‘Technology has become indispensable for rural development’

VS: Why is your organisation which focuses on the intersection of technology and rural India called ‘Dhwani’?

Swapnil Agarwal: Back in 2012, during our coursework at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Sunandan (my friend and co-founder of Dhwani) and I were interning at Chirag, an NGO in Uttarakhand. We were working with a small cooperative of 100-150 farmers who cultivated herbs like thyme and basil. Buyers from across India would come to purchase their produce.

We encountered a unique challenge – whenever these buyers arrived, the cooperative struggled to communicate with the farmers about bringing their produce for sale. Picture hilly terrain with 20-30 villages scattered around, making household communication difficult.

This problem resonated deeply with us given our academic backgrounds in technology and rural management. We brainstormed a solution which involved a voice messaging system where farmers could receive calls with recorded messages. This was helpful as many couldn’t read text messages. In 2012, such technology wasn’t widely accessible. 

Given this background we named it project Dhwani (sound). Since then, our mission has been to bridge the gap between technology and rural communities, making it more accessible and impactful.

VS: ‘Dashboard’ has become a buzzword in the development sector and among bureaucracy. A lot of your work involves creating dashboards. Why do they matter?

SA: Our work primarily revolves around serving entities in the B2B (business-to-business) realm, with clients predominantly comprising governmental bodies, non-profit organisations, philanthropic entities and corporate social responsibility initiatives. We rarely engage directly with individual citizens through app development.

Let’s envision a scenario where we’re tackling the issue of reducing female dropout rates in government schools. Numerous non-profits are already engaged in addressing this challenge. When these interventions scale up, technology and data become indispensable for informed decision-making. 

Also Read: Why urban youth should care about rural India

Dashboards play a crucial role in providing insights into critical metrics such as current dropout rates, the impact of interventions on these rates, the number of girls benefiting from the initiatives, underlying reasons for dropouts  and more. Essentially, they serve as a tool to track key performance indicators (KPIs). A dashboard essentially reflects the culmination of collected data, empowering stakeholders to assess project progress and make informed decisions. Ultimately, their design and functionality are tailored to cater to the perspectives and needs of stakeholders.

VS: Tell us about the other buzzword – Artificial Intelligence (AI). How do you see the role of AI for the development sector?

SA: Every technology presents its own set of pros and cons. In the case of AI, I see many  benefits that will ultimately push individuals forward on the digital value chain. 

One of the most significant use cases for AI that we’ve observed revolves around addressing the longstanding challenges of language diversity and low literacy levels in India. AI is fundamentally changing this landscape by enabling voice interactions. 

Back in 2014, there was a notable apprehension and intimidation towards technology among people. However, there has been a significant shift since then. People now recognize that technology is indispensable and mainstream, no longer relegated to being an afterthought.

VS: Can you share some insights into your ongoing projects?

SA: Our projects span various social interventions, touching upon agriculture, water and sanitation, livelihoods, climate change, and financial inclusion.

As an organisation, our core mission revolves around empowering the government, non-government organisations (NGOs) and the broader social sector through technology. When we began, we noticed a significant gap in how technology was being utilised within the social sector.

Comparing NGOs to mainstream businesses highlights a stark contrast in technology utilisation, particularly concerning data centralisation and management. Our aim is to revolutionise this scenario. By enabling the social sector to harness technological tools effectively, we believe NGOs can catalyse significant impact in people’s lives, enhancing their efficiency and outreach.

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Technology serves as the common thread weaving through all our interventions. Our projects range from optimising milk productivity in cattle to combating malnutrition among adolescents and helping farmers. The scope of our work is extensive, addressing diverse challenges with technological solutions.

VS: Can you walk us through one of your projects, like your intervention aimed at enhancing milk productivity? How does it operate?

SA: The goal of this particular project was to identify the factors contributing to enhanced milk productivity in various cattle breeds. Our approach involved gathering comprehensive data, including biological information pertaining to the cattle, and then recommending targeted interventions to the farmers.

Initially, we deployed field agents who assisted farmers in inputting relevant data into a mobile application. As farmers began to witness the benefits of this technology-driven approach they readily embraced it.

VS: You’re going to launch an exciting new venture. Tell us about that.

SA: The Foundation of Inclusive Technology (FIT) marks a collaborative effort between us and Transform Rural India (TRI), long standing friends and partners in our journey. Over the past 6-7 years our collaboration has produced over 30-40 technology-based projects and interventions.

TRI’s close engagement with communities and government entities lends invaluable insight into grassroots challenges. This deep understanding of on-the-ground issues is instrumental in shaping our technology-based solutions.

Also Read: The importance of succlure and faiccess in rural development

The overarching goal of FIT is to democratise technology assets or digital public goods, such as dashboards, mobile apps and chatbots, making them accessible to society at large. By doing so, we aim to empower a multitude of civil society organisations (CSOs), funding agencies and non-profit organisations, enabling them to leverage these tools within their respective ecosystems. At its core, it embodies the principle of sharing our accumulated technology interventions over the years, causing broader societal impact.

The lead image shows a volunteer sharing interactive content with young children. (Photo by Chetan Soni)