs, ultimately making it very difficult for them to use banks.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">People with physical disabilities might find controlling their limbs for prolonged periods to be a problem, and so would find it difficult to use not just the physical banking services, but also internet services which necessitate controlling a mouse for a long period of time.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What can banks do?</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Build ramps: The most important step that needs to be taken by different banking institutions is ensuring that their ATMs and branches are accessible through a ramp, so that it is physically possible to reach from the road or other public area.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Elevators: Where possible, elevators should also be provided.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Special measures: Within the bank, there should be special provisions for people in wheelchairs or crutches, such as a designated queue and teller, so that they do not have to wait in queue for a long period of time.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Problems faced by those with cognitive disabilities while banking</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b>People with cognitive disabilities might have lower attention spans and might have problems with understanding complicated bank procedures and requirements. If the steps involved in using an ATM or other physical transactions are not logical and simple, people with cognitive disabilities will be unable to handle them. As a lot of Indian banks are rather chaotic and the transactions lack a certain consistency, people with cognitive disabilities could face a lot of problems adjusting. People who have cognitive disabilities might also be relying on their guardians or parents to assist in operating their bank accounts, and legal and bureaucratic hurdles to doing so can be a big hassle.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The front staff at banks are often improperly trained and do not have a holistic understanding of how to deal with people with disabilities. It has also been observed that while banks can be helpful while opening accounts, they are not open-minded about granting loans to people with disabilities.<a href="#fn36" name="fr36">[36]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Customers who are autistic have hand function issues which can cause their signatures not to match the ones on record, which again causes problems when it comes to opening accounts or signing cheques which ultimately bounce.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What can banks do?</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Sensitisation: Sensitise the staff to the special needs of customers with cognitive disabilities.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Display of information: Information for guardians of such customers, on the requirements for opening bank accounts, should be prominently displayed in the branches of the bank (Refer to Section 4.3.4).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Uniformity in procedures: Banks should make uniform guidelines or procedures to be followed for each transaction, so that there is a certainty and regularity that eases the way for people with cognitive disabilities.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Clear language: Banks should also ensure that they use extremely simple and clear language in all their transactions as well as literature in order to mitigate confusion.<a href="#fn37" name="fr37">[37]</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Identity establishment: There need to be rules put in place to allow those who are unable to sign properly to establish identity in some other manner.</li>
</ul>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Guidelines on Banking Services and Technology</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The previous section has looked at some of the problems being faced by people with disabilities when they access banking services in India. This section will look at some guidelines and best practices which are aimed at increasing the accessibility of services.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Mobile banking</h3>
<p>There is the possibility of accessing a variety of financial services through mobile devices, which are termed as mobile banking or “m-banking”. This accessibility means that a lot of people with disabilities who live in rural areas, who have earlier not been able to access banks, can now do so using their mobile phones. Mobile banking also makes it much easier for customers with bank accounts to access their details and do transactions — for people with disabilities, this is a big step forward, as it means they do not have to endure the hassle and inconvenience of going to a bank, where they may not find the assistance that they need.</p>
<p>Currently, mobile banking is not that prevalent in India; less than one per cent of current bank customers are covered under the mobile banking services.<a href="#fn38" name="fr38">[38]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, the growth in mobile banking transactions has shown an increasing trend. For example, in the month of June 2012, 3.43 million transactions amounting to Rs. 3067.10 million were processed, as compared to 1.41 million transactions amounting to Rs. 984.66 million processed in June 2011 — an increase of about 143 per cent in volume and approximately 211 per cent in value terms.<a href="#fn39" name="fr39">[39]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Reserve Bank of India has passed some operating guidelines for mobile banking transactions.<a href="#fn40" name="fr40">[40]</a> These guidelines specify the technology and security standards, as well as the requirements for interoperability between operators, transaction limits and procedure for grievance redressal. They also tackle customer protection issues.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Banks should leverage the flexibility and utility of mobile banking in increasing access to their customers who have disabilities, as it would mean lesser expenses for both the banks as well as the customers.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Internet banking</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Internet banking is increasingly popular with customers, due to its convenience and ease of use; it removes the necessity of physically going to a bank. Since physical banks are often difficult for people with disabilities to navigate, internet banking could provide the best solution (though there are several problems with this medium as well, as have been described in the previous chapter). However, banks can make their websites more accessible and follow the prescribed guidelines to ensure a better banking experience not just for their disabled customers, but for all customers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The biggest obstacle that comes with developing net banking options which are accessible to all is the wide diversity in the people who are trying to access the banks’ websites, and it is here that universal design comes into play. “The goal of universal design is to have each web page accessible by all people, instead of providing separate web pages for people with disabilities. This requires, for example, for people who are blind, textual equivalents for all images, and reading order and structure compatible with screen reading; for people who are deaf, visual equivalents such as captions for all audio information; and for people with motor disabilities, means to navigate the page without fine motor control.”<a href="#fn41" name="fr41">[41]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There are a set of standards in place for website accessibility. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (“WCAG”) 2.0 specify the manner in which the material on any website is to be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.<a href="#fn42" name="fr42">[42]</a> Under these four stated principles of web content accessibility, twelve guidelines have been given, which give the web content developers a framework and set of objectives to understand the needs of the disabled. There are also levels of conformance that are defined for each guideline, and a list of sufficient and advisory techniques has also been given.<a href="#fn43" name="fr43">[43]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The WCAG 2.0 Guidelines includes some basic steps, such as including text alternatives for all non-text objects, including descriptors or captioning for images, audio and animated sequences, and following a style sheet wherever possible, in order to maintain a consistent design. The guidelines deal with visibility and display (using contrasting colours for background and text; using relative sizing so that the text can be increased to upto 200 per cent), functionality (providing skip links such as “Back to Top”; ensuring that animation can be paused or switched off; ensuring keyboard as well as mouse functionality), and formatting (ensuring the text is not justified; setting the language attribute of each page; providing clear navigation mechanisms; ensuring that all mark up is validated and coded correctly), amongst others.<a href="#fn44" name="fr44">[44]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed some guidelines for government websites, which contain best practices for accessibility in website design; these guidelines were released in 2009, and are mandated for governmental websites. The guidelines are classified into three categories: mandatory, advisory and voluntary; a compliance matrix has been provided for various departments and organisations to assess their compliance with the guidelines.<a href="#fn45" name="fr45">[45]</a> It is crucial that banks comply with these guidelines to ensure that a certain basic minimum standard at web accessibility is met for the banking customers across all websites.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Another dimension which is unique to India is that of regional language; for banking customers who are not comfortable with English, it is recommended that bank websites be provided in major regional languages as well. The best way to display regional fonts is to use Unicode (UTF-8). Banks should ensure that Unicode is used to display the fonts, as otherwise the fonts can become garbled and a person using a screen reader will not be able to access the written material at all.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A critical guideline to be followed is that visual information should also be coupled with audio information, and that frequency and volume of the audible cues should be capable of being configured and controlled by the user.<a href="#fn46" name="fr46">[46]</a></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The number of ATMs and their penetration in India is very low: 63 ATMs and 497 points of sale per million population,<a href="#fn47" name="fr47">[47]</a> and a number of regulatory and commercial requirements have led to their relative low (though increasing) use in India. RBI has recently passed guidelines on operating White Label ATMs<a href="#fn48" name="fr48">[48] </a>which effectively open up most of the acquiring part of the process to non-bank independent players.<a href="#fn49" name="fr49">[49] </a>This should ensure that there is a greater increase in the number and penetration of ATMs in India, which will be beneficial for people with disabilities only if the ATM-makers ensure that minimum guidelines for the disabled are met with.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Currently there are no guidelines in India on how to construct ATMs in accordance with the needs of people with disabilities. However, banks can take guidelines from other jurisdictions as their guide and look at how other countries have handled the issue of making ATMs more accessible. It is hoped that this lacuna in the policy will be filled soon.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The American Department of Justice recently notified a final ruling on the standards of accessibility relating to ATMs under the Americans with Disability Act (“ADA”). Such standards range from requirements that signs be in Braille, a voice guidance system, and input controls for blind users.<a href="#fn50" name="fr50">[50]</a> These standards took effect in March 2011, and had a March 2012 compliance date. All ATM owners are to comply with these guidelines when constructing or altering ATMs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Some salient features of these guidelines are:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Height and reach: It is mandated that the ATM’s reach should be between 15 and 48 inches. Further, the graphic area where the touch commands are input needs to be lowered to the desired height. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The input device should be tactile, and so the surface of the keys should be different from the base and this should be apparent by touch. The keypad should also be arranged in a standard 12-key ascending or descending layout, as seen in telephones or computers. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">ATMs must be equipped with both voice guidance systems as well as Braille language signage. This would mean adding a headphone jack to the machine, so the audio is heard only by the user and thus ensuring his privacy. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The display in the ATM needs to be clear; from an observation point 40 inches above the floor in front of the machine, the letters should appear in a sans serif font, with a minimum height of 3/16 inches, in a colour contrasting to the background. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">There is also a requirement of equal services, which means that all services offered at any location through a bank’s ATM must also be provided by an “accessible” ATM in the same location. For this purpose, each installation is to be considered as a separate location.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has issued a Standards document on Accessible ATMs for customers with disabilities, and has also released a work flow document to be followed by various banks. The IBA Standards documents states that:</p>
<blockquote class="quoted" style="text-align: justify; ">“The fundamental principle of an Accessible ATM for development, testing and implementation purposes is to ensure a machine which enable the user to complete all transactions successfully with a blank screen simply through voice guidance for totally blind users, permit independent use through clear screen data for low vision / partially sighted users and effective physical access for wheel chair users.”</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The document specifies different accessibility measures to be taken for each level of accessibility (for example: completely blind users and users with partial sight), with details about the size and measurement of various features that need to be incorporated. It also includes a workflow to be incorporated into the Speaking ATMs for the effective use by people with disabilities.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Currency</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">For currency to be most effective as a means of payment, all users should have barrier-free access. The ability to conduct financial transactions using bank notes is crucial to independent living.<a href="#fn52" name="fr52">[52] </a>Yet this can pose significant challenges for individuals who are blind or partially sighted.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Physical currency (both notes and coins) are confusing and often cannot be distinguished from each other by merely feeling them. There is a great similarity between the hundred, five hundred and thousand rupee notes, as well as in the coins which are now completely confusing. Notes should also be discernible to the colour blind, which in their current form is not always possible. Various representations have been made to the Government of India on this regard and the change required is only a small one, though no changes have so far been forthcoming.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">India can learn from the example of other countries which have experimented in the past with introducing currency which is friendlier to people with disabilities. Whether it is the printing of differently coloured notes, or the development of “raised-texture tactile features,”<a href="#fn53" name="fr53">[53]</a> there are several alterations that can be made to the currency. In India, the bank notes come with raised texture shapes to help the visually impaired to identify the different notes, and also come in different colours, though further improvements can be made. This problem is exacerbated in the coins — earlier, there was a differentiation in shape between them, but the newly minted coins of denominations Rs. 1, Rs. 2 and Rs. 5 are all very similar, and differentiating between them is a big problem.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In countries such as Canada, development of bank notes is based on a “continuous process that relies on scientific and empirical research, together with direct feedback from bank note user groups and experts. The bank consults Canadians living with blindness and low vision, as well as their representative organizations and vision experts, to identify the needs of this community and to explore potential solutions.”<a href="#fn54" name="fr54">[54] </a>It is this sort of consultative process that needs to be incorporated in India as well.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Telephone Banking</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Telephone banking is in its nascence in India and not all banks provide it. Furthermore, there are no guidelines in place to govern how telephone banking would take place. For people with disabilities, telephone banking could be very useful, if the proper tools are made available to them. Banks can look at the draft guidelines of other countries (refer to section 8 of the Report) which have provisions for phone banking to see what kind of procedure they should follow.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Converting to Accessibility in India</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Making banking accessible is not just in the commercial interest of the bank but is also in line with its commitments under various legislation and international conventions. In India, this has even been acknowledged by the RBI, which has issued a notification<a href="#fn55" name="fr55">[55]</a> suggesting that at least one-third of the new ATMs of all banks must be accessible.<a href="#fn56" name="fr56">[56]</a> Dinesh Kaushal has studied<a href="#fn57" name="fr57">[57]</a> some examples, such as the Punjab National Bank, which has set up some talking ATMs in Jaipur, or the State Bank of India which in 2010 announced plans of installing 7000 talking ATMs, but there is no news on the status of this goal. Currently the bare minimum target set by RBI is also not being met.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Subsequent to the RBI notifications, some positive developments have started taking place. The Union Bank of India has indicated that it will deploy over 100 Voice Guided ATMs — which not only allows access to visually impaired people but also people with physical disabilities through ramps for wheel chair access.<a href="#fn58" name="fr58">[58]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Half of these ATMs are to be put up in the banks, and the other half in passport offices. The ‘Talking ATM’ is designed as per Access for All (AFA) standards and comprise of accessible key pads, voice-guidance technology, Braille stickers and multi-lingual capability. When a visually challenged person attaches his headphone set to this ATM, he can hear the instruction which enables him to fill-in the required data using the numeric keypad. Apart from reading aloud screen messages, the machine provides complete orientation making it easy for the customer to use the machine. An important security feature of this ATM is that it provides the person an option to blank out the screen as a safety mechanism to avoid shoulder surfing by any bystander trying to access customer data during the transaction.<a href="#fn59" name="fr59">[59]</a> The bank recently completed setting up the 100th such ATM in the building of the National Association for the Blind.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The NCR Corporation India, which has a 47.5 per cent share in the country’s ATM business, has stated that it will install 50 ‘talking’ ATMs in various passport offices.<a href="#fn60" name="fr60">[60] </a>The company set up India’s first talking ATM in Ahmedabad for the visually impaired under the Union Bank of India initiative described above. Importantly, the managing director of the ATM company stated that while the hardware of the ATMs remains the same, the software customisations depend on the specific needs. Banks do not need to change their entire fleet of ATMs for installation of new solutions.<a href="#fn61" name="fr61">[61] </a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">One concern that arises when we consider questions of accessibility is: what would be the cost of altering the present technology and infrastructure? If the cost of making banking accessible is too prohibitive, it would not be in the interests of the banks to do so.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“A talking ATM is the regular ATM with an additional module that allows a blind person to get the information in audio format. A talking ATM could be configured so that when a user plugs in a headphone in the audio jack, the ATM would start talking to the person with audio messages…Installing talking ATM technology is not very expensive. It might range anywhere between Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 50,000.”<a href="#fn62" name="fr62">[62] </a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There needs to be an evaluation of the present ATMs to see if merely upgrading the software would suffice in converting them to speaking ATMs — if this is the case, it can be done so with the help of the manufacturer at a low cost. The evaluation would also help the banks identify those machines which can be upgraded by the addition of some simple technology and hardware, while the others could be marked for eventual replacement. At the same time, the new machines that are set up by the banks should be audio-enabled; this should not be difficult as “all new ATM installations are audio enabled, as all major ATM manufacturers now produce talking ATMs including Triton, NCR, Wincor-Nixdorf, Diebold, and Fujitsu.”<a href="#fn63" name="fr63">[63] </a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Under the Americans with Disability Act, the determination of when an undue burden is placed on an establishment which has to make its services accessible is to be determined on a case by case basis, and would be considered keeping in mind factors such as the nature and cost of the upgrades, the availability of alternatives and the resources present with the financial institution in question.<a href="#fn64" name="fr64">[64] </a>Such a system should be incorporated in India as well, where the ability of the bank is considered when seeing the efforts it needs to make when converting its services to make them more accessible.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Union Bank of India’s Accessible and Talking ATM has brought in many initiatives for the first time, like the use of bilingual Indian accent text-to-speech (TTS) voices in English and Hindi, accessible infrastructure for the physically disabled and complete voice guidance support for ATM operation.<a href="#fn65" name="fr65">[65]</a> These should set the benchmark for other banks who want to improve the accessibility of their services as per the guidelines set forth by RBI.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Case studies and Guidelines in Other Countries</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Looking at the guidelines that are present in other countries can be helpful in determining how banks in India should go about improving their services. The following countries have specific provisions in place which regulate or instruct how banks should handle their disabled customers.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">New Zealand</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The New Zealand Banker’s Association published a set of Voluntary Guidelines to meet the needs of older and disabled customers, which aim to improve access to banking services for such customers.<a href="#fn66" name="fr66">[66]</a> The guidelines recognise the increasing importance of older and disabled customers to banks as well as the importance of meeting their needs and demands. The guidelines direct the member banks to give training to the staff in order to better help the disabled customers, as well as to have specific procedures in place in case financial irregularities or abuse occur in bank accounts of people with disabilities. There are directions on improving physical accessibility (such as providing for low tables, ramps in ATMs, queuing aisles wide enough for wheelchairs and so on), as well as giving specific customer care help to those who need it, such as consulting the needs of the disabled when developing new services, having a provision for a reduction in fee if some customers are unable to use certain features, and having a provision for personal banking in special cases at no additional cost.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There are also specific provisions in the Guidelines for things such as ATM construction. Section 5.9 of the Guidelines specifies the factors to be kept in mind while designing ATMs: large screens, audible output, tactile differentiation in the keys, easy prompts in clear language and so on.<a href="#fn67" name="fr67">[67] </a>Section 5.10 talks about improving the accessibility of online banking and how bank websites should be designed, and recommends the use of international W3C web accessibility best practice standard, the accessibility-related New Zealand e-government web standards.<a href="#fn68" name="fr68">[68]</a> Finally, the Guidelines also talk about basics, such as clear and large font prints in their literature, and providing information in several formats (including Braille, DVD, and audio) wherever possible, to facilitate bank use by people with disabilities.<a href="#fn69" name="fr69">[69]</a></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Australia</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Disability Discrimination Act, 1992 (“DDA”) makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the grounds of a disability.<a href="#fn70" name="fr70">[70]</a> The objects of the DDA include eliminating, as far as possible, discrimination against people with disabilities and promoting recognition and acceptance within the community that people with disabilities have the same fundamental rights as the rest of the community. The law is administered by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and sets out specific areas in which it is unlawful to discriminate. These areas include accommodation, employment, access to premises, and the provision of goods, services<a href="#fn71" name="fr71">[71]</a> and facilities. The HREOC administers the legislation, which includes complaints handling, public inquiries, policy development and education and training. The Commission has supported the development of several voluntary guidelines that determine accessibility in the sphere of banking.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Australian Bankers’ Association (“ABA”) has worked with the community to produce voluntary Industry Standards in 2002 which aim to improve the accessibility of electronic banking. These standards cover a range of areas: ATMs, Electronic Funds Transfer at the Point of Sale, Automated Phone Banking and Internet banking.<a href="#fn72" name="fr72">[72]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The voluntary standards for ATMs<a href="#fn73" name="fr73">[73]</a> cover a broad range of topics, including their access and location, their operation, the method of swiping and removing the cards, the display, the keypad, the output, security and privacy for the users, and finally, installation and operating instructions. There is a checklist provided with the recommended detailed standards for each of the above areas.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale<a href="#fn74" name="fr74">[74]</a> occurs when funds are directly transferred from a cardholder's bank account to the retailer, when the cardholder's magnetic stripe card is swiped in an EFTPOS terminal. Cardholder authentication occurs by signature or Personal Identification Number (PIN). These standards cover areas such as access and location of the EFTPOS terminals, process of swiping, inserting or removing the card, operating instructions, display, keypad and output options, amongst others. A helpful checklist has been provided for EFTPOS deployers to assess whether their machines are disabled-friendly.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The guidelines on phone banking<a href="#fn75" name="fr75">[75]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">deal with financial services which are available to the customer via the telephone, that can be used by the customer without having to converse with an employee of the financial institution. The guidelines look at certain design principles, best practices for input and navigation, output, documentation, the role of TTY Communications and Relay Operators, and dealing with timeouts and errors. Like with the other standards, a checklist with the best practices as per the guidelines has been provided.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The standards on internet banking<a href="#fn76" name="fr76">[76]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">looks at various aspects of financial transactions taking place on the internet, and prescribe guidelines for design and implementation (for example: compliance with the WCAG1.0 standards), feedback and testing of accessibility, compatibility, enhanced usability (in areas such as navigation, registration, login, information redundancy and so on), consistency and user support. A specification checklist is also provided, so that owners can comfortably see whether their site is compliant with the guidelines or not.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There is an action plan for the above four set of guidelines, to check their implementation and to identify problems and barriers that may arise in the future.<a href="#fn77" name="fr77">[77]</a> Though these guidelines are voluntary, it is worthwhile to consider the example of such a detailed action plan, as implementation of any sort of guidelines will only become more efficient if something like this is followed.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Australian Banker’s Association has also come up with a set of Guiding Principles for Accessible Authentication, which recognizes that “accessibility issues need to be considered in the deployment of authentication technologies, to ensure that people with disabilities and older people are not disadvantaged… The purpose of the Guiding Principles is to provide a framework for financial institutions to help reach a workable balance between security requirements, commercial strategies and equitable access to banking products and services.”<a href="#fn78" name="fr78">[78]</a> The Principles aim to follow certain universal design principles, of equitable and flexible use, minimal effort, simple and intuitive design, amongst others. They are as follows:<a href="#fn79" name="fr79">[79]</a></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span>Accessibility of authentication technologies:</span> Financial institutions should ensure that authentication technologies are accessible to all customers, or where this is not possible, a human-based alternative authentication system needs to provide equivalent amenity and convenience.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span>Customer convenience:</span> All customers should be able to undertake their personal and business financial activities conveniently and safely.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span>Authentication planning:</span> Financial institutions should consider the accessibility needs of customers with disabilities and older customers as part of authentication technology planning.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span>Authentication testing</span>: Financial institutions should consult customers with disabilities and older customers as part of planning and testing accessibility of authentication technologies.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span>Registration, login and transaction procedures</span>: Financial institutions should ensure that registration; login and transaction procedures are as accessible as possible to all customers.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span>Messages and error recovery</span>: Financial institutions should ensure that online messages are unambiguous and written in “plain English” and that error recovery processes are efficient and accessible. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span>Staff and customer training</span>: Financial institutions should provide relevant customer support staff with appropriate disability awareness training so they are aware of the needs of customers with disabilities and older customers. In addition, financial institutions should provide customers with information and training in the use of available authentication technologies.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span>Raising staff, business and customer awareness:</span> Financial institutions should develop a strategy for enabling relevant management and staff awareness of these Guiding Principles. In addition, financial institutions should promote the availability of alternative accessible authentication technologies with their customers. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><span>Confidentiality of customer information</span>: Financial institutions must ensure the confidentiality of information of customers with disabilities and older customers.</li>
</ul>
<h3>United States of America</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The 2010 Standards under the ADA have set out detailed requirements to make ATMs accessible, as was discussed in the previous section of the paper. These elements are considered by the Department of Justice to be Auxiliary Aids and Services (and not structural elements) and the safe harbour provision does not apply to them.<a href="#fn80" name="fr80">[80]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Though American ATMs have been equipped with text to speech functions and have been subject to height and space requirements for many years, the new rules provide for additional security and instructional features for disabled customers.<a href="#fn81" name="fr81">[81]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">All the ATMs which come under the scope of the ruling will have to be speech enabled; further, there are specifications as to the height requirement (the machine should be between 15 and 48 inches in height). There is a requirement that the input area be not just touchscreen, and it should be tactilely discernible from the surrounding surface; the keypad should be arranged in a manner that is common and easy to remember. Instructions about the use of the ATMs should be given in Braille and equal services should be offered to all customers, irrespective of their disabilities.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Subsequent to the passing of the ruling, the American Bankers’ Association recommended that banks be aware of the legal requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act; ABA advocated that banks make a careful audit of their existing machines, and compare them to the standards to which they need to conform. In case the machines need to be upgraded, the machine manufacturers would have to be contacted in order to make alterations, if necessary.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Canada</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Canada has issued standards for “self-service interactive devices”,<a href="#fn82" name="fr82">[82] </a>the umbrella term under which ATMs would fall, the purpose of which is to specify minimum accessibility and usability requirements for self-service interactive devices intended for public use. The standard specifies accessibility requirements for automated banking machines (ABMs) — both stand-alone and wall mounted — and ABM sites. There are specifications which give the various minimum dimensions that must be conformed to when constructing such self-service interactive devices. However, the standards do not look at the technological aspect, specifically excluding it from their purview and giving that responsibility to the relevant authority.<a href="#fn83" name="fr83">[83]</a> It is interesting to note that the steering committee that ultimately led to the adoption of the standards was pulled together by the Canadian Banker’s Association, and the committee included representatives from the major Canadian banks.<a href="#fn84" name="fr84">[84]</a> The committee recommended that there be a mandatory requirement for audible instructions and the provision for attaching headphones to an automated banking machine; it would be the duty of the financial institution to provide the headsets to the disabled customers, along with a list of machines where they could be used. The committee also looked into the issue of the cost of making the machines and other areas more accessible, and though they were waiting for more conclusive research, they were hesitant about the prohibitive cost of major redesigns.<a href="#fn85" name="fr85">[85]</a></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Netherlands</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In 2007, the Dutch National Forum on the Payment System produced a document in English on "Guidelines for user-friendly payment terminals". These guidelines include advice on making payment terminals accessible and easy to use for people with disabilities and older people.<a href="#fn86" name="fr86">[86]</a> The guidelines describe certain standardised elements of the PIN payment procedure, the user interface and advocates practical values for the same.<a href="#fn87" name="fr87">[87]</a> The document then goes on to specify important design principles which must be kept in mind while considering the accessibility of payment gateways and banks; the guideline is designed in such a way that if the design principles are to be kept in mind, the subsequent ergonomic principles which have been described will be easy to meet.<a href="#fn88" name="fr88">[88]</a></p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Suggestions and Recommendations</h2>
<p>The report illustrates that though banks are mandated to ensure that there is accessibility in banking services in India, there is still a lot that needs to be done. There are several measures that can be taken up by banks, which will not be costly and which will be especially rewarding for customers with disabilities:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Compliance with RBI Guidelines: Banks should ensure a basic minimum compliance with the guidelines set forth by RBI for increasing access to banking services as described in Section 4.3 of the Report. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Compliance with International norms: Banks also need to ensure a basic minimum compliance with international norms, such as the WCAG 2.0 standards for websites, so that people with disabilities can access the bank websites with ease.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Physical Accessibility: Banks need to ensure that as far as possible, there is at least physical accessibility to their branches — which would include building ramps, having wider lifts, and so on. Branches should, even if they cannot be located on the ground floor, at least make reasonable accommodations for the disabled, such as having a person who can assist them up to the branch or come down to meet them. Branches should be organised in an easily navigable manner and there should always be a plan for assistance in place — interpreters, special staff to assist with filling out of forms, physical assistance, and easily available information in the form of maps, diagrams, bold text explanations, etc. Banks should also focus more on creating avenues for disabled customers to use their services. This would include building usable and user-friendly voice systems, which is currently needed.<a href="#fn89" name="fr89">[89]</a> </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Technical Solutions: Today there are many technological solutions to overcome some of the barriers faced by the visually challenged in the area of banking. Finger print identification technology<a href="#fn90" name="fr90">[90]</a> can be effectively explored to allow the use of thumb impressions while operating bank accounts.<a href="#fn91" name="fr91">[91]</a> For example, the XRCVC is in the process of developing a 'thumb print recognition software named as "e-Signs" with the help of CMC Ltd. (a TATA Enterprise) which can be applied across the banking system in partnership with the RBI to process cheques.<a href="#fn92" name="fr92">[92]</a> Most manufacturers now have accessible ATM models and banks must ensure that new ATMs have these models installed, and that old ATMs are retrofitted to become accessible. Banks should also work with their technology departments to ensure that their mobile apps are accessible on screen reader and other assistive technology software.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Promote the growth of banking services for people with disabilities: State and national governments should encourage opening of bank accounts by the disabled so that any funds or scholarships can be directly transferred into their account as opposed to being given to organisations which may not transfer it to the beneficiaries — this would help curb malpractices. Information on how people with disabilities can open an account — whether joint or single — and the formalities they need to fulfil should be made easily and readily available. This will encourage more people to open accounts for/with the disabled.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Adopt accessible formats for disabled customers: Banks should publish instruction manuals for ATMs as well as banking procedures in accessible formats such as Braille and DAISY. The banks can then take help of various volunteer organisations in producing and distributing the books to the relevant segments of the population. Such materials should also be made available for download, free of cost, on the bank’s website.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Training and sensitisation: Banks should not simply train and sensitise their employees and increase awareness of the various kinds of disability and the services to be provided to the disabled, but actively solicit those with special needs and make it clear that they "understand their needs" and welcome their business. Banks need to consider whether it makes sense to have separate or specially prepared paperwork for the disabled to fill out if the regular forms are difficult to read or understand.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Preferential Treatment: The Ministry of Finance should push for preferential treatment of all persons with disabilities along the same lines as the special rates of interest provided to the elderly. Public sector banks like the State Bank of India have a massive network and such visible and actively advertised preferential treatment will spread awareness not only at the bank level but in society as well. This will really encourage family members of the disabled to help them set up bank accounts and will foster independence.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">“Know Your Customer” (KYC) procedures undertaken by banks should be clarified and made simpler — a one-time verification should take place rather than repeated calls, visits, questions, clarifications and summons to the office or branch.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Bank managers and staff should be proactive and watchful enough to monitor and check for abuse of power by those who are 'assisting' or administering the property and money of the disabled, who are even more susceptible to fraud than the average account holder, and therefore should be provided with stronger anti-fraud/theft services, such as more frequent SMS or email alerts for transactions.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The most important aspect<a href="#fn93" name="fr93">[93] </a>that financial service providers need to understand is that accessibility— goes much beyond merely providing ramps and the financial service providers do not currently understand the variety of disabilities and the issues which are tied to each kind of disability. Consider ATMs — the way they are currently designed, the machines are too high for users who are in a wheelchair and the doors themselves are inaccessible to the orthopedically challenged; ATMs have neither voice support nor compatible software for the visually challenged. Thus, a basic and fundamental change in the way banks are catering to customers’ needs to take place.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Financial service providers should be more encouraging and should engage in outreach to make it easier and more attractive for those with less capability to open and operate accounts with their parents or guardians. Financial independence and control should be offered and facilitated to the maximum extent possible.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Accessibility should not be treated as a corporate social responsibility measure by the large banks and financial corporations, but as a responsibility to be fulfilled regardless of anything else. Further, public sector banks have the biggest responsibility to implement these measures — while they employ people with disabilities because they have a reservation <a href="#fn94" name="fr94">[94]</a> for them, their services are not accessible to their own employees! There needs to be an effort made to ensure that the internal banking software which is used is accessible for people with disabilities and can be accessed by them using the appropriate assistive technology like screen readers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Financial service providers should tailor accessibility solutions to address each kind of disability and the range of problems faced by the persons affected by them; they should look at best practices from around the world and implement solutions on their own steam instead of minimum compliance with the government or RBI requirements. Ultimately, making financial services more accessible will only mean that their customer base will grow. Change needs to be top-down — rules and regulations first, then training, sensitisation, and then infrastructure. Schemes and offers should be put in place to attract the disabled as customers, assure them of good and competent service without discrimination, and incentives to invest or save (by offering special schemes such as those which currently exist for women and the elderly).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Building such systems would involve learning more about the customers and their particular situations and needs, and banks can take the help of various organisations that work with the disabled in order to get a better understanding of what they need to deliver. While there are some voluntary standards that can be used as a guide,<a href="#fn95" name="fr95">[95] </a>the most important aspect is to keep the basics in mind: simple and clear language, audible scripts, easy and non-confusing navigation and instructions and the ability to speak to someone in case of an error; these are all elements that will go a long way in ensuring that disabled customers are more equipped to use the financial services offered by a bank.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It would be helpful if there was a monitoring or evaluating mechanism to see how far banks are complying with the standards or guidelines that have been set forth before them. There needs to be a comparative study about how far, for example, the bank websites are compliant with the WCAG Guidelines on Web Accessibility or how easy it is for people with disabilities to access the bank counters and ATMs in different branches. Such a study would give good empirical evidence and serve as the starting point for improvement on the current scenario.<a href="#fn96" name="fr96">[96]</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the light of the above, some specific suggestions/ recommendations are made to the Department of Banking Operations in order to make banking more inclusive for persons with disabilities and senior citizens as under:</p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The department may consider coming out with a policy/ Code requiring all banks to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities. The Policy/ Code may also identify good practices to be followed by banks with respect to areas such as websites, ATMs, mobile and phone banking services, website accessibility and customer care.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Department may require RBI to stringently enforce its notification regarding accessibility of ATMs</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Department may ensure that accessibility be incorporated as a key strategy in all future policies and programmes planned by the Department and is also incorporated in any existing policy which is executed by the department.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Department may involve persons with disabilities in executing its accessibility strategy and identify goals/ targets to be achieved over the next 5 years in terms of making banking services accessible in India. </li>
</ol>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Bibliography</h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">“Barriers to Using Automatic Teller Machines”, Tim Noonan, available at <a href="http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/inquiries/ecom/atmpaper.htm">http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/inquiries/ecom/atmpaper.htm</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">“Guidelines for Accessible and Usable Web Sites: Observing Users Who Work with Screen Readers”, Mary Theofranos and Janice Redish, available at <a href="http://redish.net/content/papers/interactions.html">http://redish.net/content/papers/interactions.html</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">“The Banking Experience: How to Make Financial Services Accessible for Blind and Partially Sighted People”, RNIB’s Handbook of Good Practices and Standards, at <a href="http://www.rnib.org.uk/aboutus/Research/reports/2012/Banking_Experience_CP.pdf">http://www.rnib.org.uk/aboutus/Research/reports/2012/Banking_Experience_CP.pdf</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">“Website Accessibility”, available at <a href="http://www.tiresias.org/research/guidelines/web.htm">http://www.tiresias.org/research/guidelines/web.htm</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">ABA Guiding Principles for Accessible Authentication, available at <a href="http://www.bankers.asn.au/ArticleDocuments/177/ABA-Guiding_Principles_for_Accessible_Authentication.doc.aspx">http://www.bankers.asn.au/ArticleDocuments/177/ABA-Guiding_Principles_for_Accessible_Authentication.doc.aspx</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">John Gill, “The Markets for the Adaptation of Self Service Terminals to be Accessible by People with Disabilities”, available at <a href="http://europa.eu/information_society/activities/einclusion/docs/worshop_atm/atm_markets_report.doc">http://europa.eu/information_society/activities/einclusion/docs/worshop_atm/atm_markets_report.doc</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Carolyn Samuel, “Making Bank Notes Accessible for Canadians Living with Blindness or Low Vision”, available at <a href="http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/samuel.pdf">http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/samuel.pdf</a>. </li>
</ul>
<h2>Glossary of Terms</h2>
<ul>
<li>ABA - Australian Bankers’ Association</li>
<li>ABM - Automated Banking Machines</li>
<li>ADA - Americans with Disability Act</li>
<li>AFA - Access for All</li>
<li>BRA - Banking Regulation Act</li>
<li>BT - British Telecom</li>
<li>CAPTCHA - Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart</li>
<li>DDA - The Disability Discrimination Act (Australia)</li>
<li>EFTPOS - Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale</li>
<li>HREOC - Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission</li>
<li>HTML - Hyper Text Markup Language</li>
<li>IBA - Indian Banks’ Association</li>
<li>IVR - Interactive Voice Response</li>
<li>NIC - National Informatics Centre</li>
<li>PIN - Personal Identification Number</li>
<li>PWD - People with Disabilities</li>
<li>PWDA - The People with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) <i>Act</i><i>,</i> 1995</li>
<li>RBI - Reserve Bank of India</li>
<li>RTF - Rich Text Format</li>
<li>TTS - Text to Speech</li>
<li>UNCRPD - United Nations Convention on Persons with Disabilities </li>
<li>WCAG - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines </li>
<li>XRCVC - Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged</li>
</ul>
<h2>Annexure 1 – Disability and Accommodations</h2>
<ul>
</ul>
<table class="vertical listing">
<tbody>
<tr style="text-align: center; ">
<th style="text-align: justify; ">Disability</th><th style="text-align: justify; ">Branch Banking</th><th style="text-align: justify; ">Phone Banking</th><th style="text-align: justify; ">Internet Banking</th><th style="text-align: justify; ">Payment Terminals and Kiosks</th><th style="text-align: justify; ">Mobile Banking<br /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Physical Disability</td>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left; ">Bank branches are inaccessible to people using wheelchairs, as they are not provided with ramps, and often have steps at the entrance</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left; ">The queuing and counter system in place is not friendly for customers with disabilities; desks are not always at a height that can be accessed by someone in a wheelchair</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left; ">The staff is not sensitised to the needs of customers with physical disabilities</li>
</ul>
<b>Suggested Solution</b>:<br /><br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left; ">Conduct sensitisation and training programmes for the staff train them about the needs of customers with disabilities</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left; ">Construct ramps and walkways so that buildings are accessible by wheelchairs</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left; ">Ensure that the bank layout is accessible and as uniform as possible, ensuring ease of access for customers with disabilities</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td></td>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left; ">Using websites which are not accessible could be a problem for a person who doesn’t have full use of their limbs</li>
</ul>
<b>Suggested Solution</b>:<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left; ">Ensure websites are compatible with assistive technologies, such as alternate input devices. Standards such as the WCAG should be followed</li>
</ul>
<br /></td>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: left; ">ATM entrances are not accessible for people with wheelchairs as they are not provided with ramps</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>ATMs are often too high, and cannot be accessed by someone who is sitting in a wheelchair</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Using keypads could be a problem for a person who doesn’t have full use of their limbs</li>
</ul>
<p align="left"><b>Suggested Solution:</b></p>
<ul>
<li>ATMs should be provided with ramps (with the appropriate slope) that can be accessed by customers in a wheelchair</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li> ATMs should be at the appropriate height and should be designed keeping in mind the needs of people in wheelchairs</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li>Using phone apps could be a problem for a person who doesn’t have full use of their limbs</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Suggested Solution</b>:</p>
<ul>
<li>Mobile apps should have a clean interface, which is not problematic to use and which can be controlled by voice commands</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Visual Disability</td>
<td>
<p align="left">Branches are not laid out in a uniform manner, and are difficult to navigate for someone who can’t see</p>
<ul>
<li>The signage is not done in raised texture maps, and so can’t be accessed by someone who can’t see</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Coinage in India is not disabled-friendly, with the coin sizes being very similar to each other and difficult to demarcate</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Bank literature is not available in large print or Braille formats and so can’t be read by people with low or no vision</li>
</ul>
<p align="left"><b>Suggested Solution:</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Conduct sensitisation and training programmes for the staff train them about the needs of customers with disabilities</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Textured maps and signage should be made readily available at branch locations</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The branch layout should be simplified so that someone with a visual disability is not at a disadvantage</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>In case the customer desires, bank literature, statements and other documents should be made available in alternate formats (eg: large print, Braille, PDF)</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td></td>
<td>
<ul>
<li>Websites are often not accessible using assistive technologies like screen readers, and are not navigable using non-traditional input devices</li>
</ul>
<p align="left"><b>Suggested Solution:</b></p>
<ul>
<li> Websites need to be made accessible and should comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) which clearly specify how best to make the web interface usable for people with disabilities</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li>There aren’t many speaking ATMs with audio jacks which can be used by people who can’t use the touchscreen</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The number pad display is not uniform amongst various banks, and so can be problematic for people relying on tactile memory</li>
</ul>
<p align="left"><b>Suggested Solution:</b></p>
<ul>
<li> Banks should introduce more speaking ATMs, which have an audio jack that can be plugged into a listening device, which helps a customer with visual disability use an ATM</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li>Mobile banking apps are not accessible using phone screen reading software</li>
</ul>
<br /><b>Suggested Solution:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Phone apps need to be made accessible and should comply with the W3C Guidelines which specify how best to make the mobile interface usable for people with disabilities</li>
</ul>
<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Hearing Disability</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li>Branch officials have not been sensitised to the requirements of someone who is hearing impaired, who might require them to write down their statements</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Sign language interpreters are not on call to help translate in case a person with disability needs them</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Alert and announcements in banks are usually based on sound notifications, and so can often be missed by customers with hearing disabilities</li>
</ul>
<b>Suggested Solution:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Conduct sensitisation and training programmes for the staff train them about the needs of customers with disabilities</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Designated branches should have a sign language interpreter on call for assistance of customers with hearing disabilities</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Notifications and announcements, such as at a teller, should be accompanied by a visual alert as well (eg: a blinking light, or a number flashing on a screen)</li>
</ul>
<br /></td>
<td>
<ul>
<li>There is great reliance on spoken directions and no option for a deaf customer to have a conversation about phone banking with their bank</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>No provision for options such as text relay that can be used by deaf customers to do banking transactions</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The options on an automated VRS system at a bank’s call centre are often not clear and are incomprehensible</li>
</ul>
<p align="left"><b>Suggested Solution:</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Banks should attempt to introduce text relay services, which can be used by deaf customers to communicate with bank officials via the phone</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li> The VRS system should be in clear, understandable and audible tones for the ease of customers</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td></td>
<td>
<ul>
<li>Alerts and notifications in an ATM are usually in the form of a loud noise or a beep, which will be missed by a person with hearing disability</li>
</ul>
<b>Suggested Solution:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>ATMs should have a light which flashes in case of a notification, which will come to the attention of the user</li>
</ul>
<br /></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cognitive Disability</td>
<td style="text-align: left; ">
<ul>
<li>Bank literature and documents are complicated and the language is not easy to comprehend; this could be a problem for someone with a learning disability</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Banks have a bias against someone with a learning disability and despite rules against this, are reluctant to open account for customers with cognitive disabilities</li>
</ul>
<b>Suggested Solution:<br /></b>
<ul>
<li>Conduct sensitisation and training programmes for the staff train them about the needs of customers with disabilities</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Bank documents, scheme information and so on should be in clear, easy to understand language </li>
</ul>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li>The options on an automated VRS system at a bank’s call centre are often not clear and are incomprehensible</li>
</ul>
<p><br /><b>Suggested Solution</b>:</p>
<ul>
<li>The VRS system should be in clear, understandable and audible tones for the ease of customers</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2>Annexure 2 – Banking and Accessibility Guidelines</h2>
<table class="vertical listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Area of Banking</th><th>Guidelines/Recommendations</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mobile banking</td>
<td>
<p align="left">Web Accessibility Initiatives international guidelines on mobile accessibility: <a href="http://www.w3.org/WAI/mobile/">http://www.w3.org/WAI/mobile/</a></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Internet banking</td>
<td>
<p align="left">The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines lay down the principles for making websites more accessible for people with disabilities: <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/">http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/</a></p>
<p align="left">Australian Industry Standards for Electronic Banking: <a href="http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-">http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-</a></p>
<p align="left">Royal National Institute for the Blind’s Good Practices and Standards for Electronic Banking: <a href="http://www.rnib.org.uk/aboutus/Research/reports/2012/Banking_Experience_CP.pdf">www.rnib.org.uk/aboutus/Research/reports/2012/Banking_Experience_CP.pdf</a></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ATMs and payment kiosks</td>
<td>
<p align="left">Americans with Disabilities Act ATM Standards, 2010: <a href="http://www.firstdata.com/downloads/thought-leadership/atm_ada_accessibility.pdf">www.firstdata.com/downloads/thought-leadership/atm_ada_accessibility.pdf</a></p>
<p align="left">Australian Industry Standards for ATMs: <a href="http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/ATM-Standard">www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/ATM-Standard</a></p>
<p align="left">Canadian Guidelines on Self Service Interactive Devices: A summary is available at “Standard B651.1-09”, sourced from <a href="http://hub.eaccessplus.eu/wiki/Canadian_standard_for_accessible_design_for_automated_banking_machines">http://hub.eaccessplus.eu/wiki/Canadian_standard_for_accessible_design_for_automated_banking_machines</a></p>
<p align="left">Dutch Guidelines on Payment Terminals: <a href="http://hub.eaccessplus.eu/uploads/a/a1/Dutch_Guidelines_on_payment_systems.pdf">http://hub.eaccessplus.eu/uploads/a/a1/Dutch_Guidelines_on_payment_systems.pdf</a></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Phone Banking</td>
<td>
<p align="left">Australian Industry Standards for Automated Phone Banking: <a href="http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/Automated-Telephone-Banking-Standard">http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/Automated-Telephone-Banking-Standard</a></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Branch Banking</td>
<td>
<p align="left">New Zealand Banker’s Association Voluntary Guidelines on Meeting Needs of Older and Disabled Customers: <a href="http://www.nzba.org.nz/banking-standards/code-of-banking-practice/voluntary-guidelines-to-assist-banks-to-meet-the-needs-of-older-and-disabled-customers/">http://www.nzba.org.nz/banking-standards/code-of-banking-practice/voluntary-guidelines-to-assist-banks-to-meet-the-needs-of-older-and-disabled-customers/</a></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<hr />
<p>[<a href="#fr1" name="fn1">1</a>]. Data taken from <a href="http://www.disabilityindia.com/html/facts.html">http://www.disabilityindia.com/html/facts.html</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr2" name="fn2">2</a>]. “NCR Corp to set up 50 Talking ATMs in Post Offices”, available at <a href="http://lflegal.com/2012/09/ncr-india/">http://lflegal.com/2012/09/ncr-india/</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr3" name="fn3">3</a>]. More data on disability can be seen at the World Bank Country Profile on Disability for India, available at <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DISABILITY/Resources/Regions/South%20Asia/JICA_India.pdf">http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DISABILITY/Resources/Regions/South%20Asia/JICA_India.pdf</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr4" name="fn4">4</a>]. Full text available at <a href="http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=259">http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=259</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr5" name="fn5">5</a>]. Full text available at <a href="http://www8.cao.go.jp/shougai/english/biwako/contents.html">http://www8.cao.go.jp/shougai/english/biwako/contents.html</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr6" name="fn6">6</a>]. See generally: “Guidelines for Accessible and Usable Web Sites: Observing Users Who Work with Screen Readers”, Mary Theofranos and Janice Redish, available at <a href="http://redish.net/content/papers/interactions.html">http://redish.net/content/papers/interactions.html</a>, last viewed on July 26.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr7" name="fn7">7</a>]. Article 14: Equality before law - The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India (Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr8" name="fn8">8</a>]. Article 15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth<br />(1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them<br />(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to<br />(a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and palaces of public entertainment; or<br />(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr9" name="fn9">9</a>]. Article 253: Legislation for giving effect to international agreements - Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Chapter, Parliament has power to make any law for the whole or any part of the territory of India for implementing any treaty, agreement or convention with any other country or countries or any decision made at any international conference, association or other body.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr10" name="fn10">10</a>]. For more details on the legislation, along with the full text, refer to http://socialjustice.nic.in/policiesacts3.php.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr11" name="fn11">11</a>]. See generally: <a href="http://www.accessability.co.in/access/files/Accessibility-in-India-Issues-Status-Way-Forward.pps">www.accessability.co.in/access/files/Accessibility-in-India-Issues-Status-Way-Forward.pps</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr12" name="fn12">12</a>]. “Bank loses accessibility case”, available at <a href="http://www.fm-world.co.uk/news/fm-industry-news/bank-loses-accessibility-case/">http://www.fm-world.co.uk/news/fm-industry-news/bank-loses-accessibility-case/</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr13" name="fn13">13</a>]. Singh, A. & Nizamie, S.H. (2004) Disability: the concept and related Indian legislations. <i>Mental Health Reviews,</i> accessed from http://www.psyplexus.com/mhr/disability_india.html on September 11, 2012.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr14" name="fn14">14</a>]. Id.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr15" name="fn15">15</a>]. Id.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr16" name="fn16">16</a>]. Full text of the legislation is available at The Banking Regulation Act, 1949, <a href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1129081/">http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1129081/</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr17" name="fn17">17</a>]. Section 35A: Power of the Reserve Bank to give directions-<br />(1) Where the Reserve Bank is satisfied that-<br />(a) in the public interest; or<br />(aa)in the interest of banking policy; or<br />(b) to prevent the affairs of any banking company being conducted in a manner detrimental to the interests of the depositors or in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the banking company; or<br />(c) to secure the proper management of any banking company generally; it is necessary to issue directions to banking companies generally or to any banking company in particular, it may, from time to time, issue such directions as it deems fit, and the banking companies or the banking company, as the case may be, shall be bound to comply with such directions.<br />(2) The Reserve Bank may, on representation made to it or on its own motion, modify or cancel any direction issued under sub- section (1), and in so modifying or cancelling any direction may impose such conditions as it thinks fit, subject to which the modification or cancellation shall have effect.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr18" name="fn18">18</a>]. Available at http://rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=4226&Mode=0</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr19" name="fn19">19</a>]. Available at <a href="http://rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=4923&Mode=0">http://rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=4923&Mode=0</a></p>
<p>[<a href="#fr20" name="fn20">20</a>]. Available at <a href="http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_CircularIndexDisplay.aspx?Id=7548">http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_CircularIndexDisplay.aspx?Id=7548</a></p>
<p>[<a href="#fr21" name="fn21">21</a>]. Available at <a href="http://rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_CircularIndexDisplay.aspx?Id=5071">http://rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_CircularIndexDisplay.aspx?Id=5071</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr22" name="fn22">22</a>]. “Banking Made Easier for People with Disabilities”, available at <a href="http://www.autism-india.org/india_legal.html">http://www.autism-india.org/india_legal.html</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr23" name="fn23">23</a>]. Available at <a href="http://rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Mode=0&Id=5248">http://rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Mode=0&Id=5248</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr24" name="fn24">24</a>]. National Policy for Persons with Disability, available at <a href="http://www.socialjustice.nic.in/nppde.php?format=print">http://www.socialjustice.nic.in/nppde.php?format=print</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr25" name="fn25">25</a>]. Principle Areas of Intervention VI (x): “Banking system will be encouraged to meet the needs to the persons with disabilities”, <i>Id.</i></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr26" name="fn26">26</a>]. See generally: Discussion on disability in the Mid Term Appraisal of the Eleventh Five Year Plan, Page 185, available at <a href="http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/mta/11th_mta/chapterwise/Comp_mta11th.pdf">http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/mta/11th_mta/chapterwise/Comp_mta11th.pdf</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr27" name="fn27">27</a>]. Tim Noonan, “Acceptable E-commerce in Australia: A Discussion Paper about the Effects of Electronic Commerce Developments on People With Disabilities”, available at <a href="http://www.timnoonan.com.au/ecrep10.htm">http://www.timnoonan.com.au/ecrep10.htm</a></p>
<p>[<a href="#fr28" name="fn28">28</a>]. Id.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr29" name="fn29">29</a>]. “Barriers to Using Automatic Teller Machines”, Tim Noonan, available at <a href="http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/inquiries/ecom/atmpaper.htm">http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/inquiries/ecom/atmpaper.htm</a>, last viewed on July 26, 2012.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr30" name="fn30">30</a>]. See generally: Accessibility at the RBS, available at <a href="http://www.bankofscotland.co.uk/accessibility/hearing-impaired/">http://www.bankofscotland.co.uk/accessibility/hearing-impaired/</a>, last viewed on July 20.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr31" name="fn31">31</a>]. In conversation with Mr. George Abraham, CEO, SCORE Foundation. Ms. Radhika Alkazi, Managing Trustee of Aarth-Aastha also pointed out that in many instances, banks often ask persons with disabilities to bring someone else to sign for them (or operate the account on their behalf) even when the person is fully capable of signing and operating the account themselves. There is no fixed basis for the procedure, which varies from bank to bank.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr32" name="fn32">32</a>]. “Barriers to Using Automatic Teller Machines”, Tim Noonan, available at <a href="http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/inquiries/ecom/atmpaper.htm">http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/inquiries/ecom/atmpaper.htm</a>, last viewed on July 26, 2012.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr33" name="fn33">33</a>]. “The Challenges of Blind Internet Users”, available at <a href="http://www.evengrounds.com/blog/challenges-of-blind-internet-users">http://www.evengrounds.com/blog/challenges-of-blind-internet-users</a>, last viewed on July 15.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr34" name="fn34">34</a>]. See generally: Accessibility at the RBS, available at <a href="http://www.bankofscotland.co.uk/accessibility/visually-impaired/">http://www.bankofscotland.co.uk/accessibility/visually-impaired/</a>, last viewed on July 20.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr35" name="fn35">35</a>]. Consider the development of such ATMs by Wells Fargo bank in the USA; more details are available at https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/diversity/accessibility/.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr36" name="fn36">36</a>]. In conversation with Mr. Anil Joshi, the Programme Director of Human Ability and Accessibility at IBM, who works with parents of children with Down’s Syndrome and other mental disabilities. He also pointed out that given that only a miniscule portion of people with disabilities are able to understand banking concepts, the few who do so invariably use banking facilities with the help of their parents or guardians.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr37" name="fn37">37</a>]. “Barriers to Using Automatic Teller Machines”, Tim Noonan, available at <a href="http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/inquiries/ecom/atmpaper.htm">http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/inquiries/ecom/atmpaper.htm</a>, last viewed on July 26, 2012.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr38" name="fn38">38</a>]. “Customising mobile banking in India: issues and challenges”, Address delivered by Shri Harun R. Khan, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, at the FICCI-IBA (FIBAC) 2012 Conference on-“Sustainable excellence through customer engagement, employee engagement and right use of technology” on September 5, 2012 at Mumbai, available at <a href="http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_SpeechesView.aspx?id=726">http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_SpeechesView.aspx?id=726</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr39" name="fn39">39</a>]. Id.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr40" name="fn40">40</a>]. Available at <a href="http://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=1660">http://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=1660</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr41" name="fn41">41</a>]. Leonard R. Kasday, "<a href="http://www.acm.org/pubs/articles/proceedings/chi/355460/p161-kasday/p161-kasday.pdf">A Tool to Evaluate Universal Web Accessibility</a>" Posters, Proceedings of the 2000 International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces 2000, pp. 161-162.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr42" name="fn42">42</a>]. See generally: “WCAG 2 at a Glance”, available at <a href="http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/glance/">http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/glance/</a></p>
<p>[<a href="#fr43" name="fn43">43</a>]. See generally: “Website Accessibility”, available at <a href="http://www.tiresias.org/research/guidelines/web.htm">http://www.tiresias.org/research/guidelines/web.htm</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr44" name="fn44">44</a>]. For more details, see generally: “Website Accessibility”, available at <a href="http://www.tiresias.org/research/guidelines/web.htm">http://www.tiresias.org/research/guidelines/web.htm</a></p>
<p>[<a href="#fr45" name="fn45">45</a>]. The Compliance Matrix can be accessed at <a href="http://web.guidelines.gov.in/compliance.php">http://web.guidelines.gov.in/compliance.php</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr46" name="fn46">46</a>]. “Deaf and Hearing Impaired”, Woei-Jyh Lee, Handbook of Universal Usability in Practice, available at <a href="http://otal.umd.edu/UUPractice/hearing/">http://otal.umd.edu/UUPractice/hearing/</a>, last viewed on 23 July, 2012.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr47" name="fn47">47</a>]. “ATM Usage very low in India, says RBI”, available at http://www.firstpost.com/economy/atm-usage-very-low-in-india-says-rbi-404198.html.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr48" name="fn48">48</a>]. Available at <a href="http://rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=7286&Mode=0">http://rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=7286&Mode=0</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr49" name="fn49">49</a>]. Harsh Vardhan, “White Label ATMs”, available at <a href="http://ajayshahblog.blogspot.in/2012/08/white-label-atms.html">http://ajayshahblog.blogspot.in/2012/08/white-label-atms.html</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr50" name="fn50">50</a>]. “Department of Justice finalises New ATM Accessibility Standards”, available at <a href="http://www.diebold.com/solutions/atms/opteva/html/Diebold_AccessibilityStandards.pdf">http://www.diebold.com/solutions/atms/opteva/html/Diebold_AccessibilityStandards.pdf</a>, last viewed on July 12.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr51" name="fn51">51</a>]. “Department of Justice Finalises New ATM Accessibility Standards”, available at <a href="http://www.diebold.com/solutions/atms/opteva/html/Diebold_AccessibilityStandards.pdf">http://www.diebold.com/solutions/atms/opteva/html/Diebold_AccessibilityStandards.pdf</a>, last viewed on July 12.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr52" name="fn52">52</a>]. “Making Bank Notes Accessible for Canadians Living with Blindness or Low Vision”, Carolyn Samuel, available at <a href="http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/samuel.pdf">http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/samuel.pdf.</a></p>
<p>[<a href="#fr53" name="fn53">53</a>]. Id.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr54" name="fn54">54</a>]. Carolyn Samuel, “Making Bank Notes Accessible for Canadians Living With Blindness or Low Vision”, available at <a href="http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/samuel.pdf">http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/samuel.pdf</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr55" name="fn55">55</a>]. (DBOD.No.Leg.BC.123 /09.07.005/2008-09).</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr56" name="fn56">56</a>]. Refer to Section 4.3 of the Report.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr57" name="fn57">57</a>]. Dinesh Kaushal, “The Case for Accessible Banking”, available at <a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/accessible-banking">http://cis-india.org/accessibility/accessible-banking</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr58" name="fn58">58</a>]. NR Indran, “UBI to deploy Mumbai’s first Talking ATM for the visually challenged”, available at <a href="http://apnnews.com/2012/07/09/ubi-to-deploy-mumbai%E2%80%99s-first%E2%80%98talking-atm%E2%80%99-for-the-visually-challenged-powered-by-ncr/">http://apnnews.com/2012/07/09/ubi-to-deploy-mumbai%E2%80%99s-first%E2%80%98talking-atm%E2%80%99-for-the-visually-challenged-powered-by-ncr/</a></p>
<p>[<a href="#fr59" name="fn59">59</a>]. Id.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr60" name="fn60">60</a>]. “NCR Corp to set up 50 Talking ATMs in passport offices”, available at http://lflegal.com/2012/09/ncr-india/.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr61" name="fn61">61</a>]. “NCR Corp to set up 50 Talking ATMs in passport offices”, available at http://lflegal.com/2012/09/ncr-india/.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr62" name="fn62">62</a>]. Dinesh Kaushal, “The Case for Accessible Banking”, available at <a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/accessible-banking">http://cis-india.org/accessibility/accessible-banking</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr63" name="fn63">63</a>]. Id.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr64" name="fn64">64</a>]. “Department of Justice Finalises New ATM Accessibility Standards”, available at <a href="http://www.diebold.com/solutions/atms/opteva/html/Diebold_AccessibilityStandards.pdf">http://www.diebold.com/solutions/atms/opteva/html/Diebold_AccessibilityStandards.pdf</a>, last viewed on July 12.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr65" name="fn65">65</a>]. See more details at <a href="http://www.unionbankofindia.co.in/personal_TalkingATMs.aspx">http://www.unionbankofindia.co.in/personal_TalkingATMs.aspx</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr66" name="fn66">66</a>]. These guidelines are available at <a href="http://www.nzba.org.nz/banking-standards/code-of-banking-practice/voluntary-guidelines-to-assist-banks-to-meet-the-needs-of-older-and-disabled-customers/">http://www.nzba.org.nz/banking-standards/code-of-banking-practice/voluntary-guidelines-to-assist-banks-to-meet-the-needs-of-older-and-disabled-customers/</a></p>
<p>[<a href="#fr67" name="fn67">67</a>]. Id.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr68" name="fn68">68</a>]. Id.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr69" name="fn69">69</a>]. Id.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr70" name="fn70">70</a>]. Section 4 of the DDA defines disability in relation to a person as:<br />a. total or partial loss of the person's bodily or mental functions; or<br />b. total or partial loss of a part of the body; or<br />c. the presence in the body of organisms causing disease or illness; or<br />d. the presence in the body of organisms capable of causing disease or illness; or<br />e. the malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of the person's body; or<br />f. a disorder or malfunction that results in the person learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction; or<br />g. a disorder, illness or disease that affects a person's thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgment or that results in disturbed behaviour; and includes a disability that:<br />a. presently exists; or<br />b. previously existed but no longer exists; or<br />c. may exist in the future; or is imputed to a person.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr71" name="fn71">71</a>]. Section 4 of the DDA defines a service as relating to, amongst other things, banking, insurance, superannuation and the provision of grants, loans, credit or finance, and including financial and information services provided, for example, through websites, telephones, ATMs and EFTPOS.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr72" name="fn72">72</a>]. For a full list, please refer to: <a href="http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/Industry-Standards---Accessibility">http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/Industry-Standards---Accessibility</a>, last accessed on 12<sup>th</sup> August, 2012.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr73" name="fn73">73</a>]. Refer to <a href="http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/ATM-Standard">http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/ATM-Standard</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr74" name="fn74">74</a>]. Refer to <a href="http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/EFTPOS-Standard">http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/EFTPOS-Standard</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr75" name="fn75">75</a>]. Refer to <a href="http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/Automated-Telephone-Banking-Standard">http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/Automated-Telephone-Banking-Standard</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr76" name="fn76">76</a>]. ABA Industry Standard on Electronic Banking, available at <a href="http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/Internet-Banking-Standard">http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/Internet-Banking-Standard</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr77" name="fn77">77</a>]. Refer to <a href="http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/Australian-Banking-Industry-E-Commerce-Industry-Action-Plan">http://www.bankers.asn.au/Industry-Standards/ABAs-Accessibility-of-Electronic-Banking-/Australian-Banking-Industry-E-Commerce-Industry-Action-Plan</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr78" name="fn78">78</a>]. “Background to the Guiding Principles”, Section 1.1 of the ABA Guiding Principles for Accessible Authentication, available at <a href="http://www.bankers.asn.au/ArticleDocuments/177/ABA-Guiding_Principles_for_Accessible_Authentication.doc.aspx">http://www.bankers.asn.au/ArticleDocuments/177/ABA-Guiding_Principles_for_Accessible_Authentication.doc.aspx</a></p>
<p>[<a href="#fr79" name="fn79">79</a>]. Id.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr80" name="fn80">80</a>]. “Department of Justice Finalises New ATM Accessibility Standards”, available at <a href="http://www.diebold.com/solutions/atms/opteva/html/Diebold_AccessibilityStandards.pdf">http://www.diebold.com/solutions/atms/opteva/html/Diebold_AccessibilityStandards.pdf</a>, last viewed on July 12</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr81" name="fn81">81</a>]. See generally: “Department of Justice finalizes new ATM accessibility standards”, available at <a href="http://www.diebold.com/solutions/atms/opteva/html/Diebold_AccessibilityStandards.pdf">www.diebold.com/solutions/atms/opteva/html/Diebold_AccessibilityStandards.pdf</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr82" name="fn82">82</a>]. A summary is available at “Standard B651.1-09”, sourced from <a href="http://hub.eaccessplus.eu/wiki/Canadian_standard_for_accessible_design_for_automated_banking_machines">http://hub.eaccessplus.eu/wiki/Canadian_standard_for_accessible_design_for_automated_banking_machines</a>, and a full text can be purchased from the Canadian Standards Association website.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr83" name="fn83">83</a>]. “The extent to which technical requirements are applied is the responsibility of others, such as the authority having jurisdiction.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr84" name="fn84">84</a>]. “Barrier Free Banking”, available at <a href="http://www.abilities.ca/agc/article/article.php?pid=&cid=&subid=&aid=429">http://www.abilities.ca/agc/article/article.php?pid=&cid=&subid=&aid=429</a></p>
<p>[<a href="#fr85" name="fn85">85</a>]. Id.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr86" name="fn86">86</a>]. “Dutch Guidelines for User Friendly payment terminals”, available at <a href="http://hub.eaccessplus.eu/wiki/Dutch_Guidelines_for_user-friendly_payment_terminals">http://hub.eaccessplus.eu/wiki/Dutch_Guidelines_for_user-friendly_payment_terminals</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr87" name="fn87">87</a>]. “Dutch Guidelines for Payment Systems”, available at <a href="http://hub.eaccessplus.eu/uploads/a/a1/Dutch_Guidelines_on_payment_systems.pdf">http://hub.eaccessplus.eu/uploads/a/a1/Dutch_Guidelines_on_payment_systems.pdf</a></p>
<p>[<a href="#fr88" name="fn88">88</a>]. Id.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr89" name="fn89">89</a>]. Building User Friendly Voice Systems, Tim Noonan, available at <a href="http://www.timnoonan.com.au/ivrpap98.htm">http://www.timnoonan.com.au/ivrpap98.htm</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr90" name="fn90">90</a>]. See generally, “What are the possibilities”, the webpage for the Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged, available at <a href="http://www.xrcvc.org/fs_alternatives.php">http://www.xrcvc.org/fs_alternatives.php</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr91" name="fn91">91</a>]. In countries like Japan, even sighted people use what are known as signature stamps, Hanko and Inkan, instead of actual signatures, for signing of official documents. This is a practice that can also be incorporated by banks.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr92" name="fn92">92</a>]. See generally, “What are the possibilities”, the webpage for the Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged, available at <a href="http://www.xrcvc.org/fs_alternatives.php">http://www.xrcvc.org/fs_alternatives.php</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr93" name="fn93">93</a>]. In conversation with Ms. Anubhuti Mittal, who works for HR Solutions for the Differently Abled, and runs a consultancy which works with people with disabilities, providing recruitment services to the disabled, doing access audits, job mapping, sensitization and training of employees at organisations.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr94" name="fn94">94</a>]. Pursuant to Section 33 of the PWD Act, which states: Every appropriate government shall appoint in every establishment such percentage of vacancies not less than three per cent for persons or class of persons with disability of which one per cent? each shall be reserved for persons suffering from:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li>Blindness or low vision;</li>
<li>Bearing impairment;</li>
<li>Loco motor disability or cerebral palsy, in the posts identified for each disability: </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Provided that the appropriate Government may, having regard to the type of work carried on in any department or establishment, by notification subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in such notification, exempt any establishment from the provisions of this section.</p>
<p>[<a href="#fr95" name="fn95">95</a>]. For example, the Australian and New Zealand Standards (AS/NZS 4263).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr96" name="fn96">96</a>]. A good reference point would be “A Look at Internet Banking Accessibility in Australia”, Sofia Celic, Steven Faulkner, and Andrew Arch, available at <a href="http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw04/papers/refereed/celic/paper.html">http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw04/papers/refereed/celic/paper.html</a>, where the authors have studied the websites of different Australian banks to see how far they are complying with the WCAG1.0 guidelines and have rated them on different criteria. Unfortunately, the team found that “the overall status of the accessibility of Australian banking web sites, using the accessibility of their home pages as an indicator, is less than desirable. None of the banks assessed has met the <acronym>ABA</acronym> recommended timetable of addressing all applicable <acronym>WCAG</acronym> 1.0 Priority 1 and Priority 2 checkpoints within 18 months of the Standard being released (April 2002).”</p>
<hr />
<p><b>Contributors:</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Nirmita Narasimhan, Policy Director</li>
<li>Vrinda Maheshwari, Consultant</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/banking-accessibility-report.pdf" class="internal-link">Click to download the entire report </a>(PDF) 802 Kb</p>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/banking-and-accessibility-in-india-report'>https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/banking-and-accessibility-in-india-report</a>
</p>
No publishernirmitaFeaturedHomepageAccessibility2013-08-13T04:00:19ZBlog EntryNot a Goodbye; More a ‘Come Again’: Thoughts on being Research Director at a moment of transition
https://cis-india.org/raw/not-a-goodbye-more-a-come-again
<b>As I slowly make the news of my transition from being the Research Director at the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, to taking up a professorship at the Leuphana University, Lueneburg, Germany, there is a question that I am often asked: “Are you going to start a new research centre?” And the answer, for the most part, is “No.”</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Not because I don’t see the value of creating institutional spaces like these or that starting and running CIS has been anything short of a dream, but because I don’t how to. When I tell people I don’t know how CIS came into being, they suspect that I am being either facetious or dismissive. But I am not. If somebody asked me to write an Origin Story for CIS, I would be baffled – or probably sum it up by saying that it happened. There was the germ of an idea, a whole lot of people who responded to it, and like the great Tolkienian epic, it was a story that grew in its telling.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">I was 27, when Sunil Abraham, the now Executive Director and I met together in New Delhi, to talk about what a research organisation that represents the public interest at the intersections of Internet & Society would look like. We spent three days in the Delhi heat, coming up with the most fantastic ideas about methods, structures and core areas of interest. It was one of those divine exercises where you build the template for your dream work and then, like a fairy-tale, we had incredible people who came and supported us to make that dream a reality. In six months of that first conversation – I had just turned 28 and was completing the last drafts of my Ph.D. dissertation – CIS got officially registered and with some of the most incredible people, who have been with us, both in their generous affective investment as well as in their intellectual and professional support, we kicked-off a research centre, that has become not only hard to ignore but also significantly important in bringing about scholarly and practice based research around the different facets of how the emergence and widespread reach of the Internet is changing the ways in which we become human, social and political in emerging information societies of the Global South.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the 7 years since that first conversation started, I have learned so much from CIS and the networks that built around it, that it would be impossible to write an exhaustive account of it. However, as I now take up a new position at the CIS as a member of its board, and continue to collaborate with the on-the-ground teams intellectually, from my new position as a Professor, there are five things I want to dwell upon, more to remind myself of important lessons learned, but also as approaches that the new director and team might want to reference:</p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>Research cannot be individually focused</b><br />One of the things that academic training does is that it promotes the idea of an individual researcher. We write, publish, seek grants and present our work, taking individual credit and building a body of work that is centred on us. True, we collaborate and we participate and we are opening up more distributed modes of learning and research, but at the end of the day, there is still an imagination of a research community that is built of individual scholars who work in a happy symbiosis and synthesis.<br /><br />The biggest lesson I learned with the CIS was that research requires collectives – peers, supporters, and critics – that can help materialise a vision. Instead of trying to do ‘my’ research, it was the first time that I was enabling others’ research. I had a say in building the research vision, and establishing protocols of rigour and review, but to have a dream, and then to share it with others, so that it becomes a collective dream was an incredible experience. It was the beginning of a method that I hope informs all my work, where research methods are constantly going to accommodate for and be shaped by collective visions and approaches rather than just the individual as a lone warrior. More than anything else, it reassures us that we are not alone, either in our triumphs or our road-blocks, and it builds a community of thinkers that is more important than just the single authored outputs that we bring out.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>Research requires infrastructure</b><br />Institutions are infrastructure. However, our jobs are so segregated, that we don’t always realise the incredible effort that goes into building such institutions and then making them work as efficient infrastructure to support research. It is very rare, in research publications that we thank our everyday office staff, the accounts team that processes the complicated bureaucracies of research funding, the programme managers who create networks and evaluation formats, or the numerous people who perform ‘non-research’ jobs so that we can do the research. <br /><br />I had worked in project and programme manager positions before CIS. I had also worked as an independent researcher and consultant before that. But this was the first time I actually took the dual responsibility of not only initiating research but also providing the infrastructure for it. And I know that I am a wiser person for it. The intricate world of fund-raising, managing and developing networks, of implementing and monitoring research projects and contracts, and the need to constantly find sustainable options for the research programmes is something that requires an incredible amount of effort and resources. The researchers often are kept away from this world, or we often just ignore the intense quotidian activities that give us the privilege of doing our work, and my time with CIS taught me not only to appreciate this, but also to recognise these tasks as research.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>All research must try and answer the ‘So What?’ question</b><br />Within academic circles, research has inherent value. We do have the freedom to develop new frameworks and ideas that might not have any immediate relevance and might in fact even fail without seeing the light of day. Academia is privileged because as long as we perform our pedagogic tasks, we have the space to experiment and often work on areas that might not benefit anybody outside the disciplines that we are located in.<br /><br />At CIS, working at such close quarters with colleagues who are experts in policy and regulation, research became critical for me. It wasn’t research for research’s sake. It was research with a cause. At the same time, making the research relevant was not an exercise in dumbing it down so that it can be reduced to easy implementation. The effort required at making academic and intellectual research accessible, while still retaining its complexity has been a heady experience for me. Since CIS, I have tried to make sure that all research is able to answer the ‘So What?’ question, and every time, it has made the research more robust, more rigorous and having a greater audience and impact than it would otherwise have. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>To be a research organisation is to be unafraid</b><br />One of the most fantastic things about being a young research organisations was that we were not afraid to voice our opinions and voice them loud. In the last 6 years, CIS has evolved into a strong voice that is not unanimous, but is still clear. We have had disagreements with established research and policy actors. We have critiqued decisions taken by policy and development institutions when we felt that they were flawed. We have provided a critical commentary to different instruments of law and regulation when necessary. We have challenged academic researchers in their methodology as well as in their disconnect from the ‘real world’. And we did it, because early on, the people who guided us, taught us, that research organisations have to be unafraid. <br /><br />Unafraid, not just to ask tough questions of those outside, but also of asking tough questions internally. The team, as it has grown, has been a smorgasbord of disciplinary and stakeholder locations. We don’t necessarily speak the same language. We don’t also, agree on many critical points. But we never tried to be a consensus generation institute. Instead, we learned to coexist and even collaborate in our differences – it was something that external partners often had problems with. How can one set of people work towards critically opposing a phenomenon when others might actually write in favour of some of the aspects of that same phenomenon? How is it possible that some in the institute have great collaborations with a network that the others critique persistently in their work? These tensions, for me, have been generative and I hope that they continue, both in the institution but also in my future work.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>Researchers are people too</b><br />This is one of the strangest things to realise, but it is a good lesson to remember. Academia and research work through abstractions. At some point, the researchers become names. They become only a body of work, a certain number of words. But dealing with researchers is to deal with human beings. We have to remember that researchers, while they are often driven and passionate and unable to extricate their lives from their work, do have lives and bodies and socialities that need to be managed. Institutions often get driven by matrices of measurement and politics of promotion and evaluation, at the neglect of the people who actually build it. The constant push at CIS was to recognise that we are all too human in our everyday lives. And to build work environments, relationships and spaces that nurture the people we work with is the primary responsibility of all research. <br /><br />These points are probably too vague, but this blog post is already too long. I just wanted to take this opportunity to write some ‘Notes to the self’ about things that have been the most important to me in being the co-founder and Research Director at the Centre for Internet and Society. And now, it is time for me to move on. I want to place myself in an academic setting where I learn, I get some headspace to think and write, and do the one thing that I enjoy the most – teach. Starting 1st October 2014<a href="#fn*" name="fr*">[*] </a>I am stepping down as the Research Director and taking up a professorship in a new and exciting university, designing courses and research agendas at the intersections of internet studies, media studies, culture studies and aesthetic studies, bringing together some of my most passionate areas of interest. However, I continue to be interested and invested in CIS’ institutional growth. I shall be a part of the search committee as we invite a new Research Director in the Bangalore office, I shall be a part of the Board that governs the CIS, and I shall always think of CIS as my home, continuing mentoring and implementing existing collaborations but also building more, especially towards the pedagogic and knowledge production side of things.<br /><br />When the final decisions about this transition were made last week, I had thought I would be emotional and heart broken. Instead, I only feel excited. I have a wonderful set of colleagues in Bangalore, and they, in turn, are at the centre of networks of support, love, empathy and trust. CIS will benefit from having a new Research Director who will bring new visions, new methods, new processes and infrastructure to the table, and I hope that as my own academic career grows, I shall find myself returning to CIS in different capacities and roles, both for what I could contribute to it, but also for what I continue to learn from the rich range and variety of activities that it anchors.</li>
</ol>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">[<a href="#fr*" name="fn*">*</a>].For me, this is not a goodbye, but just a change in roles at the CIS. I will continue to use my CIS credentials and email address, and will be found on the existing contact details there for any queries or interactions with and on behalf of the CIS. So no need to change your address books, just yet.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/raw/not-a-goodbye-more-a-come-again'>https://cis-india.org/raw/not-a-goodbye-more-a-come-again</a>
</p>
No publishernishantResearchers at WorkFeaturedInternet StudiesResearch2014-06-15T02:17:06ZBlog EntryIntermediary Liability in India: Chilling Effects on Free Expression on the Internet
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/chilling-effects-on-free-expression-on-internet
<b>The Centre for Internet & Society in partnership with Google India conducted the Google Policy Fellowship 2011. This was offered for the first time in Asia Pacific as well as in India. Rishabh Dara was selected as a Fellow and researched upon issues relating to freedom of expression. The results of the paper demonstrate that the ‘Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules 2011’ notified by the Government of India on April 11, 2011 have a chilling effect on free expression.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Intermediaries are widely recognised as essential cogs in the wheel of exercising the right to freedom of expression on the Internet. Most major jurisdictions around the world have introduced legislations for limiting intermediary liability in order to ensure that this wheel does not stop spinning. With the 2008 amendment of the Information Technology Act 2000, India joined the bandwagon and established a ‘notice and takedown’ regime for limiting intermediary liability.<br /><br />On the 11th of April 2011, the Government of India notified the ‘Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules 2011’ that prescribe, amongst other things, guidelines for administration of takedowns by intermediaries. The Rules have been criticised extensively by both the national and the international media. The media has projected that the Rules, contrary to the objective of promoting free expression, seem to encourage privately administered injunctions to censor and chill free expression. On the other hand, the Government has responded through press releases and assured that the Rules in their current form do not violate the principle of freedom of expression or allow the government to regulate content.<br /><br />This study has been conducted with the objective of determining whether the criteria, procedure and safeguards for administration of the takedowns as prescribed by the Rules lead to a chilling effect on online free expression. In the course of the study, takedown notices were sent to a sample comprising of 7 prominent intermediaries and their response to the notices was documented. Different policy factors were permuted in the takedown notices in order to understand at what points in the process of takedown, free expression is being chilled.<br /><br />The results of the paper clearly demonstrate that the Rules indeed have a chilling effect on free expression. Specifically, the Rules create uncertainty in the criteria and procedure for administering the takedown thereby inducing the intermediaries to err on the side of caution and over-comply with takedown notices in order to limit their liability; and as a result suppress legitimate expressions. Additionally, the Rules do not establish sufficient safeguards to prevent misuse and abuse of the takedown process to suppress legitimate expressions.<br /><br />Of the 7 intermediaries to which takedown notices were sent, 6 intermediaries over-complied with the notices, despite the apparent flaws in them. From the responses to the takedown notices, it can be reasonably presumed that not all intermediaries have sufficient legal competence or resources to deliberate on the legality of an expression. Even if such intermediary has sufficient legal competence, it has a tendency to prioritize the allocation of its legal resources according to the commercial importance of impugned expressions. Further, if such subjective determination is required to be done in a limited timeframe and in the absence of adequate facts and circumstances, the intermediary mechanically (without application of mind or proper judgement) complies with the takedown notice.<br /><br />The results also demonstrate that the Rules are procedurally flawed as they ignore all elements of natural justice. The third party provider of information whose expression is censored is not informed about the takedown, let alone given an opportunity to be heard before or after the takedown. There is also no recourse to have the removed information put-back or restored. The intermediary is under no obligation to provide a reasoned decision for rejecting or accepting a takedown notice.</p>
<p>The Rules in their current form clearly tilt the takedown mechanism in favour of the complainant and adversely against the creator of expression.</p>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>The research highlights the need to:<br />
<ul>
<li> increase the safeguards against misuse of the privately administered takedown regime</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>reduce the uncertainty in the criteria for administering the takedown</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li> reduce the uncertainty in the procedure for administering the takedown</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li> include various elements of natural justice in the procedure for administering the takedown</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>replace the requirement for subjective legal determination by intermediaries with an objective test</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/intermediary-liability-in-india.pdf" class="internal-link" title="Intermediary Liability in India">Click</a> to download the report [PDF, 406 Kb]</p>
<hr />
<h3>Appendix 2</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/intermediary-liability-and-foe-executive-summary.pdf" class="internal-link">Intermediary Liability and Freedom of Expression — Executive Summary</a> (PDF, 263 Kb)</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/counter-proposal-by-cis-draft-it-intermediary-due-diligence-and-information-removal-rules-2012.odt" class="internal-link">Counter-proposal by the Centre for Internet and Society: Draft Information Technology (Intermediary Due Diligence and Information Removal) Rules, 2012</a> (Open Office Document, 231 Kb)</li>
<li><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/counter-proposal-by-cis-draft-it-intermediary-due-diligence-and-information-removal-rules-2012.pdf" class="internal-link">Counter-proposal by the Centre for Internet and Society: Draft Information Technology (Intermediary Due Diligence and Information Removal) Rules, 2012</a> (PDF, 422 Kb)</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>The above documents have been sent to:</p>
<ol>
<li>Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development and Minister of Communications and Information Technology</li>
<li>Shri Milind Murli Deora, Minister of State of Communications and Information Technology</li>
<li>Shri Sachin Pilot, Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology</li>
<li>Dr. Anita Bhatnagar, Joint Secretary, Department of Electronics & Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology</li>
<li>Dr. Ajay Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Electronics & Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology</li>
<li>Dr. Gulshan Rai, Scientist G & Group Coordinator, Director General, ICERT, Controller Of Certifying, Authorities and Head of Division, Cyber Appellate Tribunal </li>
</ol>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/chilling-effects-on-free-expression-on-internet'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/chilling-effects-on-free-expression-on-internet</a>
</p>
No publisherRishabh DaraFreedom of Speech and ExpressionPublic AccountabilityInternet GovernanceResearchFeaturedIntermediary LiabilityCensorship2012-12-14T10:22:24ZBlog EntryDigital Design: Human Behavior vs. Technology - Vita Beans
https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/digital-storytelling-human-behavior-vs-technology
<b>What comes first? Understanding human behavior and communication patterns to design digital technologies? Or should our technologies have the innate capacity to adapt to the profiles of all its potential users? This post will look at accessibility challenges for digital immigrants and the importance of behavioral science for the design of digital technologies. We interview Amruth Bagali Ravindranath from Vita Beans. </b>
<pre><strong>CHANGE-MAKER:</strong> Amruth B R
<strong>
PRODUCT</strong>:
Vita Beans and Guru G
<strong><strong>
METHOD OF CHANGE</strong>:
</strong>Borrow elements from behavioral science and social marketing to make technology more intuitive.
<strong>
STRATEGY OF CHANGE:
</strong>Make technology easy to use, fun and effective.</pre>
<div align="center"><embed align="middle" width="400" height="200" src="http://chirptoons.vitabeans.com/chirplet.swf?chirpfile=60" quality="high" name="chirptoons" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" base="http://chirptoons.vitabeans.com/" wmode="transparent"></embed></div>
<div align="center"><strong>Chirptoons: </strong>Create Cartoons in a Jiffy. Designed by <a href="http://www.vitabeans.com/">Vita Beans</a><br />(The animation seems to be skipping a few lines. Check box below for a transcript)<br />Design your own here: <a href="http://chirptoons.vitabeans.com/createchirplet.php">http://bit.ly/1dOEpPo</a>
<br /><br /></div>
<blockquote style="float: right;">
<div align="center"><strong>Transcript of animation:</strong></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr"><strong>Ajoy</strong>: Hi!<br /><strong>Usha</strong>: Hi! What will we talk about today?<br /><strong>Ajoy:</strong> We will learn to design digital stories!<br class="kix-line-break" /><strong>Usha:</strong> What do you mean by digital stories?<br /><strong>Ajoy: </strong>What we are doing right now!.<br /> Telling a story through a digital medium.<br /><strong>Usha: </strong>Oh! But what is so complicated about that?<br />You write a story and then you post it online What’s<br />the big deal?<br /><strong>Ajoy:</strong> This is true. But you want everyone to access <br />your story right?<br /><strong>Usha:</strong> Yes! Of course!<br /><strong>Ajoy:</strong> Then you need to think about your audience! <br />Are you sure they all know how to use this technology?<br class="kix-line-break" /><strong>Usha:</strong> Well...no, not really.<br /><strong>Ajoy:</strong> Do you know what makes it challenging for them? <br />Or how to adapt technology to make it easier?<br /><strong>Usha:</strong> Eh, no...no clue :(<br /><strong>Ajoy: </strong>Then read on.Today we will take a step back.<br />We must think about human behaviour first!<br class="kix-line-break" />and then design our technology accordingly.<br /><strong>Usha: </strong>Sounds good! Let's do it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p align="justify">First off, apologies for such a feeble and sad animation. When I was given access to Chirptoons, I was quite confident I would be able to produce a somewhat interesting introduction to this post and get you excited about our next interview. However, between first-time user friction and a couple of glitches in the program, I found myself -a semi-savvy digital native who has been using technology, almost every day of her life, for the last 15 years- struggling to create the cartoon and clearly failing at it. The biggest challenge was translating what I had in mind into a digital format (The demo was very straightforward. I was just particularly inept), and it was frustrating to the point I decided to drop it, leave it as is, publish my unfinished cartoon and turn this post into a reflection on 'design challenges behind digital storytelling', so I could move on with my life.</p>
<p align="justify">What I experienced with Chirptoons is what many users: both digital natives and immigrants constantly face due to the pace at which new digital technologies are emerging. While the privileged demographic who has physical access to technology has a decent knowledge of basic web browsing and document processing features, there is still a very large gap in accessibility in terms of how to navigate more complex formats. At the end of the day, producers retain the creative power and determine the functions and flexibility of the technologies we use in the day to day. Just think of Facebook and its constant interface updates. We have all felt the wrenching need for that 'dislike' button to make our interactions a tad more honest, yet we have no power to create it or change Facebook's format to one that enables our needs better.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">So far, we have explored information from different angles: as activism, as visual design, as stories; and how digital technologies have been used strategically to disseminate it. However, our analysis is lacking a better understanding of the <em>digital</em>. We have been focusing on citizens as technology 'consumers', and we have not looked at whether digital infrastructures are accessible enough for users to become 'producers'. The question is<em>: how</em> do we do this: how do we engage different users with different digital literacy levels, skills and aptitudes in the production of digital content? With this post we bring a new topic into our series: accessibility and Information infrastructures. This one will focus on design and the role of behavioural science. Our interview with Amruth Bagali Ravindranath, brought a very unique perspective into the conversation, from
which I would like to highlight three points:</p>
<p align="justify">a) The importance of <strong>behavioral science</strong> for
design. Amruth stressed why we need a thorough understanding of
behavioral and cognitive science in the design of digital technologies
and how crucial it is to investigate the decision processes and
communication strategies of humans to make technologies user-friendly
and context appropriate.</p>
<p align="justify">b) How<strong> public relations and social marketing</strong>
concepts can also provide insight on how to target and engage potential
users more effectively. This point starts to answer some of the
questions we raised on the <a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/tactical-technology-design-activism-1">Information Design post</a>: thinking about the citizen as a consumer. This point also works as
an alternative take on how to target civic engagement through
technology.</p>
c) How to engage<strong> different type of users: </strong>not
only the digital native, but also digital immigrants<a style="text-align: justify;" href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/storytelling-performance-2#fn1" name="fr1">[1]</a>
<p> who
still play crucial roles as information gatekeepers in fields such as
education or urban governance.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2 align="justify">Vita Beans<br /></h2>
<h3></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">We interviewed <strong>Amruth Bagali Ravindranath</strong>,<strong> </strong>Founder of <a href="http://www.vitabeans.com/">Vita Beans</a> to answer some of these questions. Vita Beans’ mandate is to create inspiring, easy-to-use applications in areas of education and human resources, to share knowledge in innovative, fun an effective ways.
The logic behind their technological framework is trying to mimic the profile of the human brain linked to decision making -including economic, evolutionary, emotional, and psychological elements- and design their applications based on these patterns. Some of the products they offer are cognitive skill development applications, game based learning applications, educational technology research, among others, and their latest educational product: <strong>Guru G</strong> was chosen by the <a href="http://unreasonableatsea.com/overview/">Unreasonable at Sea</a> program (by Unreasonable institute & co-founder of Stanford d.school) as one of the <a href="http://unreasonableatsea.com/companies22/">11 companies changing the world</a>.</p>
<div align="right" style="text-align: left;" class="pullquote" dir="ltr"><strong>"We are trying to adapt to how the user wants to use something, rather than expecting the user to learn. This is essential in the education space to make things work".</strong></div>
<p align="justify"><a href="http://unreasonableatsea.com/vita-beans/">Guru G</a> is a "gamified teaching, teacher training & open certification platform", that aims to democratize access to technology for quality teachers. Rather than focusing on the student as most education technologies do, Guru G believes that teachers are the most important element of the education system. Enabling teachers, means quality education will reach the lives of hundreds of students during their professional life time, and with this in mind, Vita Beans designed a platform that is engaging, easy to use and intuitive, designed specifically with teachers, schools and governments in mind.</p>
<div align="center"><iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/65920949" frameborder="0" height="281" width="500"></iframe></div>
<p align="center"><a href="http://vimeo.com/65920949">Unreasonable Barcelona: Anand Joshi, Guru-G</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/unreasonable">Unreasonable Media</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
<h3 align="left">Inspiration <br /></h3>
<div align="right" class="pullquote"><em>"Teachers don't use and don't like to use technology" </em></div>
<p align="justify">The idea came from the products Vita Beans had already developed for the education space, such as their text2animation & text2game prototypes. They had produced over 80 collaborative games teachers were using in the classroom. Students play together in teams and learn about different topics through the process of gaming. However, suddenly they realized teachers had great ideas they didn't know how to translate into a<em> </em>digital form because they did not have the knowledge or the skills to create digital content. This is, according to Amruth, the crisis they are trying to solve in the education space: the quality of teachers, access to good teachers and the difficulty for teachers to adopt new technologies were the biggest challenges.<em> "</em></p>
<h3 align="left">The design challenge<br /></h3>
<p align="justify">Their initial prototypes were designed with assumptions based on their gamification experiments with students. <em>"We miserably failed with teachers and we discovered what a good gamification system for teachers looks like by prototyping with teachers and looking at the small things. It was an interesting learning experience." </em> They identified two common reasons why they hesitated to adopt anything new in the classroom.</p>
<ul><li>Teachers don't want to feel like they can't use something a student can.</li><li>Teachers can't visualize themselves using that tool, this there is an element of uncertainty and lack of confidence. </li></ul>
<p align="justify">It was imperative for Vita Beans to switch focus:<em> "Any tool you design, you expect to train the user to understand your tool, and if they refuse to do that; you blame them." </em>They used their behavioural science background to come up with infrastructural solutions that solve the limitations from the outset. </p>
<h3>The solutions</h3>
<p align="justify">They started prototyping with <strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_language_processing">natural language processing</a></strong> for their text2animation & text2game projects. NLP is a branch of computer science concerned with the interactions between computers and human languages. Teachers articulated their ideas in simple English and the program used NLP to take what they said, try to understand what they were trying to visualize and convert into programming language to build an animated movie out of it (like what we used to open this article -but with hopefully better results). Amruth was very confident about the potential of this prototype and shared with us that UNICEF might take it up and implement it as an open source animated video and game creation tool in Africa.</p>
They also developed an <strong>adaptive navigation engine</strong> for one of their game based learning platforms; a tool that adapts to what you are trying to do: <em>"There is no fixed way to navigate from one task to another. It tries to learn the closest action that each teacher is trying to do and it executes that. It tries to learn how the teacher wants to use it."' </em>This was a success. They incorporated touch screens to make the product more intuitive and the teachers picked it up quickly.<em> </em>
<p>Amruth claims they are the first in the world to develop a gamification platform specifically for teachers and the reason was their solution to the navigation issue. This experience also indirectly helped in designing Guru-G.</p>
<p> </p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bf_rwl6JTMc" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe></div>
<p style="text-align: center;">"Amruth Bagali Ravindranath talks about text2animation & text2game prototypes"<br />Amruth B R, at TedxMcGill. Courtesy of YouTube</p>
<p align="justify">These design solutions and the learnings from each project inspired the team to come up with products which have been adopted commercially across 10 states in India, reached 4000+ schools & over 3 million kids internationally through partners in India & North America. They have helped education companies build their primary and secondary school education products, (including one of India's top classroom technologies), have been covered by the media and won several entrepreneurship awards. More information <a href="http://unreasonableatsea.com/vita-beans/">here</a> and on <a href="http://www.guru-g.com/">their website.</a> Our question is: what is it about behavioral science that helped Amruth's team arrive to this epiphany in tech design? </p>
<h2 align="justify">Behavioral Science and Social Marketing<br /></h2>
<p align="justify">Comparing marketing to advocacy is bound to be met by resistance and perhaps controversy. I raised this question when we interviewed Maya Ganesh for the <a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/tactical-technology-design-activism-1">Information Design post</a>, and stated the following in our conclusion: "<em>Our consumption habits in the market are shaping how we process and interact with information in the public space. The possibility of
'consumer behavior' permeating modalities of activism, reinforces the need
to explore more interesting strategies for information
dissemination</em>." Now that we are starting to look closely at the infrastructure supporting information, I will stubbornly return to the same question: to what extent should we borrow tactics for advocacy from marketing? and add: how much of it should permeate the design of digital technologies?</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Amruth made a casual reference during our interview that triggered this thought. We were discussing the importance of understanding behavior patterns, when he brought up <strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays">Edward Bernays</a>. </strong>This man used psychoanalysis, psychology and social science to design public
persuasion campaigns and could get masses to choose what he wanted them to without them realizing it. While this sounds awfully dangerous and manipulative, I would like to rescue the idea of understanding human behavior well enough to design technology around it and I will entertain this thought in the context of
social change -please, don't judge.</p>
<p align="JUSTIFY">Pillip Kotler, S. C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, wrote a paper bringing marketing and social change together: <em>“Can social
causes be advanced more successfully through applying principles,
concepts and techniques of marketing?”. </em>He defines marketing as:</p>
<blockquote>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">"a sophisticated technology, that draws heavily on behavioral science for clues to solve communication and persuasion related to influencing accessibility. [...] Most of the effort is spent on discovering the wants of a target audience and creating goods and services to satisfy them" (Kotler, 1971)</h3>
</blockquote>
<div> </div>
<p align="justify">This definition is a useful bridge to link marketing with accessibility of digital technologies. G.D. Wiebe wrote an influential paper on social marketing, that coined the question: "<em>Why can't you sell brotherhood and rational thinking like you can sell soap?</em>", that later influenced public information campaigns by USAID, the WHO, and the World Bank <a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/storytelling-performance-2#fn1" name="fr1">[2]</a> . While he recognized how these models can to an extent <em>commodify </em>human behavior and social principles, he stressed that knowledge of behavioral science is a useful framework for product planning, that must be given a socially useful implementation. He developed the following criteria of considerations:</p>
<table class="plain">
<thead>
<tr>
<th align="center">Criteria<br /></th>
<th align="center">Description<br /></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td> <strong>Force</strong></td>
<td>The intensity of the person's motivation toward the goal -a combination of his predisposition prior to the message and the stimulation of the message<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Direction</strong></td>
<td>Knowledge of how or where the person might go to consummate his motivation.<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Mechanism</strong></td>
<td>The existence of an agency that enables the person to translate his motivation into action.<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Adequacy</strong></td>
<td>The ability and effectiveness of the agency in performing its task.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Distance</strong></td>
<td>Estimate of the energy and cost required (by the user) to consummate the motivation in relation to the reward<br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p align="justify">Considering this framework is part of recognizing how knowledge circulating market networks affects our behavior. Nishant Shah addressed two ideas along these lines in the thought piece. First, he suggests us to recognize the negotiations that take place in the state-citizen-market ecosystem, and how they affect our rights, demands and responsibilities in society. Second, how this leads to a different understanding of the citizen as an "embodiment of these state-market negotiations". Keeping consumer behavior, and the forces shaping, enabling and constraining it in mind, is an interesting framework when we think of ourselves as information consumers -and as Yochai Benkler posits in The Wealth of Networks- in an ongoing transition to information producers. This also depends on how we think of information. We usually define content as information, but the structure and infrastructure are also pieces of 'information' we continuously shape through our interaction with technology. Hence, when we talk about making information accessible, we are also talking about producing legible and intelligible infrastructures. </p>
<h3>Linking it back to digital technology</h3>
<p align="justify">I am aware that the relationship we are trying to draw seems little far-fetched, but Amruth and the Vita Bean's team experience shows this behavioral-science approach, not only has a lot of potential, but is seldom explored in the education technology market. He told us about his success story with a <strong>behavior simulation engine.</strong> They used neuroscience as a base to build computer based activities and games to predict the behavior of its users on specific situations. They had an accuracy of 86%, which according to Amruth, is larger than every known psychological framework, and according to their <a href="http://www.vitabeans.com/case-studies.php">testimonial</a>, above most behavioral tests in the market (which only yield 20-40% of accuracy). Amruth said: <em>"That
was the first behavior research connection that brought us into the
start-up space. Exploring games, exploring human behavior."</em></p>
<blockquote style="float: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Design challenges in<br /></strong><strong><strong>mobile applications**</strong></strong></div>
<li>Make it noticeable </li><li>Make it useless if not shared </li><li>Manufacture peer pressure</li><li>Easy to personalize </li><li>Must evolve constantly </li>(static stories die)</blockquote>
<p align="justify">We can also link these ideas back to storytelling. Amruth and I discussed what is the best way to use technology to engage users with digital stories. He made a good point at pairing up both processes:<em> "What makes a storytelling session effective is how you contextualize a story for the person you are sitting with. As kids we are used to a one way process. As adults, stories are more interactive, so you may bring a new dimension, and the story might go in a very different direction. The technology must enable and reflect that." </em>Compelling narratives must motivate the audience to interact with the stories, and digital devices must perform the same function. The infrastructure and interface of technologies must be intuitive, familiar and persuasive enough to sway users into interacting with it. </p>
<p align="justify">A way to do this is by pairing up technologies with the criterion above. In terms of functionality: provide them with a <strong>mechanism</strong> that translates the users ideas into action, that is <strong>efficient</strong> at enabling them, and that reduces the '<strong>distance </strong>(the<strong> </strong>cost or amount of energy needed) to perform a task -as has been accomplished with Guru G in India. As for the <strong>force </strong>and<strong> direction</strong> of motivation, Amruth brought up some design challenges when discussing adoption of mobile applications [**"<em>by analysing what increases the probability of a solution / campaign
growing organically by word of mouth, going viral, and specifically what make something fashionable</em>". See box on the left]. These challenges may vary from one application to the other but, at the end of day, the analysis and conceptualization of the product must be persuasive and empathetic with its users.</p>
<h3>Making Change</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">To close our interview, Amruth and I talked about what it means to 'make change' through digital design. He believes 'making change' is composed of three elements:</p>
<ul><li><strong>Empathy: </strong>Your attempt to make change will depend on the amount of empathy you feel towards the people you are trying to create change for.<em> "We spend time interacting with teachers, classrooms, just to get an idea of how the teacher thinks, empathize with prospective users".</em></li><li><strong>Imagination:</strong> How you translate this empathy into solutions. <em>"Imagination helps you think of as many solutions as you can to solve the design and adoption challenges"</em></li><li><strong>Action: </strong>The most challenging stage according to Amruth: <em>"If your technology is too hard to use, you will lose audience. If it's not impactful enough, it is trivialized. How do you reach a balance in making it effortless and yet, impactful?"</em></li></ul>
<p align="justify"><br />This post took a step back in our analysis of citizen action, to uncover a less visible space where change is also taking place: the intersection of the user with the machine. We seldom look at the relationship: producer-machine-consumer (and its multiple combinations) and how our behavior is being reconfigured by new digital technologies (in this project). The pace at which we need to upgrade our own operation systems, requires a degree of digital literacy that is not being facilitated by the state, the market or even civil society. Vita Beans, is one of the few examples of market actors working towards cutting the middle-man between users and digital technologies. If widely adopted, this model has the potential of re-organizing the state-citizen-market dynamic: from how citizens interact with the technology market to how new ways of producing and using technology might shape citizens' negotiation with the state.</p>
<div>This was also a set of explorations. It is a fairly new area in our research that will lead to more conversations with people who understand technology as an infrastructure and as material, as opposed to us- who often understand it as a practice, a space or an actor. Our goal is to bring content and infrastructure closer together, and make a stronger emphasis on inter-disciplinarity and multi-stakeholderism as a strategy to leverage change.
<div>
<div> </div>
<h2><strong>Footnotes:</strong></h2>
<p><span style="text-align: justify;">[</span><a style="text-align: justify;" href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/storytelling-performance-2#fr1" name="fn1">1</a><span style="text-align: justify;">] Refer to Marc Prensky's Digital Native, Digital Immigrant, for more on the limitations of digital immigrants in the education space; "</span>It‟s very serious, because the single biggest problem facing <span style="text-align: justify;">education today is that our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated </span><span style="text-align: justify;">language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks </span><span style="text-align: justify;">an entirely new language". Access it here: </span><a href="http://bit.ly/IMBu0j">http://bit.ly/IMBu0j</a> <br /><br />The CIS book : Digital Alternatives with a Cause, is also an interesting and comprehensive read of what comprises a digital native or digital immigrant today: <a href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/dnbook">http://cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/dnbook</a><br /><br /><span style="text-align: justify;">[</span><a style="text-align: justify;" href="https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/storytelling-performance-2#fr1" name="fn1">2</a><span style="text-align: justify;">] </span>The World Bank makes reference to G.D. Wiebe's thinking on their blog: <a href="http://bit.ly/1jNZVZA">http://bit.ly/1jNZVZA</a>. Also refer to: Baker, Michael (2012). The Marketing Book. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 696 and <span class="mw-cite-backlink"><span class="reference-text"><span class="citation book">Lefebvre, R. Craig. Social Marketing and Social Change: Strategies and Tools to Improve Health, Well-Being and the Environment\year=2013. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. p. 4. for examples of these interventions. Finally, the Wikipedia page on Social Marketing explains the role of G.D. Wiebe in the field: <a href="http://bit.ly/1lw4jPV">http://bit.ly/1lw4jPV</a></span></span></span></p>
<h2><strong>Sources:</strong></h2>
<div id="gs_cit1" class="gs_citr">Kotler, P., & Zaltman, G. (1971). Social marketing: an approach to planned social change. Journal of marketing, 35(3).</div>
<p><span class="reference-text"><span class="citation journal"><br />Shah, Nishant “Whose Change is it Anyways? Hivos Knowledge Program. April 30, 2013.</span></span></p>
<p><span class="reference-text"><span class="citation journal">Wiebe, G.D. (1951-1952). "Merchandising Commodities and Citizenship on Television". Public Opinion Quarterly <strong>15</strong> (Winter): 679.</span></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/digital-storytelling-human-behavior-vs-technology'>https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/digital-storytelling-human-behavior-vs-technology</a>
</p>
No publisherdenisseMaking ChangeNet CulturesResearchFeaturedResearchers at Work2015-10-24T14:29:23ZBlog EntryAnalyzing the Latest List of Blocked URLs by Department of Telecommunications (IIPM Edition)
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/analyzing-latest-list-of-blocked-urls-by-dot
<b>The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in its order dated February 14, 2013 has issued directions to the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block seventy eight URLs. The block order has been issued as a result of a court order. Snehashish Ghosh does a preliminary analysis of the list of websites blocked as per the DoT order.</b>
<hr />
<p>Medianama has <a class="external-link" href="http://www.medianama.com/wp-content/uploads/blocking-instruction-II-14-Feb-2013.pdf">published the DoT order</a>, dated February 14, 2013, on its website.</p>
<hr />
<h3>What has been blocked?</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The block order contains seventy eight URLs. Seventy three URLs are related to the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM). The other five URLs contain the term “highcourt”. The order also contains links from reputed news websites and news blogs including The Indian Express, Firstpost, Outlook, Times of India, Economic Times, Kafila and Caravan Magazine, and satire news websites Faking News and Unreal Times. The order also directs blocking of a public notice issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC).</p>
<p>The block order does not contain links to any social media website. However, some content related to IIPM has been removed but it finds no mention in the block order. Pursuant to which order or direction such content has been removed remains unclear. For example, Google has removed search results for the terms <Fake IIPM> pursuant to Court orders and it carries the following notice:</p>
<p><em>"In response to a legal request submitted to Google, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may </em><a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=432099"><em>read more about the request</em></a><em> at ChillingEffects.org."</em></p>
<h3>Are there any mistakes in the order?</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The direction issued by the DoT is once again inaccurate and mired with errors. In effect, the DoT has blocked sixty one unique URLs and the block order contains numerous repetitions. By its order the DoT has directed the ISPs to block an entire blog [<a class="external-link" href="http://iipmexposed.blogspot.in">http://iipmexposed.blogspot.in</a>] along with URLs to various posts in the same blog.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Reasons for Blocking Websites</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/directed-by-gwalior-court-government-blocks-70-urls-critical-of-iipm/articleshow/18523107.cms">According to news reports</a>, the main reason for blocking of websites by the DoT is a Court order issued by a Court in Gwalior. The reason for issuing such a block order might have been a court proceeding with respect to defamation and removal of defamatory content thereof. However, the reasons for blocking of domain names containing the term ‘high court’, which is not at all related to the IIPM Court case is unclear. The DoT by its order has also blocked a link in the website of a internet domain registrar which carried advertisement for the domain name [<a class="external-link" href="http://www.highcourt.com">www.highcourt.com</a>].</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Are the blocks legitimate?</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The block order may have been issued by the DoT under Rule 10 of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Court order seems to be an interim injunction in a defamation suit. Generally, Courts exercise utmost caution while granting interim injunction in defamation cases. According to the Bonnard Rule (Bonnard v. Perryman, [1891] 2 Ch 269) in a defamation case, “interim injunction should not be awarded unless a defence of justification by the defendant was certain to fail at trial level.” Moreover, in the case of Woodward and Frasier, Lord Denning noted “that it would be unjust to fetter the freedom of expression, when actually a full trial had not taken place, and that if during trial it is proved that the defendant had defamed the plaintiff, then should they be liable to pay the damages.” The Delhi High Court in <em><a href="http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/562656/">Tata Sons Ltd. v. Green Peace International</a></em> followed the Bonnard Rule and the Lord Denning’s judgements and ruled against the award of interim injunction for removal of defamatory content and stated:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">“The Court notes that the rule in Bonnard is as applicable in regulating grant of injunctions in claims against defamation, as it was when the judgment was rendered more than a century ago. This is because the Courts, the world over, have set a great value to free speech and its salutary catalyzing effect on public debate and discussion on issues that concern people at large. The issue, which the defendant’s game seeks to address, is also one of public concern. The Court cannot also sit in value judgment over the medium (of expression) chosen by the defendant since in a democracy, speech can include forms such as caricature, lampoon, mime parody and other manifestations of wit.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Therefore, it appears that the Court order has moved away from the settled principles of law while awarding an interim injunction for blocking of content related to IIPM. It is also interesting to note that in <em>Green Peace International</em>, the Court also answered the question as to whether there should be different standard for posting or publication of defamatory content on the internet. It was observed by the Court that publication is a comprehensive term, ‘embracing all forms and medium – including the Internet’.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Blocking a Public Notice issued by a Statutory Body of Government of India</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The block order mentions a URL which contains a public notice issued by University Grants Commission (UGC) related to the derecognition of IIPM as a University. The blocking of a public notice issued by the statutory body of the Government of India is unprecedented. A public notice issued by a statutory body is a function of the State. It can only be blocked or removed by a writ order issued by the High Court or the Supreme Court and only if it offends the Constitution. However, so far, ISPs such as BSNL have not enforced the blocking of this URL.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Implementation of the order by the ISPs</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As pointed out in my previous <a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/analyzing-the-latest-list-of-blocked-sites-communalism-and-rioting-edition-part-ii">blog post</a> on blocking of websites, the ISPs have again failed to notify their consumers the reasons for the blocking of the URLs. This lack of transparency in the implementation of the block order has a chilling effect on freedom of speech.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/analyzing-latest-list-of-blocked-urls-by-dot'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/analyzing-latest-list-of-blocked-urls-by-dot</a>
</p>
No publishersnehashishSocial MediaFreedom of Speech and ExpressionInternet GovernanceFeaturedCensorshipHomepage2013-02-17T07:35:25ZBlog Entrye-Accessibility Policy Handbook for Persons with Disabilities (Russian Version)
https://cis-india.org/accessibility/e-accessibility-kit-in-russian
<b>The e-Accessibility Policy Handbook for Persons with Disabilities is based upon the online ITU-G3ict e-Accessibility Policy Toolkit for Persons with Disabilities (www.e-accessibilitytoolkit.org) which was released in February 2010. This is the Russian translation of the same.</b>
<p>The <a class="external-link" href="http://g3ict.org/resource_center/e-Accessibility%20Policy%20Handbook">Toolkit</a> and its companion handbook have contributions from more than 60 experts around the world on ICT accessibility and is a most valuable addition to policy makers and regulators, advocacy and research organisations and persons with disabilities on the implementation of the ICT dispositions of the CRPD.</p>
<p>The handbook is a joint publication of ITU, G3ict and the Centre for Internet and Society, in cooperation with The Hans Foundation. The book is compiled and edited by Nirmita Narasimhan. Preface by Dr. Hamadoun I. Toure, Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union. Introduction by Dr. Sami Al-Basheer, Director, ITU-D. Foreword by Axel Leblois, Executive Director, G3ict.</p>
<p>UNIC Moscow (United Nations Information Centre - Moscow) has translated the English version of the kit to Russian. For more information on the translation initiative by UNIC Moscow,<a class="external-link" href="http://www.unic.ru/news_inf/viewer.php?uid=164"> click here</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p> </p>
<p>Download the Russian version <a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/e-accessibility-russian-handbook.pdf" class="internal-link" title="e-Accessibility Policy Handbook (Russian Version)">here</a> (PDF, 1045 kb)</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/accessibility/e-accessibility-kit-in-russian'>https://cis-india.org/accessibility/e-accessibility-kit-in-russian</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaFeaturedBooksAccessibilityPublications2012-04-26T10:04:08ZBlog EntryInternet Researchers' Conference 2022 (IRC22): #Home, May 25-27
https://cis-india.org/raw/irc-22-home
<b>We are excited to announce that the fifth edition of the Internet Researchers' Conference will be held online on May 25-27, 2022.This annual conference series was initiated by the researchers@work (r@w) programme at CIS in 2016 to gather researchers and practitioners engaging with the internet in/from India to congregate, share insights and tensions, and chart the ways forward. This year, the conference brings together a set of reflections and conversations on how we imagine and experience the home —as a space of refuge and comfort, but also as one of violence, care, labour and movement-building.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Venue: Online on Zoom</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Registration: <a class="external-link" href="https://tinyurl.com/reg-irc22">https://tinyurl.com/reg-irc22</a></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Code of Conduct:<a href="https://cis-india.org/IRC22_CoCFSP" class="external-link"> Download (PDF)</a></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conference Programme: <a href="https://cis-india.org/IRC22.Programme.Final%20" class="external-link">Download (PDF)</a></strong></p>
<hr />
<p> </p>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_IRCPoster2.jpg/@@images/fa92d73e-af12-492b-b55c-f06e7a661415.jpeg" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="IRC Poster 2" /></p>
<p dir="ltr">The ‘home’ has been a key line of defence in efforts to curtail the spread of COVID-19. Public health recommendations and governmental measures have enforced numerous restrictions on daily living, including physical distancing and isolation, home confinement, and quarantining. These mandates to be at home have relied on the construction, and assumption, of home as a familiar, stable and safe space.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">However, home has always been a site of intense political contestation—be it through the temporal frames of belonging, ideas of citizenship and regionalism, role in the reproduction of capital accumulation, or as material signifiers of social status. Over the past 2 years, digital infrastructures have played an intensified role in the meaning making of the home. Coming to terms with the pandemic entailed an accelerated embedding of digital systems in many of our relationships. Be it with the state, educational institutions, workplaces, or each other. Solutions to the many challenges of infrastructure and mobility emerging over the last year have been sought in digital technologies. The digital mediation of the pandemic has ushered in visions of the ‘new normal’ as situated wholly in the digital.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">While the initial anxieties of living through the pandemic may have now eased, and we make forays into a changed world, the spectre of the ‘next normal’ awaits. As we continue to come to terms with, and find ways to reorient the disruption of life, being at home has acquired many new meanings. What has it meant to be at home, and what is home? What is and has been the role of the internet and digital media technologies in navigating the contours of a changing ‘normal’? How have/can digital technologies help overcome, or exacerbate existing social, economic and political challenges during the pandemic? What forms of digital infrastructure—tools, platforms, devices and services—help build, sustain and alter the notion of home?</p>
<p dir="ltr">For IRC22, we invited sessions across a range of formats and themes to explore and challenge conceptions of the home. Different people imagine and experience the home in various ways—as a space of refuge and comfort, but also as one of violence, care, labour and/or movement-building. We invited contributions that speak to these provocations through one or more of the above thematic areas. A set of 12 sessions were finalised for the conference (including 4 individual presentations), based on peer selection by teams and presenters who proposed sessions as well as an external review.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr"></h3>
<h3><strong>Sessions</strong></h3>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-waitingforfood">#WaitingForFood</a> - Rhea Bose and Nisha Subramanian</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-thismightnotbeonline">#thismightnotbeonline</a> - Kaushal Sapre and Aasma Tulika</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-identitiesvulnerabilitiesopportunitiesdissentir">#IdentitesVulnerabilitiesOpportunitiesDissent</a> - Saumya Tewari, Manisha Madhava, Dhrupadi Chattopadhyay and Aparna Bose</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-homeandtheinternet">#HomeAndTheInternet</a> - Dona Biswas, Bhanu Priya Gupta and Ekta Kailash Sonwane </p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-letsmovein">#LetsMoveIn</a> - Arathy Salimkumar, Faheem Muhammed, Hazeena T and Manisha Madapathy</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-lockdownsandshutdowns">#LockdownsAndShutdowns</a> - Michael Collyer, Joss Wright, Andreas Tsamados, Marianne Díaz Hernández and Nathan Dobson</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-identifyingtheideaoflabourinteaching">#IdentifyingtheIdeaoflLaborinTeaching</a> - Sunanda Kar and Bishal Sinha</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-homebasedflexiworkincovid19">#HomeBasedFlexiworkInCovid19</a> - Sabina Dewan, Mukta Naik, Ayesha Zainudeen, Gayani Hurulle, Hue-Tam Jamme and Devesh Taneja</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-involutejaggedseamsofthedomesticandthevocational">#Involute:Jagged Seams of the Domestic and the Vocational -</a> Akriti Rastogi, Deepak Prince, Misbah Rashid and Satish Kumar</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-digitisingcrisesremakinghome">#DigitisingCrisesRemakingHome</a> - Vidya Subramanian, Kalindi Kokal and Uttara Purandare</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong><br /></strong></p>
<h3><strong>Individual Presentations</strong></h3>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-goinghomeconstructionofadigitalurbanplatforminterfaceindelhincr">#GoingHome: Constructions of a Digital-Urban Platform Interface in Delhi-NCR</a> - Anurag Mazumdar</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-socialmediaactivism">#SocialMediaActivism</a> - Anushka Bhilwar</p>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc22-proposed-session-transactandwhatfollowed">#TransActandWhatFollowed</a> - Brindaalakshmi K</p>
<h3><strong>About the IRC Series</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Researchers and practitioners across the domains of arts, humanities, and social sciences have attempted to understand life on the internet, or life after the internet, and the way digital technologies mediate various aspects of our being today. These attempts have in turn raised new questions around understanding of digital objects, online lives, and virtual networks, and have contributed to complicating disciplinary assumptions, methods, conceptualisations, and boundaries.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">The researchers@work programme at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) initiated the Internet Researchers' Conference (IRC) series to address these concerns, and to create an annual temporary space in India, for internet researchers to gather and share experiences.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The IRC series is driven by the following interests:</p>
<ul>
<li>creating discussion spaces for researchers and practitioners studying internet in India and in other comparable regions,</li>
<li>foregrounding the multiplicity, hierarchies, tensions, and urgencies of the digital sites and users in India,</li>
<li>accounting for the various layers, conceptual and material, of experiences and usages of internet and networked digital media in India, and</li>
<li>exploring and practicing new modes of research and documentation necessitated by new (digital) objects of power/knowledge.</li></ul>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e32d113c-7fff-b48f-7af4-0a47077cf4a6"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">The<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc16"> first edition of the Internet Researchers' Conference</a> series was held in February 2016. It was hosted by the<a href="https://www.jnu.ac.in/SSS/CPS/"> Centre for Political Studies</a> at Jawaharlal Nehru University, and was supported by the CSCS Digital Innovation Fund. The<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc17"> second Internet Researchers' Conference</a> was organised in partnership with the<a href="http://citapp.iiitb.ac.in/"> Centre for Information Technology and Public Policy</a> (CITAPP) at the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B) campus on March 03-05, 2017. The<a href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc18"> third Internet Researchers' Conference</a> was organised at the<a href="http://www.sambhaavnaa.org/"> Sambhaavnaa Institute</a>, Kandbari (Himachal Pradesh) during February 22-24, 2018, and the theme of the conference was *offline*. The<a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/raw/irc19-list"> fourth Internet Researcher's Conference </a>was held at <a class="external-link" href="https://digital.lamakaan.com/">Lamakaan, Hyderabad</a> from January 30 - February 01, on the theme of the 'list'.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/raw/irc-22-home'>https://cis-india.org/raw/irc-22-home</a>
</p>
No publisherPuthiya Purayil SnehaResearchers at WorkInternet Researcher's ConferenceFeaturedIRC22HomepageInternet Studies2022-05-24T14:38:57ZBlog EntryRight to Read Campaign, Chennai
https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/right-to-read-campaign-chennai
<b>A report on the first road show of the nationwide Right to Read Campaign which was launched at Loyola college, Chennai, on 26th September, 2009. </b>
<h2>Right to Read Campaign - An Overview</h2>
<h3>Fast Facts</h3>
<ul>
<li>At least three hundred million people around the world with sight problems and dyslexia cannot read standard print. India may be home to at least 70 million of these persons.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Globally, a massive 96 percent of books are never made available in formats that persons with print disability can enjoy and in India almost 99% books are unavailable in accessible formats.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Every day millions of adults and children are denied vital information for education, work, daily life as well as being denied the joy of reading a world of books. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The Indian Copyright Act 1957 does not permit conversion and distribution of books in accessible formats to persons with print disabilities.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Problem at hand</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Millions of Indians are unable to read printed material due to disabilities. There are technologies available which can help them read print if the material is converted into an alternate format such as large print, audio, Braille or any electronic format. While the Indian constitution guarantees the “right to read” as a fundamental right, the <i>Copyright Act of 1957</i> does not permit the conversion of books into accessible formats for the benefit of persons with print impairment, as a result of which a “book famine” is created. International conventions that India is a party to specifically require it to amend its copyright laws for the benefit of persons with disabilities and to make available information and material to them on an equal basis as others. Publishers also do not make books available in accessible formats as a result of which less than 0.5% of them are available. As a result, persons with print impairments get excluded from the education system and it impacts their career choices. In addition to this, there are no national policies or action plan to ensure that publications in accessible formats in all Indian languages are available to persons with print disabilities all over the country.</p>
<h3>Current situation in India</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Indian Copyright Act, 1957 does not make any provision for the conversion and distribution of books in accessible formats for print impaired persons. Hence organizations serving them have to get permission from copyright holders for conversion. Because of this, other countries do not lend books in accessible formats to print impaired persons in our country.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the case of books published in India, there are no accessible copies readily available in the market and while many publishers in principle are not averse to giving permission, the unwanted fear of piracy and lack of awareness prevents them from allowing organizations to undertake conversions. Consequently print impaired persons are denied the freedom to choose and read any book which is freely available to the public.</p>
<h3>Solution</h3>
<ul>
<li>The Government of India must immediately modify the Indian Copyright Act 1957 to permit conversion and distribution of books in accessible formats to persons with print disabilities.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>India should support the Treaty on Copyright and the Reading Disabled being tabled at WIPO's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights by the Governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay based on a text originally drafted by a global expert committee under the auspices of the World Blind Union, which is aimed at harmonization of copyright laws at an international level.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Objectives of the Right to Read Campaign</h3>
<ul>
<li>To accelerate change in copyright law</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>To raise public awareness on the issue</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>To gather Indian support for the Treaty on Copyright and the Reading Disabled being tabled at WIPO's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights by the Governments of Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay based on a text originally drafted by a global expert committee under the auspices of the World Blind Union.</li>
</ul>
<h3><b><span>Campaign Managers</span></b></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Centre for Internet and Society (www.cis-india.org): </b>The Centre for Internet and Society critically engages with concerns of digital pluralism, public accountability and pedagogic practices in the field of Internet and Society, with particular emphasis on South-South dialogues and exchange. In association with the Daisy Forum of India and Bookbole, the CIS is engaged in conducting the Right to Read Campaign supporting the acceleration of amendments in Copyright Law, creating public awareness and by gathering Indian support for the Treaty for the Blind proposed by the World Blind Union at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Heading1Char"><b>DAISY Forum of India (www.daisyindia.org)</b></span>: DFI is a forum of 75 Not for Profit organizations from India who are involved in production of books and reading materials in accessible formats for persons who cannot read normal print. The DAISY Consortium envisions a world where people with print disabilities have equal access to information and knowledge without delay or additional expense. The DAISY Forum of India endorses this vision and is working towards its realization in India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Bookbole (<a href="http://www.bookbole.com/"><span>www.bookbole.com</span></a>):</b> Bookbole is a library of books in multiple formats which can be accessed by persons using screen readers. Bookbole allows users to find, share, and manage personal libraries in a very easy fashion. This website has been developed by Inclusive Planet, a social venture involved in creating web based products and services for the differently-abled.</p>
<p><b>Loyola College (Chennai)</b> <b><span>(</span><a href="http://www.loyolacollege.edu/index.html"><span>www.loyolacollege.edu/index.html</span></a><span>)</span>: </b><span class="innertext1">Loyola College has played an important role in the history of education in India. Founded in 1925 by </span><b>Rev. Fr. Bertram, S.J.,</b><span class="innertext1"> who himself was twice the acting Vice- Chancellor of the Madras University, Loyola College has emerged in the last seventy-five years as a premier educational Institution in the country and it is striving to break new paths in education. One of the major breakthroughs in its history is the autonomous status it received in the year 1978.</span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span><span> </span></span></span><span class="innertext1">Situated in the heart of Chennai, and having a large campus of about 98 acres, this institution provides an ideal environment for both teachers and students to enrich themselves intellectually, emotionally and physically by actively participating in the academic and co-curricular activities. Loyola has started several Centres of Excellence such as LIFE, (Loyola Institute of Frontier Energy) Entomology Research Institute, ACE, (Academy for Cumulative Excellence) Culture and Communication, LIVE (Loyola Institute of Vocational Education) and LISOR (Loyola Institute of Industrial and Social Science Research).</span></p>
<p><b><span><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/Loyola%20College%20-%20Right%20to%20Read%20Campaign%20-Chennai.jpg/image_preview" title="Loyola College - Chennai" height="124" width="320" alt="Loyola College - Chennai" class="image-inline" /></span></b></p>
<h3>Campaign activities</h3>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">The nationwide Right to Read Campaign seeks to achieve the objective through a series of events like,</p>
<ul>
<li> Nationwide road-shows</li>
<li>Public rallies</li>
<li>Televised debates</li>
<li>Online petitions</li>
<li>Signature campaigns</li>
<li>Audio-video clips</li>
<li>Stalls where accessibility tools are demonstrated</li>
<li>Submission of a legal paper to the government on international scenario and constitutional compulsions for the amendment of the copyright law.</li>
</ul>
<p><b><span>Social Networks</span></b></p>
<p>The Right to read campaign has been active on various social networks like blogs, Twitter and Facebook. The campaign has been well received by the users and is succeeding in raising awareness on the issue.</p>
<p><b>Media Coverage</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Even before its first event, the R2R campaign attracted significant press coverage in both Bangalore and Chennai. For details of the articles on the campaign in various newspapers both before and after the campaign please refer to Annexure A.</p>
<p><span class="Heading1Char"><b>Website</b></span>: <a href="http://www.righttoread.in/"><span><span>www.righttoread.in</span></span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This website, dedicated for the Right to Read campaign has details about the issue faced with regard to the copyright law and the objective of the campaign. It has a provision for signing the online petition and declaration forms. It has regular updates on the events being conducted and provides an opportunity to exploit ones creativity by blogging, shooting videos, clicking photos and writing slogans about the campaign. Its major objective is to spread awareness about the campaign.</p>
<h2><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0001.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-8" class="image-inline" title="R2R-8" /></h2>
<h2>Launch of Right to Read Campaign</h2>
<p>The first roadshow of the R2R campaign was launched at Chennai.</p>
<p><b>Venue: </b>Loyola College</p>
<p><b>Date: </b>26<sup>th</sup> September, 2009</p>
<p><b>Time: </b>9:30 AM</p>
<p><b>Topic:</b> Amend copyright law to grant access to reading materials for the print impaired</p>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/publications/uploads/RTR%20Campaign%20-%20Agenda.pdf/at_download/file" class="internal-link" title="R2R - Agenda"><b>Agenda</b></a></p>
<p><b>Launch of the campaign</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This was the first major event with respect to the Right to Read campaign. A wide range of dignitaries were invited for the launch. The audience included students, social activists and visually challenged people. About 4oo students from 100 colleges around Chennai and 150 NSS volunteers attended from outside and an almost equal number of students participated from within Loyola College to make this a very large gathering of almost 800-1000 persons. The event was organized by the students of Department of Sociology at Loyola College, Chennai in collaboration with the campaign managers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Chief Guest of the event was Mr. Shri Kumar Verma, a well known writer, social activist and a professor of creative English and English literature. He spoke about the issue faced by print impaired persons and how apprehensive people are about sharing books in accessible formats as it is a legal infringement. He appreciated the fact that people have recognized the need for attention to this issue. He observed that Loyola College was the most appropriate venue for this event since students are proactively engaged with social issues. He promised to take initiatives and spread awareness about the campaign and expected the same from others.</p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/R2R%20-3.jpg/image_preview" title="R2R - 3" height="265" width="400" alt="R2R - 3" class="image-inline" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Other dignitaries who honored the event were Dr. N. Raja Hussain, Program coordinator, NSS, University of Madras; Mr. Dipendra Manocha, Member, Executive Council, World Blind Union and President, Daisy Forum of India; Mr. Chandrasekar, Treasurer, National Association for the Blind; Ms. Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, CIS and Mr. Rahul Cherian, Policy Head, Inclusive Planet.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0056.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-14" class="image-inline" title="R2R-14" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">They spoke about the need for the amendment and importance of spreading awareness about this burning issue. In her introduction to the campaign, Nirmita explained that it was not a question of just making the books available in particular formats. If people can read books, it will help literacy, education, employment and promote independent living. A majority of the visually impaired population don't pursue courses because they don't have study materials in accessible formats. This is substantiated by looking at the statistics of Delhi University - they have about 1,500 seats reserved for the handicapped. Despite that, in 2008, only 270 students applied and in 2009, only 350 applied. This just goes to show that in addition to making reservations, it is also necessary to provide an enabling reading framework to persons with disabilities by providing materials in accessible formats and a good support system. This statistics served as an eye opener to the audience.</p>
<h3><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0010.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-10" class="image-inline" title="R2R-10" /> <img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0009.jpg/image_preview" title="R2R-9" height="246" width="384" alt="R2R-9" class="image-inline" /></h3>
<h3></h3>
<h3><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0037.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-11" class="image-inline" title="R2R-11" /> <img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0042.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-13" class="image-inline" title="R2R-13" /></h3>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0012.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-12" class="image-inline" title="R2R-12" /> <img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0083.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-15" class="image-inline" title="R2R-15" /></p>
<p> </p>
<h3></h3>
<h3><span><b>Signature Campaign</b></span></h3>
<p>The launch was followed by a signature campaign where a huge banner supporting the campaign was signed by the dignitaries and other participants of the event. In addition to this, volunteers were committed to the task of carrying out a signature campaign on paper. Supporters of the campaign were invited to sign on the declaration and to put down their names to volunteer for the campaign or to help out the print impaired in a sustained fashion by specifying the manner in which they would like to contribute.</p>
<h3><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/R2R%20-5.jpg/image_preview" title="R2R - 5" height="265" width="400" alt="R2R - 5" class="image-inline" /></h3>
<h3><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0091.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-16" class="image-inline" title="R2R-16" /> <img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0100.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-17" class="image-inline" title="R2R-17" /></h3>
<h3></h3>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0101.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-18" class="image-inline" title="R2R-18" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0122.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-20" class="image-inline" title="R2R-20" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Rally</h3>
<p>The students had organized a rally supporting the need for amendment of the copyright law and to spread awareness about the campaign. 200 students walked around the 97 acre campus with 100 banners carrying slogans like- “Support the Right to Read”, “Change Copyright Law,- free a world of knowledge”, “One Alphabet- several words; one book- several formats “, “Different states, different languages, different cultures- why not different formats? And so on.</p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0107.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-19" class="image-inline" title="R2R-19" /></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/R2R%20-6.jpg/image_preview" title="R2R - 6" height="265" width="400" alt="R2R - 6" class="image-inline" /></p>
<h3><b><span>Declaration forms</span></b></h3>
<p>Interested people signed the declaration forms to endorse the campaign by voluntarily engaging themselves in any of the activities like creating awareness among public, gathering public support for The Treaty for the Blind at WIPO, online petitions and promoting the campaign online. <br /><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/publications/Declaration%20-%20Right%20to%20Read.doc/at_download/file" class="internal-link" title="Declaration - Right to Read Campaign">Declaration</a></p>
<h3><b><span>Panel Discussion - ‘We the people’</span></b></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The panel discussion kicked off at 1130 hrs with the Master of the Ceremony introducing the panelists; Mr. Dipendra Manocha, President, The Daisy Forum of India (DFI); Prof. Sivaraman, Professor of English, Presidency College, Chennai and Mr. Vijaykumar, Advocate. Ms. Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) and Mr. Rahul Cherian, Co-founder and Policy Head, Inclusive Planet, were the moderators of the discussion. A salient point to be noted here was that all the panelists present were totally/partially visually challenged.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The discussion started off with Prof. Sivaraman citing his experiences with access to literature other than printed format since 2004. He shared information on the technology that he had been using to ‘read’ books that were prescribed for the students. These were text books or reference material that had been used over a period of time. However, he also threw light on the shortcomings – that newly published text books or literature were not readily available in accessible formats. It usually takes him a considerable amount of time and effort to get materials in Braille or audio formats and hence it is impossible for him to keep abreast of contemporary literature.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">An equally important concern that was raised was that only new books with clear print and paper could be accurately scanned electronically owing to quality of the printed characters as well as deterioration of paper quality over time. Any pictorial representation including figures, charts or graphs and even italicized words present problems during scanning. Thus,</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What is most urgently required to solve this problem is a digital library as in the case of USA, where the publishers deposit the electronic files of the books. These can be picked up and converted into any accessible format required for a print impaired person without wasting much time, effort and resources. Taking it a step further, he also put forth his views on the unauthorized access and ill-use that electronic books or e-books are put to. Persons who are not visually challenged can also access such books that are present online without any restrictions. Websites that are designed to be used by the visually challenged specifically state in their <i>Terms of Use</i> that accessing/reading of downloading of e-books are strictly meant for persons with partial/total sight impairment, persons with other forms of disabilities that would prevent them from reading printed material or for persons/aides assisting the above mentioned and that any download made by people other than those mentioned would be treated as infringement of the law. But not many people take these terms seriously and still would download such books that are meant for the visually challenged. Right now, there are no technological/legal measures in place to check this infringement owing to the inability to track the perpetrators identity/location. Since it is almost impossible to restrict the access to e-books to only the visually impaired, this acts as a serious set-back in persuading the government to amend the Copyright Act.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Mr. Vijaykumar continued the discussion, citing <i>Article 14</i> of the Constitution of India which mandates E<i>quality before law</i> and equal protection for everybody, saying that the fundamental right of Indian citizens – the right to read for everybody has not been upheld in India owing to the restrictions imposed by the <i>Copyright Act of 1957</i> and that the Copyright Act, by not including any exceptions or provisions, has failed to protect the interests of persons with visual impairment.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Mr. Dipendra Manocha, President, Daisy Forum of India, gave the international and technological perspective to the panel discussion. He explained about the DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System format) format which acts as a standard format to make 1 source document. This can then be used to convert into other accessible formats. He enlightened the crowd about the three factors that would help in solving the problems currently faced by persons with print impairment in India: First, technology such as Laptops or DAISY players and other handheld devices/readers that would assist in translating/reading out aloud e-books. Secondly, creation of e-books in accessible formats, the current high cost-of-conversion of which can be brought down by volunteering and thirdly by bringing in a change in the government policy on Copyright law. Mr. Manocha also informed the audience of how the US Government had amended their copyright law to include provisions for the visually challenged. This has brought down the cost of conversion of printed material into accessible formats to Rs. 2,000 from a whooping Rs. 20,000. He also highlighted the fact that in a developing country like India, it is not feasible to spend Rs. 20,000 for conversion of just one copy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Answering the question as to what steps the Daisy Forum of India is taking with respect to making accessible formats available to the print-impaired, Mr. Manocha responded by saying that the DFI has been negotiating a deal with Adobe Systems Inc. USA, provider of the .<i>pdf </i>format of e-books, to include an option to <i>Save As Daisy format. </i>Also, providing books in accessible formats at the same cost as that of its printed counterpart was one of the visions of DFI.<br />When asked by a member of audience if we can take the law in our hands and start uploading/using e-books from the internet, Mr. Manocha again pointed out that it is the duty and responsibility of the Indian govt. to provide equal opportunities to everybody. In case the government fails to do that, citizens can take measures that would help alleviate the pains caused. But such measures should be taken keeping in mind all the stakeholders involved. Large-scale usage of electronic forms of literature would affect the business of authors/publishers. Hurting publishers is never the intention of this campaign. Mr. Manocha, Mr. Vijaykumar and Prof. Sivaraman made it clear that a coordinated effort was required on the part of all the stake-holders viz. the government, the copyright owners (authors, publishers etc.), the persons with print impairment and the organizations representing them, as well as the general public. The amendments to the Copyright Act should take into consideration the interests of all stake holders.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When the floor was opened to questions, the participation from audience was overwhelming. Many of the questions were from print impaired persons in the audience who were students in colleges or represented a disability organization like the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) and so on. Due to paucity of time, the interactive question and answer session was restricted to half an hour post the panel discussion but the audience were invited to discuss further questions with the panelists after the session.</p>
<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center; "></h1>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/R2R%20-7.jpg/image_preview" title="R2R - 7" height="265" width="400" alt="R2R - 7" class="image-inline" /> <img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0166.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-24" class="image-inline" title="R2R-24" /></p>
<h3><span><b>Musical Extravaganza</b></span></h3>
<p><span>After some serious food-for-thought, the silence of the convention hall was broken by a musical performance rendered by a Music Band from NFB Chennai. The performance began by two singers rendering a song in praise of the Gods and then went on to lighter numbers like <i>Jai Ho</i>, from the movie <i>Slumdog Millionaire and songs from some Tamil movies, which left the audience speechless</i>. <br /></span></p>
<p><span><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0130.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-21" class="image-inline" title="R2R-21" /> <img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0132.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-22" class="image-inline" title="R2R-22" /></span></p>
<p><span><br /></span></p>
<p><span><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/DSC_0133.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R-23" class="image-inline" title="R2R-23" /><br /></span></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><b><span>Vote of Thanks</span></b></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The volunteers from Loyola College presented the Vote of thanks to all the dignitaries and panelists on stage and also to the audience present in the function after which the National Anthem was played. Later, the guests and the audience proceeded for lunch.</p>
<h3><b>Acknowledgements</b></h3>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">We would to like to take this opportunity to specially thank <br />Rev. Fr. K. Amal SJ (Rector, Loyola College); <br />Rev. Fr. Albert Muthumalai SJ (Principal, Loyola College); <br />Dr. S. Alphonse Raj (<i>Vice- Principal & Faculty of Sociology Department</i>, Loyola College);</p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">Prof S. Iyyappan (<i>Co-coordinator, Extension service Department (NSS)</i>, Loyola College)<br />Prof J. Jerald Inico, Faculty Incharge, Resource Center for Differently abled (RCDA);<i> </i></p>
<p>Prof. Robert Bellarmine (Head, Department of Sociology); <br />Department of Sociology; students from RCDA; NSS; Students Union; <br />the teaching and non-teaching staff of Loyola College, who helped in organizing the campaign and without whom the first road show of the nationwide campaign would not have been a grand success that it has been.<br />We look forward to their continued support in the campaign.</p>
<p>We would also like to thank all the students and guests who came from different parts of the city and participated in the campaign.</p>
<h3>Videos</h3>
<p>
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<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Annexure A</b></p>
<p><b>Media Coverage</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Details of the articles on the campaign in various newspapers both before and after the campaign are given below:</p>
<ul type="disc">
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>DNA – Bangalore, 24<sup>th</sup> September, 2009</b></li>
</ul>
<p>CIS campaign to alter copyright law to favour visually impaired - An article by N T Balanarayan, DNA Bangalore - 24th September, 2009 <br /><a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_cis-campaign-to-alter-copyright-law-to-favour-visually-imapired_1292662"><span><span>http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_cis-campaign-to-alter-copyright-law-to-favour-visually-imapired_1292662</span></span></a><b><span> </span></b></p>
<p>As Indians we enjoy our right to education and to read, but should learning be restricted to books provided in school? What if, some wish to broaden their horizon and learn more, only to realize there are no books available? <br />That's the situation the visually impaired in India face now. But Bangalore-based Centre for Information and Society (CIS) is out to change it. They're starting a new campaign-- Right to Read--demanding changes in the copyright law so that books can be converted into a medium with which the visually impaired will feel more comfortable.<br />According to the group, only 0.5% of the books available in India can be accessed in Braille or audio format. Further, the World Blind Union estimates that only five per cent of the total books that get published in developed countries are converted into accessible formats.<br />According to Nirmita Narasimhan who works with CIS, it's not a question of just making the books available in particular formats. "If people can read books, it will help literacy, education, employment and promote independent living. A majority of the visually impaired population don't pursue courses because they don't have study materials in accessible formats. This is substantiated by looking at the statistics of Delhi University -- they have about 1,500 seats reserved for the handicapped. Despite that, in 2008, only 270 students applied and in 2009, only 350 came forward. This just goes to show that in addition to making reservations, it is also necessary to provide an enabling reading framework to persons with disabilities by providing materials in accessible formats and a good support system," she says.<br />"Further, it is not necessarily any particular format--with technologies and the prolific use of computers; accessible electronic formats (not being jpeg images which screen readers can't make sense of) are most appreciated. One will find that blind persons are always reaching out to each other for study materials in accessible formats--this varies from materials for board exams to text for competitive exams," she adds. <br />Through the campaign, a road show scheduled to start on September 26 at Loyola College, Chennai, the group wants changes to be made in the copyright law. The roadshow will be organized in three other metros as well.<br />The event will comprise presentations, debates and demonstrations along with book reading sessions and stalls where various accessibility tools will be demonstrated.</p>
<ul type="disc">
<li style="text-align: justify; "><b>Times of India, 26<sup>th</sup> September, 2009</b><b> </b></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Tara Textreader, a boon for the visually-challenged – by M Ramya</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/5058157.cms"><span><span>http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/5058157.cms</span></span></a><br />CHENNAI: Mahendran loses track of time as he listens to portions from Romeo and Juliet through Tara. The final year B A (Tamil) student of Loyola College is pleased with the Rs 1.35-lakh Tara Textreader that allows him to access printed material without help and convey information without a scribe. "The Sangeetha software has an Indian accent. So I have no problem accessing material in English," says Mahendran, who has visual disabilities. <br />Earlier, students like him could not access printed material that hadn't been digitized. Their computer systems could not read material that wasn't pre-recorded. Professor Jerald Inico, a lecturer in the computer science department and faculty in charge of the college's Resource Centre for Differently Abled, says the Textreader need not even be connected to a computer. <br />He says: "We were trying to come up with a formula to evaluate students with visual disabilities because we felt that when scribes write down the answers for the students some of the content would be lost in translation. The equipment can scan the question paper and read it out and will also allow the student to answer verbally and store it as an audio clip. For students who become blind later in life and have not learnt Braille this is a big help." <br />Tara, purchased from funds provided by the ministry of social justice and empowerment, can only speak English; now through Sangeetha the college is trying to install a Tamil optical character recognition software. While the students use Tara to read books now the equipment will be tested for exam evaluation during the April 2010 semester exams. But Mahendran is a bit wary. "If we can use Tara and still get extra time for the exams it will prove beneficial, but if we are given the same time as the others because we are using the textreader it will take time to comprehend what is being read to us and give the appropriate answers." <br />The college is also supporting a nationwide Right to Read' campaign for persons with print impairments to be launched in Chennai on Saturday. Nirmita Narasimhan, programme manager at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) which is one of the organisers of the campaign, says: "Two years ago when we proposed a change in the Copyright Act a clause was incoporated that said that books can be reproduced in formats exclusively for the use of the blind. This limits the reproduction to one or two options and newer technologies cannot be used. It also leaves out people with other disabilities like the dyslexic who also have print impairments. Technology is enabling, but law is disabling. We want to create awareness of the issue through the campaign." <br />Registration for the campaign begins at 8 am at the college. The CIS, DAISY Forum of India and Bookbole will take the campaign to other cities in the country.</p>
<ul type="disc">
<li><span class="Heading1Char"><b>The Hindu – 29<sup>th</sup> September, 2009</b></span></li>
</ul>
<p><span>‘Right to read’ campaign launched <br /><span>http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/29/stories/2009092957440200.htm</span></span><br /><span>CHENNAI: About 100 National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers from various colleges in the State kick-started a ‘right to read’ campaign at Loyola College recently. The aim of the campaign is to make books accessible to persons with disabilities. <br /></span>The speakers, who included the visually challenged, persons with low vision and dyslexia, said the Copyright Act did not allow persons with print impairments to convert reading matter using assistive technologies to accessible formats. Dipendra Manocha, executive committee member of World Blind Union, said: “We need organisations, individuals and volunteers to contribute and create accessible books.”<br />Nirmitha Narasimhan, programme manager of the Centre for Internet and Society felt access to information would ensure a better contribution by the visually challenged to society. “It is not that weare insensitive. The suggestion for amendments to the Copyright Act has not yet been incorporated,” she said. <br />Writer Sreekumar Varma, who inaugurated the campaign, recalled his experience as a scribe during his days as a lecturer. C.P. Chandrasekar, treasurer, National Association for the Blind, and Loyola College Principal Albert Muthumalai spoke.</p>
<ul type="disc">
<li><span class="Heading1Char"><b>Deccan Herald – 29<sup>th</sup> September, 2009</b></span></li>
</ul>
<p>‘Right to Read’ campaign launched - Fighting against copyright regulations – an article by L Subramani.<span class="Heading1Char"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/content/27678/right-read-campaign-launched.html"><span><span>http://www.deccanherald.com/content/27678/right-read-campaign-launched.html</span></span></a></p>
<p>To highlight the issues faced by persons with print disability – those deprived of Indian books due to unfriendly copyright regulations – a group of organisations launched the Right To Read (R2R) campaign on September 26.<span class="Heading1Char"><br /></span>The campaign, jointly launched by the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Daisy Forum of India (DFI), bookbole.com and Inclusive Planet, kickstarted at Loyola College in Chennai on Saturday.<br />“This campaign was part of the World Blind Union’s (WBU) global campaign,” said Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, CIS. “We are asking all the organisations to lend their support to our initiative.”<br />The campaign comes at a time when the Indian government is preparing to consider changes to the copyright law, which it failed to implement two years ago after disability rights campaigners objected to the proposal to make books and other print materials be made in an “exclusive” format.<br />Nirmita said that this would also be an occasion for activists to urge Government of India to throw its weight behind a WBU treaty tabled at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) asking for a global copyright regulation that takes into account the needs of persons with print disabilities.<br />“The treaty is coming up for discussion at Geneva (WIPO's head quarters) in December,” Nirmita said and added: “Right now only three Latin American nations are supporting it. Since India has the largest number of persons with print disability, which includes the visually challenged, persons with autism and children with learning difficulties, our support would likely tilt the balance in favour of the treaty.” Now, the campaign will be gradually taken to other parts of the country, said Rahul Cherian from Inclusive Planet. A signature campaign and distribution of a declaration supporting accommodation of persons with print disability in copyright laws will also be held as part of the campaign.<br /><span class="Heading1Char"> </span></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li><span class="Heading1Char"><b>NDTV – Hindu</b></span></li>
</ul>
<p>The first event was covered by NDTV Hindu and an interview with Rahul Cherian and Nirmita Narasimhan was also telecast on 26<sup>th</sup> September. A brief excerpt from the interview can be viewed at:<br /><br />Part 1: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/ndtvhindu#play/uploads/16/o4sQ-ycaoBw"><span><span>http://www.youtube.com/user/ndtvhindu#play/uploads/16/o4sQ-ycaoBw</span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText">Part 2: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/ndtvhindu#play/uploads/15/Q5HCm2evUYE"><span><span>http://www.youtube.com/user/ndtvhindu#play/uploads/15/Q5HCm2evUYE</span></span></a></p>
<ul>
<li> <span class="Heading1Char"><b>Deccan Chronicle – 27<sup>th</sup> September, 2009</b></span></li>
</ul>
<p><span class="Heading1Char">Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, CIS, speaks at the launch of ‘Right to Read’ campaign. Loyola College in the city on Saturday launched the campaignto amend the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, and give visually challenged and dyslexic people better access to printed books in the form of Braille copy and big prints. </span><span class="Heading1Char"><br /></span></p>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/R2RDC.jpg/image_preview" title="DC" height="400" width="398" alt="DC" class="image-inline" /></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul>
<li><b>Tamil Murasu</b><b> </b></li>
</ul>
<h2></h2>
<h2><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/right-to-read-campaign-chennai/R2R%20-%20tamilmurasu.jpg/image_preview" alt="R2R - Tamil Murasu" class="image-inline" title="R2R - Tamil Murasu" /></h2>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://www.cbrforum.in/news_archive/2009/news_oct09.htm">Coverage in the October Issue of: CBR Forum - E- News Bulletin</a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/publications/uploads/R2R%20Chennai%20-%20Report.pdf/at_download/file" class="internal-link" title="R2R-Chennai (Report)">Report</a> Prepared by</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Centre for Internet and Society</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://cis-india.org/"><span><span>www.cis-india.org</span></span></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">29<sup>th</sup> September, 2009</p>
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<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/right-to-read-campaign-chennai'>https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/right-to-read-campaign-chennai</a>
</p>
No publisherradhaFeaturedAccessibility2013-02-04T06:19:31ZBlog EntryThe Right to Read Campaign, now in Delhi
https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/right-to-read-campaign
<b>The Right to Read campaign, this time in Delhi, the national capital of the country has been announced. This is the third in the series. The previous two held in Calcutta and Chennai were highly successful and Delhi too promises quite a lot. </b>
<p>About 70 million Indians are unable to read printed material owing to various forms of disabilities. According to industry estimates, around 80,000-100,000 books get published every year in India of which only about 700 are made available for these persons. Technologies like screen readers make it possible for persons with disabilities to access knowledge in alternate formats like Braille, e-text, audio, large print, et cetera. Yet people are unable to convert books into accessible formats thanks to the provisions of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957.</p>
<p>India needs to change the situation quickly and put an end to the shortage of books and enable these 70 million persons to participate in social life. For this we need to make use of the developments in technology which makes it possible for all persons to access knowledge and enable them to live a life of social inclusion and participation on par with the rest of society. People with disabilities too have a right to access information like other persons- let copyright laws recognize the diverse needs of persons with disabilities and open up the gates of knowledge to all.</p>
<h3>Objectives of the Right to Read Campaign</h3>
<ul><li>To expedite copyright law reform by informing policy makers on the necessity and nature of amendment. This has to be made to the Indian Copyright Act 1957 to give effect to the rights of persons with disabilities. </li><li>To raise awareness on the issue amongst the parliamentarians, members of the judiciary, educationalists, publishers and the public. </li></ul>
<h3>The Campaign</h3>
<p>The Indian campaign is a part of the global Right to Read campaign which was started by the World Blind Union in 2008. It is a nationwide campaign and seeks to:</p>
<ul><li>Accelerate change in the copyright law;</li><li>Raise public awareness on the issue of access to reading for the print-impaired; and</li><li>Gather Indian support for the Treaty for the Blind proposed by the World Blind Union at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).<br /></li></ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/right-to-read-campaign'>https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/right-to-read-campaign</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaFeaturedAccessibility2011-08-17T08:45:56ZBlog EntryEnabling Access to Education through ICT - A Conference in Delhi
https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/education-through-ict
<b>The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Bangalore in cooperation with the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICT (G3ICT), a flagship advocacy organization of the UN Global Alliance on ICT and Development (UN-GAID), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), UNESCO, Digital Empowerment Foundation, Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment and the Deafway Foundation is organizing an international conference "Enabling Access to Education through ICT" in New Delhi from 27 to 29 October 2010. The event is sponsored by Hans Foundation. </b>
<p>How can accessible information and communication and assistive technologies for persons with disabilities be best deployed in schools and universities?</p>
<h3>Background</h3>
<p>Education is a fundamental right for all persons. In the information society, access to knowledge and information is of vital importance to ensure that all persons are able to participate as creative and productive members of the society. The UNCRPD recognizes that persons with disabilities also have a right to education and life long learning. Countries around the world have recognized the importance of education and have identified universal primary education as one of the millennium goals to be achieved by them within 2015. While definitive steps are being taken to achieve and promote universal inclusive education, there are still some grey areas remaining with respect to addressing the special needs of some groups like disabled children. The World Health Organisation estimates that 70 per cent of the world’s disabled live in developing countries like India. The advancement of persons with disabilities is impeded by several factors such as an inadequate legal framework for protecting their rights, lack of financial and skilled human resource to carry on their activities, high cost of assistive technologies, lack of training and capacity building activities, the absence of large networks of disability groups to share resources with each other and above all the lack of awareness and a collective intent on the part of educational institutions to enable the right to education for persons with disabilities. India alone is a large country with 18 official languages and many more regional variances and for any technology and content to reach the masses it has to be made available in several Indian languages. All these factors combined together make it difficult for persons with disabilities to exercise their right to education in developing countries.</p>
<p>The specific focus of the conference will be to look at various technologies, tools and practices which are necessary to bring education, especially distance and online education within the reach of all children with disabilities.</p>
<p>Children with disabilities in India are often left out of mainstream schools due to a variety of reasons, primarily the lack of awareness amongst educational organizations and teachers, near absence of infrastructural resources and lack of training in this regard. It is believed that barely two per cent of the 70 million disabled persons have access to education in India. Technological advancement in the form of assistive technologies, ubiquitous Web, multiple platforms, social networks, online libraries and digital resources, etc., have now made it possible for disabled persons to access information in accessible formats. It is therefore, important that students, teachers and educational institutions are adequately equipped to leverage the power of the Internet and ICTs to enable inclusion for persons with disabilities.</p>
<p>The present conference will focus on highlighting existing problems and challenges for students and educational institutions in developing countries, showcase ICT based solutions which are presently being adopted in different countries, point to existing knowledge resources and emerging trends in education. This conference is unique in so far as it is probably the first one of its kind on such a large scale in India and involves participation of various UN organizations such as the WIPO, UNESCO, ITU and the G3ICT. Amongst the various deliverables of the conference is also to document some best practice case studies on the use of ICTs in education for the disabled in neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand, evolve a set of recommendations for educators on best practices, as well as to evolve a draft for a White paper on education and ICTs for persons with disabilities for governments and educators in different countries.</p>
<p>A print version of the E-accessibility toolkit for policymakers which was jointly brought out by the G3ICT and ITU earlier this year will be launched for the first time at the conference.</p>
<p><b>Dates</b>: October 27, 28 and 29<br /><b>Venue</b>: Magnolia Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi</p>
<p>Download the <a href="https://cis-india.org/accessibility/publications/education-ict" class="internal-link" title="Agenda for the ICT Workshop">agenda</a></p>
<p>For <a class="external-link" href="http://www.digitallearning.in/events/events-details.asp?Title=EDICT2010:-Enabling-Access-to-Education-through-ICT&EventID=732">further reading</a></p>
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<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" src="http://blip.tv/play/AYKUgWIA.html?p=1" width="250"></iframe>
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<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" src="http://blip.tv/play/AYKUhEYA.html?p=1" width="250"></iframe>
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<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/education-through-ict'>https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/education-through-ict</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaFeaturedAccessibility2013-02-04T09:24:20ZBlog EntryThe Fundamental Right to Privacy - A Visual Guide
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-fundamental-right-to-privacy-a-visual-guide
<b>Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves, or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. This visual guide to the story of privacy law in India and the recent judgement of the Puttaswamy v.
Union of India case is developed by Amber Sinha (research and content) and Pooja Saxena (design and conceptualisation).
</b>
<p> </p>
<h4>The Fundamental Right to Privacy - A Visual Guide: <a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/amber-sinha-and-pooja-saxena-the-fundamental-right-to-privacy-a-visual-guide/at_download/file">Download</a> (PDF)</h4>
<hr />
<iframe src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/1MMYCXyxa2YBip" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" height="485" width="595"> </iframe>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-fundamental-right-to-privacy-a-visual-guide'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-fundamental-right-to-privacy-a-visual-guide</a>
</p>
No publisheramberPrivacyInternet GovernanceFeaturedData GovernanceData Protection2018-02-16T05:31:37ZBlog EntryOn World Water Day - Open Data for Water Resources
https://cis-india.org/openness/on-world-water-day-open-data-for-water-resources
<b>Lack of open data for researchers and activists is a key barrier against ensuring access to water and planning for sustainable management of water resources. In a collaboration between DataMeet and CIS, supported by Arghyam, we are exploring the early steps for making open data and tools to plan for water resources accessible to all. To celebrate the World Water Day 2018, we are sharing what we have been working on in the past few months - a paper on open data for water studies in India, and a web app to make open water data easily explorable and usable. Craig Dsouza led this collaboration, and authored this post.</b>
<p> </p>
<h4>Project Blog: <a href="https://datameet-pune.github.io/open-water-data/" target="_blank">Open Water Data
for Integrated Water Science</a> (External)</h4>
<h4>Open Water Data Paper - Datasets for Water Studies in India Blog - Summary: <a href="https://datameet-pune.github.io/open-water-data/precipitation/2017/12/31/OWD-Paper/" target="_blank">Read</a> (External)</h4>
<h4>Open Water Data Paper - Datasets for Water Studies in India Blog - Full Paper: <a href="https://datameet-pune.github.io/open-water-data/docs/open-water-data-paper.pdf" target="_blank">Read</a> (PDF)</h4>
<h4>Open Water Data Web App: <a href="https://water-data-web-app.appspot.com/" target="_blank">View</a> (External)</h4>
<h4>Open Water Data Web App - Tech Stack: <a href="https://datameet-pune.github.io/open-water-data/tech/2017/12/08/OWD-Web-App-Tech-Stack/" target="_blank">Read</a> (External)</h4>
<h4>Open Water Data Web App - Precipitation Data: <a href="https://datameet-pune.github.io/open-water-data/precipitation/2018/01/05/OWD-Web-App-Precipitation-Data/" target="_blank">Read</a> (External)</h4>
<hr />
<p>The 22nd of March is celebrated internationally as World Water Day. Water is so tightly intertwined in every aspect of our lives that one can only scratch the surface in understanding this resource. Besides directly giving us life, it is a key non-renewable shared resource that dictates whether and how societies can grow and prosper. It has shaped the way civilization arose - on riverbanks and coastal lands. Adequate water of good quality can make or break a child’s early growth. Water available at the right time in the monsoon could shape a family’s fortunes for an entire year.</p>
<p>Unfortunately given the development trajectory of the last century, we have struggled to strike a balance and use water in a sustainable manner. Far too many face the ill effects of this misuse. The challenge with water lies in its nature as a common pool resource, which means that it belongs to everyone. Water is for everyone to benefit from and conversely it is no individual’s responsibility to manage and to ensure its sustainability. While some laws and policies exist to ensure sustainable use of water its fluid (pun intended) and ephemeral nature make those laws very hard to enforce. No one knows for sure how much water lies under the ground and above the surface, we only have estimates. Moreover even these estimates lie in the hands of a few. The Government of India is by far the largest entity that collects data on water across the country. Management of this resource however requires that these data points and the capacity to monitor should be decentralized. The 73rd amendment recognises this by placing the authority to plan and implement local works such as watershed management and drinking water provision under the purview of Panchayats.</p>
<p>To address this shortcoming Datameet and CIS in collaboration have taken first steps with a project to ensure that data and tools to plan for water resources are accessible to all. The strategy within this project has been to seek alternative data sources for water, other than government data much of which still isn’t open data. Two alternatives that have emerged are remote sensing open data and crowdsourced community data. A <a href="https://datameet-pune.github.io/open-water-data/precipitation/2017/12/31/OWD-Paper/" target="_blank">paper</a> put together by the team highlights the numerous sources available for datasets such as rainfall, soil moisture, groundwater levels, reservoir storages, river flows, and water demand including domestic and agricultural water. Besides the paper the team has also put together a first iteration of a <a href="https://datameet-pune.github.io/open-water-data/precipitation/2018/01/05/OWD-Web-App-Precipitation-Data/" target="_blank">web app</a> which seeks to provide these datasets in an easy to use intuitive and interactive format to users in the area of water planning and management. The first dataset available here is <a href="http://chg.geog.ucsb.edu/data/chirps/" target="_blank">CHIRPS</a>: a high resolution daily rainfall dataset for the whole of India.</p>
<p>The plans for this project in the future include making available more datasets (crop maps and Evapotranspiration) and features to access them. In addition to this the goal is also to improve our understanding of the usability of remote sensing water data with efforts to calibrate it with ground observations. A key element of these plans is to develop these resources in collaboration with end users of the data so that the tools are developed with their concerns in mind. <strong>We welcome ideas, queries, feedback, and partnerships - do contact us at <a href="mailto:pune@datameet.org">pune@datameet.org</a></strong>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/on-world-water-day-open-data-for-water-resources'>https://cis-india.org/openness/on-world-water-day-open-data-for-water-resources</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroOpen Water DataOpen DataOpen ScienceOpen Government DataEnvironmentFeaturedOpennessHomepage2019-01-28T14:41:51ZBlog Entry