Digital Empowerment Foundation, with the support of Chanderiyaan introduced the first ever Internet Wi-Fi service in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh to connect the communities and assist easy navigation for tourists of Chanderi. This initiative not only attracted the tourists, who visit Chanderi round the year, but also evolved as a new trend among the local internet users of Chanderi.
This service has been provided by DEF with support of Chanderiyaan under their project of Wireless for Communities (W4C). The project is a joint initiative of DEF and Internet Society that aims to provide a holistic, community-empowered approach to connect rural communities with the Internet. The motivation for the W4C project by ISOC and DEF is twofold. One is to totally democratize the availability of connectivity and enable access to information at the will of citizens outside urban centres – and remote rural areas in particular; second is to address the lack of content, product and services originating from rural areas that affects the economy from percolating to the bottom of the pyramid. Pervasive connectivity will ensure that localized content and services are not only encouraged but also facilitated and produced – the sum of which will contribute towards linguistic and cultural diversity, help build the rural economy and bring the next billion online.
