InterGram

▸Covid-19 has deepened the rural-urban digital divide in developing countries like India

▸India offers one of the cheapest mobile Internet service (9 cents per GB) in the world; however poverty, low literacy rates and poor digital skills are issues

▸InterGram uses high-speed broadband to deliver a bouquet of relevant services to rural communities and helps them truly enjoy the dividends of a digital economy

▸First center operating in Jajpur district, Odisha state in eastern India; three centers targeted by March ‘22 and plan to cover all 209 rural blocks within 18-24 months 

1. Education and Job - Live online Coaching.

2. Financial Services - m/e payments, Savings, MFI Loans.

3. Farmer Advisory and Training - VR/AR Lab, IoT based Clinics, Digital Signages.

4. e - Commerce - Crops, Crafts, SHG Goods.

5. Health - Telehealth, AI, Screening.

▸Beneficiaries include smallholder farmers, farm laborers, students, unemployed youth, artisans and SHG workers in nearby villages .

▸Rural talents, Rural women, SHG members, Farmers and Rural youth.

▸Generating demand and increasing community engagement through charity events, household visits, expert talks at the center and local language media

▸Each center will potentially touch the lives of at least 10,000 low-income households in the neighboring villages through by creating new jobs, growing family income, skill development and expanding awareness about latest farm technologies and government schemes

▸Immersive VR/AR experience for training farmers on modern agricultural practices

▸In-field IoT sensor with embedded 4G SIM for timely weather information and crop health alerts

▸Scalable, cloud-based signage solution for automated content scheduling and distribution

▸E-commerce for promoting local crafts and SHG products in national and international markets

▸Future: AI/ML-based innovations for early detection of crop (e.g., leaf blight,rust) and human diseases (e.g., retinopathy, glaucoma, cancer etc)

Niladri Bihari Pradhan, Director, SYFT Learn and Excel Private Limited.

Sarat Chandra Pradhan, Managing Director -cum- CEO, SYFT Learn and Excel Private Limited.

Soumya Prakas Das, Odisha Head, Crosslinks Foundation.

▸Immersive VR/AR experience for training farmers on modern agricultural practices.

▸In-field IoT sensor with embedded 4G SIM for timely weather information and crop health alerts.

▸Scalable, cloud-based signage solution for automated content scheduling and distribution

▸E-commerce for promoting local crafts and SHG products in national and international markets

▸Future: AI/ML-based innovations for early detection of crop (e.g., leaf blight,rust) and human diseases (e.g., retinopathy, glaucoma, cancer etc)

AI/ML, IoT & AR/VR

For us theory of change is Internet and digital platform which we provide as a service to students, Farmers, SHG and rural population on health.

Pointing one issue and how we are solving it, there are lot of Women SHG (Self Help Group) are out there without productive and we are providing a platform to sell there product to the urban market through the help of internet and e-commerce platform 

Currently we have only one proof of concept center at Jajur district odisha. By March 2022 we will open 2 more proof of concept centers to establish physibility learn and refince concept and business model.

By april-2022 to March 2023 expand within odisha targeting atleast one center in each districts of odisha through the Grant fund.

April 2023 to March 2024 launch the franchaise model in partnership with rural entrepreneurs replicating InterGram in all 209 blocks of odisha.

April 2024 & Beyond Expand Beyond odisha starting with neighbouring states through PAN india Network. then we will expand to our neighbouring country Indonesia.

We are doing a rappid progress on involving local groups and farmers and students to our network and working on each components we are focused on.

We have the technology and the road map of the project, Mainly Finance is the barrier for Implementing and operating the InterGram project throughout India,Indonesia and globe.

By raising fund in form of grant, seed and equity.

Sarat Chandra Pradhan

Niladri Bihari Pradhan

Soumya Prakas Das

Santosh Keshavan

Sunanda Kumar Mitra

Sasi Dash

Monali Dash

Rajesh Dey

Subrat Narayan Rout

Omprakash Patra

Manita Pawar

Biranchi Narayan Rout

Hrushikesh Behera

Broadly speaking, an InterGram center offers the following advanced services to rural citizens: i) Live coaching classes for low-income students and job seekers conducted by city-based instructors through live video streaming sessions. Shared tablets, desktops and display screens are provided at the center. ii) “Farm Clinics” for smallholder farmers that process real-time data from in-field IoT and remote sensors for advance forecasting, detection and communication of  pathogen/pest attacks, extreme weather events and abiotic stresses, which are displayed in the local language on digital signages, iii) Enhancement of traditional instruction-led education through emerging AR/VR technologies that expand new knowledge retention (e.g., modern farming equipment or financial technologies) through immersive experiences. iv) Assisted E-commerce to empower low-literacy rural users to sell local handicrafts, handloom and agricultural products to buyers both in India and abroad through trained digital agents at the center, v) Remote telehealth consultations with doctors and specialists at city hospitals along with AI-assisted early screening of serious diseases (e.g., glaucoma, cancer, retinopathy etc) among rural patients in static/ambulatory formats.

The advent of new ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) technologies such as affordable smartphones, high-speed fiber/mobile broadband connectivity, web/mobile applications are having a transformative impact on the global economy. However, in order to realize ICT’s full potential, developing countries like India have to rapidly bridge the growing rural-urban digital divide that is preventing its rural population from fully participating in the digital economy. The Covid-19 crisis has further exacerbated this divide. InterGram is an advanced “eCommunity center” that addresses this issue by extending high-speed broadband to remote Indian villages and delivers a wide array of innovative and relevant applications that enable rural citizens to truly enjoy the dividends of a digital economy.

SYFT, a Government of India approved startup, in partnership with Crosslinks Foundation, an innovative charity organization has launched the first InterGram center in Badachana block, Jajpur District of Odisha state. As per the latest national survey, the percentage of rural households in Odisha accessing Internet is only 10%, which is significantly less than the national average. After successfully piloting InterGram in Jajpur, our target is to scale-up the initiative to cover all 209 rural blocks of Odisha in the next two years before expanding to other Indian states.

Although a recent study shows that India has the least expensive mobile Internet pricing in the world ($0.09 for 1GB compared to $8 in USA), most rural households in the country do not have the purchasing power to afford an entry-level smartphone which typically costs $100-$150 today. Moreover, even low literacy rates and poor digital skills serve as major adoption barriers in many cases. InterGram attempts to overcome these challenges by creating a rural aggregation point where low-income households can avail and experience a bouquet of essential services in the realm of healthcare, education, agriculture, e-commerce and financial services through a cost-effective integration of state-of-the-art technologies. 

As our InterGram project concept, has been accepted in IEEE challenge for Connecting the Unconnected and we stand first in proof of concept category we feel proud of it.

Odisha is predominantly rural with ~83% living in villages and ~32% of its 45 million population living below the poverty line. Further, as per the latest national survey, the percentage of rural households in Odisha accessing Internet is only 10%, which is significantly less than the national average. After successfully piloting InterGram in Jajpur, our target is to scale-up the initiative to cover all 209 rural blocks of Odisha in the next two years before expanding to other Indian states.

Moving to other states and country like Indonesia will defenitely scale up and sustainable in world scenario.

Presently we are partnering with Crosslinks Foundation and going further we have to look into other progressive partners to cover world wide.