1. Technology and Design for Socio-Economic Development
Kentaro Toyama
Assistant Managing Director
Microsoft Research India
TCS Excellence in Computer Science
January 9, 2008 – Pune, India

2. India People Area Technology ~1.1 billion people 22 languages
Over half under 25 years old
22 languages
Annual incomes $100-$100M+
28 states
Area
~1/3 the area of United States
Technology
~25M PCs, installed base
~200M mobile subscriptions
+7M each month
Roads in India
Sources: CIA Factbook, TRAI, CNN

3. India, a Personal View Huge potential opportunity for computing.
People
~1.1 billion people
Over half under 25 years old
22 official languages
Annual incomes $100-$100M+
28 states
Area
~1/3 the area of United States
Technology
~25M PCs, installed base
~200M mobile subscriptions
+7M each month
but, power held by few
tremendous energy and optimism
incredible diversity, EM microcosm
reminiscent of European Union
impact of weather (ubiquity of agriculture)
huge interest in PCs, by everyone
mobiles, mobiles, everywhere
Huge potential opportunity for computing.
But, there are new challenges that
neither India nor industry has ever faced before.

4. Infosys campus, Bangalore

5. A small Internet café on a market street in a town near Bombay

6. Rural village with a VSAT Internet connection near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

7. Rural school in Chinhat, Uttar Pradesh

8. MSR India http://research.microsoft.com/india
Established January, 2005
Goals
World-class academic research
Contributions to Microsoft products and businesses
Support growth of research programs in India and elsewhere
Six research areas
Cryptography
Digital Geographics
Hardware, Communications, and Systems
Multilingual Systems
Rigorous Software Engineering
Technology for Emerging Markets
Currently ~50 full-time staff, growing
Collaborations with government, academia, industry, and NGOs
Microsoft Research India
Sadashivnagar, Bangalore

9. Technology for Emerging Markets
Research Goals
Understand potential technology users in economically poor communities
Adapt, invent, or design applications that contribute to socio-economic development of poor communities worldwide
Computer-skills camp in Nakalabande, Bangalore
(MSR India, Stree Jagruti Samiti, St. Joseph’s College) 9

10. Sample Projects MSR India: TEM Rural Microfinance and IT
Rural Kiosk Entrepreneurs
Sample Projects
Can computers help existing structures for rural microfinance?
Study on the challenges and uniqueness of rural kiosk entrepreneurs
MSR India: TEM
Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan
Associate Researcher
Nimmi Rangaswamy
Associate Researcher
Text-Free UI
Warana Unwired
Digital Green
UIs without text for users who are illliterate and may never have seen a computer before
Experiments with SMS text-messaging in a sugarcane cooperative
Video and mediated
instruction for agriculture
extension
Indrani Medhi
Assistant Researcher
Rajesh Veeraraghavan
Associate Researcher
Rikin Gandhi
Assistant Researcher
Government and Kiosks
Simultaneous Shared Access
IT and Microentrepreneurs
The state’s role in rural kiosk projects, with a focus on Kerala and Andhra
Multiplying the value of PCs by allowing many users to access.
Information ecology of small businesses in developing markets
Renee Kuriyan
Research Intern
Udai Singh Pawar
Associate Researcher
Jonathan Donner
Researcher 10

11. Human Computer Interfaces

12. Human Computer Interfaces

13. Human Computer Interfaces

14. Human Computer Interfaces

15. Human Computer Interfaces

16. Human Computer Interfaces

17. Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan
Interdisciplinary Research
Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan –
International Development
Society
Society
Public Administration and
Jonathan Donner –
Communications
Nimmi Rangaswamy
Group
Group –
Social Anthropology
Impact
Impact
Understanding
Understanding
Indrani Medhi –
Design
Individual
Individual
Kentaro Toyama –
Computer Science
Randy Wang –
Computer Science
Technology
Technology
Paul Javid
Innovation
Innovation –
Computer Science
Rikin Gandhi –
Astrophysics

18. Sample Projects MSR India: TEM Rural Microfinance and IT
Rural Kiosk Entrepreneurs
Sample Projects
Can computers help existing structures for rural microfinance?
Study on the challenges and uniqueness of rural kiosk entrepreneurs
MSR India: TEM
Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan
Associate Researcher
Nimmi Rangaswamy
Associate Researcher
Text-Free UI
Warana Unwired
Digital Green
UIs without text for users who are illliterate and may never have seen a computer before
Experiments with SMS text-messaging in a sugarcane cooperative
Video and mediated
instruction for agriculture
extension
Indrani Medhi
Assistant Researcher
Rajesh Veeraraghavan
Associate Researcher
Rikin Gandhi
Assistant Researcher
Government and Kiosks
Simultaneous Shared Access
IT and Microentrepreneurs
The state’s role in rural kiosk projects, with a focus on Kerala and Andhra
Multiplying the value of PCs by allowing many users to access.
Information ecology of small businesses in developing markets
Renee Kuriyan
Research Intern
Udai Singh Pawar
Associate Researcher
Jonathan Donner
Researcher 18

19. Thank you!