Technology and Design for Socio-Economic Development

Kentaro ToyamaAssistant Managing Director

Microsoft Research India

TCS Excellence in Computer ScienceJanuary 9, 2008 – Pune, India

India

People• ~1.1 billion people

– Over half under 25 years old• 22 languages• Annual incomes $100-$100M+• 28 states

Area• ~1/3 the area of United States

Technology• ~25M PCs, installed base• ~200M mobile subscriptions

– +7M each month

Sources: CIA Factbook, TRAI, CNN

Roads in India

India, a Personal View

People• ~1.1 billion people

– Over half under 25 years old• 22 official languages • Annual incomes $100-$100M+• 28 states

Area• ~1/3 the area of United States

Technology• ~25M PCs, installed base• ~200M mobile subscriptions

– +7M each month

but, power held by fewtremendous energy and optimism

incredible diversity, EM microcosmreminiscent of European Union

impact of weather (ubiquity of agriculture)

huge interest in PCs, by everyonemobiles, mobiles, everywhere

Huge potential opportunity for computing.

But, there are new challenges that

neither India nor industry has ever faced before.

Infosys campus, Bangalore

A small Internet café on a market street in a town near Bombay

Rural village with a VSAT Internet connection near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

Rural school in Chinhat, Uttar Pradesh

MSR India• Established January, 2005

• Goals– World-class academic research– Contributions to Microsoft products and

businesses– Support growth of research programs

in India and elsewhere

• Six research areas– Cryptography– Digital Geographics– Hardware, Communications, and

Systems– Multilingual Systems– Rigorous Software Engineering– Technology for Emerging Markets

• Currently ~50 full-time staff, growing

• Collaborations with government, academia, industry, and NGOs

Microsoft Research IndiaSadashivnagar, Bangalore

http://research.microsoft.com/india

Technology for Emerging Markets

Understand potential technology users in economically poor communities

Adapt, invent, or design applications that contribute to socio-economic development of poor communities worldwide

Computer-skills camp in Nakalabande, Bangalore(MSR India, Stree Jagruti Samiti, St. Joseph’s College)

Research Goals

Warana Unwired

Rural Microfinance and IT Rural Kiosk Entrepreneurs

Simultaneous Shared Access

Digital Green

IT and MicroentrepreneursGovernment and Kiosks

Udai Singh PawarAssociate Researcher

Rikin GandhiAssistant Researcher

Jonathan DonnerResearcher

Aishwarya Lakshmi RatanAssociate Researcher

Nimmi RangaswamyAssociate Researcher

Rajesh VeeraraghavanAssociate Researcher

Renee KuriyanResearch Intern

Information ecology of small businesses in developing markets

Multiplying the value of PCs by allowing many users to access.

Video and mediated instruction for agricultureextension

Study on the challenges and uniqueness of rural kiosk entrepreneurs

Experiments with SMS text-messaging in a sugarcane cooperative

The state’s role in rural kiosk projects, with a focus on Kerala and Andhra

Text-Free UI

Indrani MedhiAssistant Researcher

UIs without text for users who are illliterate and may never have seen a computer before

Can computers help existing structures for rural microfinance?

Sample ProjectsMSR India: TEM

Human Computer Interfaces

Human Computer Interfaces

Human Computer Interfaces

Human Computer Interfaces

Human Computer Interfaces

Human Computer Interfaces

Interdisciplinary ResearchAishwarya Lakshmi Ratan

–Public Administration and International Development

Jonathan Donner

– Communications

Nimmi Rangaswamy

– Social Anthropology

Indrani Medhi– Design

Kentaro Toyama

– Computer Science

Paul Javid– Computer Science

Society

Group

Technology

Individual

Society

Group

Technology

Individual

Innovation

Understanding

Impa

ct

Innovation

Understanding

Impa

ct

Rikin Gandhi– Astrophysics

Randy Wang

Computer Science –

Warana Unwired

Rural Microfinance and IT Rural Kiosk Entrepreneurs

Simultaneous Shared Access

Digital Green

IT and MicroentrepreneursGovernment and Kiosks

Udai Singh PawarAssociate Researcher

Rikin GandhiAssistant Researcher

Jonathan DonnerResearcher

Aishwarya Lakshmi RatanAssociate Researcher

Nimmi RangaswamyAssociate Researcher

Rajesh VeeraraghavanAssociate Researcher

Renee KuriyanResearch Intern

Information ecology of small businesses in developing markets

Multiplying the value of PCs by allowing many users to access.

Video and mediated instruction for agricultureextension

Study on the challenges and uniqueness of rural kiosk entrepreneurs

Experiments with SMS text-messaging in a sugarcane cooperative

The state’s role in rural kiosk projects, with a focus on Kerala and Andhra

Text-Free UI

Indrani MedhiAssistant Researcher

UIs without text for users who are illliterate and may never have seen a computer before

Can computers help existing structures for rural microfinance?

Sample ProjectsMSR India: TEM

Thank you!http://research.microsoft.com/research/tem