block community portals

Block Community Portals

Networking rural communities in the North East

National Informatics Centre

DIT, MC&IT, GOI


Background

• eNRICH a community software solution framework

(CSSF)

Joint effort of NIC & UNESCO, New Delhi.

Installed in ictPR project sites of UNESCO (4 in India and 3, one each in Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka)

http://enrich.nic.in


Background

• The CSSF enhanced to facilitate

Inter-community interaction

Multiple & Multi-level Management

• The enhanced CSSF used to dynamically generate the block community portals of the N-E states of India.


Community Information Centre Project in NE states (8)

• Sponsored by DIT, MC&IT, GOI

• Implemented by NIC

• 1 server, 5 clients, 1 VSAT

• Two CIC operators manage the centre

• Services include Information dissemination, e-learning, telemedicine, training etc.

• Block community portals required to enable rural communities access information/ services ,

networking among communities thereby strengthening & empowering them


Block Community Portals for NE states under CIC Project

• Block community portals for 487 blocks of N-E states of India

• The portals enable sharing of content and promote inter- & intra- block interaction

• Multiple managers help in managing the content & communication facilities of the portal


Community Manager

District Government

Subject/Domain Expert

State Government

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Block Community Portal

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Block Community Portal

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Guiding Theme for Community Portals

Focus on local • People

• Practices

• Values

• Information & Communication needs



Provide a window to Global

• Information & knowledge

• Market Avenues

• Communication & Interaction with peer communities

• Learning Scope



With Information Assurance

• For public use

• For private use

• Under moderation

• Through mediation


Local Need Assessment

• How it was carried out? Analysis of existing ICT systems (community related

and e-governance )across the South-Asian region

A SWOT Analysis of the region

• Output Generic Information Categorization Plan

A bank of authentic URLs relevant to each category/sub-category of the categorization plan


Snapshot of Categorization Plan



• Carry out need assessment in the beginning with the categorization plan as a starting point

• Specialize categorization as per local specificities

• Carry out need assessment on a continuous basis



• Explicit Request Community members can send requests to

managers on the information they need

• Implied Need Analysis of user navigation pattern

• Polling Poll people’s opinion about the need for particular

information/service


Government Services Provision

State Manager Is a representative of the state government

Posts state government related information, messages, links, tender notices etc.

Posts once & received by all blocks of the state



District Manager Is a representative of the district administration

Posts district administration related information, messages, links, tender notices etc.

Posts once & received by all blocks of the district



Block Community Manager (CICO)

Interacts with the BDO

Posts block government related information, messages, links, tender notices etc.

Displayed only in that block portal


Local Democratic Participation

Communicating with the government

• A community member can send/receive messages to/from

• Block manager Who interacts with the BDO

• District Manager Who is a representative of

the District administration

• State Manager Who is a representative of

the state government



Through Opinion Polls

• State Poll Relates to issues of the

entire state

Posted by State Manager

Appears in all block portals of the state

Presents a consolidated opinion of all blocks of the state




• District Poll Relates to issues of the

entire district

Posted by District Manager

Appears in all block portals of the district

Presents a consolidated opinion of all blocks of the district




• Block Poll Relates to issues of the

block

Posted by Block Manager

Appears in all block portals of the district

Presents a consolidated opinion of the members of the block


Making ICTs relevant for local communities

• Single, one-stop, simple & consistent user interface for the community’s all information & communication needs

• Supports local language

• Supports multiple-media (text, audio) etc.

• Can work with or without Internet connectivity

• Links to local/internet files/urls

• Works on desktop as well as server-based environment

• Requires no technical expertise to manage the portal


Nurturing Local Content

• Local knowledge that has originated locally (indigenous) and influenced by local culture, need & environment

• Global knowledge that needs to be adapted to local needs, capabilities & environment



Local Knowledge • Local Database People can upload content

on such information as local medicine, medicinal herbs etc. (as text, audio or video files)

Moderation by domain specialists



Global Knowledge • Information Resources Domain Managers/

specialists can provide content based on perceived/ implied/ explicitly-stated needs of the community

Domain managers for the • Entire state

• Entire District

• Block


Promoting Intra-community Interaction

• Exchanging messages thru Bulletin Board

• Directly sending messages to other user(s) of the block


Networking Rural Communities(Inter-Community Interaction)

• Exchanging Messages thru Bulletin Board

• Sharing Content thru Local Database

• Directly sending messages to user(s) of different blocks of the same state


Two Facets of Block Community Portals

Consists of two main components: Community Portal – the interface that will be

used by the community members

Desk Manager– a site administration and analysis tool for Managers and researchers


The Desk Manager

• The portal management site used by CICOs,

District Managers,

State Managers &

Domain Managers

to collaboratively manage the information content in & communication through the portals.


Thank You

National Informatics CentreDepartment of Information Technology

Ministry of Communications & Information TechnologyGovernment of India

National Informatics CentreDepartment of Information Technology

Ministry of Communications & Information TechnologyGovernment of India

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