Eradicate poverty through Technology.

1. SEMINAR ON POVERTY ERADICATION
THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

2. INTRODUCTION
 More than one third of the world’s population lacks the
resources and information to meet basic human needs such as
adequate food, clean drinking water, sanitation, good health
provision, shelter and education.
 Science, technology and innovation can play a crucial role in
alleviating poverty. They have led to a wide array of
developments, from boosting agricultural productivity to
providing the means to generate energy cheaply.
 Developments in science and technology can make a
significant contribution to meeting the key commitments of the
eight Millennium Development Goals that United Nations
(UN) members and international aid organisations agreed to
achieve by 2015.

3. THE GOLDEN GOALS !!!
 To eradicate extreme hunger and poverty.
 To Achieve universal primary education.
 To promote gender equality and empower women.
 To reduce child mortality.
 To improve maternal health.
 To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
 To ensure environmental sustainability.
 To develop a global partnership for development.

4. Was “HE” BORN for THIS ???

5. NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO MEET
GLOBAL CHALLENGES
 New advances in scientific fields such as electronics and
nanotechnology could provide enabling technologies to
alleviate poverty on many fronts.
 The charity aims to enable the implementation of simple
technological ideas that will enhance the lives of these
communities in a profound economic and social way.
 It mentions three areas where research-led technologies can
help to reduce poverty: energy generation, agricultural
productivity and the provision of clean water.

6. The “STATUS UPDATE” of the WORLD

8. Information and Communication
Technology for Poverty Reduction
 It has been estimated that over 700 million of the world's poor
live in Asia-Pacific region i.e., those who earn $1 or less a day.
 The poor experience shortfalls in economic welfare; gaps in
access to good quality education and health care; deficiencies
in the provision of physical infrastructure; and political
barriers that stifle personal initiative and self-development.
 They are at the cutting edge of all technologies, and are
breaking
new
paths
in
bioengineering,
space
exploration, resources mining and operations, global trading
and financing, modern living and international travel and
leisure.

9. Continued…
 It is vital to bring information to the doorsteps of the poor.
 Today's communications media are excellent vehicles for
conveying much-needed information.
 Hi-tech based internet and digital technologies are not only
becoming a lot smarter, they are growing more user-friendly
and can help communities in fighting poverty by arming them
with information, knowledge and technologies.
 The
poor
have
inadequate
access
to
information, technology, expertise, and resources.
 Communication is no longer limited to electric radio or
TV, digital technology based telecenters can provide access to
the disadvantaged in rural areas to telephone and fax
service, email, Internet and electronic networks, database
and libraries.

10. Why is the “DIFFERENCE” ?

11. COMMUNITY-BASED INFORMATION &
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
 As a policy, all governments in the Asian region are investing
more in infrastructures and communications; as a
result, more and more rural areas being electrified.
 There is no need to wait for roads and civil works; since the
dissemination of messages with the developments in satellite
technologies, are not dependent on these basic infrastructures.
 Rather, the availability of satellite facilities, WAP and other
mobile connections facilitates the expanded movement of
information to the most rural and remote villages. WAP
phones (29 million) would outpace PC production.

12. Continued…
 With relevant technology, more than 75 per cent of
the rural populations can be reached which today are
not served efficiently with basic services including
education, health, information skills, etc.
 The major issues to be covered by community media
may include the need to manage the environment in
a sustainable manner; exploding rate of population
and urbanization; food security; human needs with
regard to health, education and literacy; peace and
democracy; and poverty reduction.

13. THE STATISTICS !!!

14. The “SMART VILLAGE” Concept
(Rural Information Technology Center)
 It is to make access to the relevant information and education based on
cost efficient high-tech in rural areas is a relevant experiment in this
connection.
 Accessibility to information with quality - this is what media should be
doing. Ideally, poor should be an active participant in designing of
programs, implementation of programs, and Internet should feed the
community with all information.
 Based on experience, it will be appropriate to combine radio, TV, print
and Internet, by special designed radio programs (both national and
regional), TV spots which will be repeated several times during prime time
and linked to popular programs, and news (to cater for decision makers).
 Print journalism to be linked to the civic journalism concept by inviting a
few selected journalists who are motivated to launch a civic journalism
group especially tailor made for poverty reduction and interactive
Internet pages dealing with poverty issues on a national and international
scale.

16. The “HEALTH” is the KEY !!!

17. “EMPLOYEMENT” is the WEAPON

18. EDUCATION is the Real POWER

19. MAJOR PROJECTS
 Earthquake mitigation  Many poor people live in earthquake zones. A team
at University College London is working on a project to understand the effects
of earthquakes on structures and communities, and how to deal with them.
 A sensor for agriculture  Researchers at the University of Leeds have
developed a sensor to gather data on environmental conditions, such as
temperature, humidity and light, in agricultural areas. It aims to furnish farmers
in developing countries with the information needed to maximise their crop
yields.
 A gallium arsenide water purifier  A blue light-emitting diode based on
gallium nitride (used in Blu-ray disks) can kill harmful bacteria and mosquito larvae
in drinking water. This rather unusual application of the novel semiconductor is
being explored by scientists at the University of Cambridge.
 Overcoming illiteracy  A new system of communication called
StoryBook aims to help rural Indian communities, where literacy levels are
low, to create and share information in audiovisual form.

20. CONCLUSION
 It is the key to empowering the poor and disadvantaged to
gaining information to shape better decisions to determine their
own destiny.
 This programme is for the empowerment of people, people,
people - this is the new economy of our new times.
 Information technology can also be used to assist in
strengthening
good
governance
through
increased
participation by the poor in key decision-making activities.
 Finally, IT can help develop a cohesive global world where
people with different religions, cultures, languages, and sociocultural histories, can, attitudinal and behavioural changes can
live in peace and democracy.

21. REFERENCES
 www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/index.htm
 http://practicalaction.org/home
 www.score.uk.com
 www.kiwanja.net
 www.frontlinesms.com
 www.vestergaard-frandsen.com
 www.google.com
 www.bing.com
 www.undp.org

23. ANY QUESTIONS ???