Enabling access to ICT tools for visually-challenged individuals and illiterates
A training program driven by the C-DEP, was developed specifically for the visually challenged to reach a particularly under-served population. This training program, which uses affordable technology, was conducted at Lab-in-Box at NCERT by Krishnakant Mane, a scientist from IIT Mumbai. Visually challenged himself, Mane has been working on software solutions for the blind.
The training program enabled access to open source solutions through cost effective hardware, and was attended by the students from National Association for Blind. This is an innovative and adequate model, wherein visually disabled provide training to the illiterates by employing technological aids, making IT a true enabler.
In recognition of the efforts towards developing a model for digital inclusion of the visually challenged, C-DEP was invited as Guest of Honor, by the National Association for Blind (NAB) on the occasion of the 65th Independence Day of India. The trainees from across 28 States of the country were formally recognized for their performance on the training led by C-DEP on assistive technologies for the visually impaired conducted at the Lab-in-Box using the HP affordable hardware and Open source software.
Similar techniques and open source technology, with affordable infrastructure, are being extended to train the illiterates, thus ensuring higher digital literacy.
Want to know the direct impact on individuals, read the document below:
Conceptualization and Launch of eHealth Centre (eHC) along with CSIR
The eHealth Center is a fully integrated cloud enabled healthcare solution [DB3] that can be set up to provide affordable and preliminary healthcare in remote areas that have no immediate access to primary healthcare. The solution integrates medical instruments that collect basic patient health data, with the Health Cloud, enabling medical diagnosis through remote medical consultation, using videoconferencing.
The first eHC solution was deployed in Chausala village in Kaithal district, Haryana, and had an average new patient registrations of 36 per day. Over 4000 patient visits in the first 100 days of operations.
Today, the eHC is being used to conduct scientific research and, maintaining centralized patient information. The Health Cloud aids in disease surveillance and provides efficient collection, storage and analysis of patient health data through a centralized health database.
C-DEP provided support to Hewlett Packard (HP) and the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) for the thought leadership and deployment of the eHealth Centre.