Vodafone India Foundation, in partnership with CGI and NASSCOM Foundation, announced the launch of ‘DigiSakshar.org’ an online digital skills portal that aims to help citizens of India become self-reliant through digital literacy.
A CSR initiative of Vodafone Idea, developed under their ‘Connecting for Good program’, DigiSakshar aims to empower the marginalized communities and help them become a part of the digital economy.
DigiSakshar, has been developed to help communities graduate to digital literacy and use this knowledge to build and enhance their livelihood, thus encouraging the digital have-nots and digital novices to become a part of the technological revolution. In addition to offering digital literacy to communities, the self-learning portal also drives them towards better job and entrepreneurship opportunities helping them become self-reliant.
The portal was launched in an virtual event by P. Balaji, Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited, George Mattackal, President, Asia Pacific Global Delivery Centers of Excellence, CGI, Dr. Dinesh Tyagi, CEO, CSC e-Governance Services India Limited and Ms. Preeti Arora, Head Learning Resources and Technology, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) along with Ashok Pamidi, CEO and Santosh Abraham, Vice President from NASSCOM Foundation.
Speaking at the occasion, P. Balaji, Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited said, “Vodafone Idea is committed to developing communities where we operate in and our commitment is well encapsulated in our company’s mission statement. We have transformative initiatives in the domains of Agriculture, Education, Health, Women Empowerment which are positively impacting millions of Indians every year. Today, as part of our commitment to increase digital literacy and help communities learn digital skills, I am delighted to announce launch of Digisakshar – which I am sure will contribute to a resilient and skilled India.”
CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, committed to serving as a caring and responsible corporate citizen through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. With this partnership, CGI will be developing self-learning content in multiple languages to augment the digital skills curriculum. In addition, CGI will help strengthen DigiSakshar’s technology infrastructure for better access and an enhanced user experience.
“At CGI we strive to make a positive impact through technology.” said George Mattackal, President of Asia Pacific Global Delivery Centers of Excellence, CGI during the launch. “Through DigiSakshar, our goal is to help enable digital literacy and contribute to improving the social and economic well-being of the communities in which we live and work.”
NASSCOM Foundation has program managed the creation of the portal and is also working towards a CSR based sustainability model for the same.
Ashok Pamidi, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation, said. “NASSCOM Foundation is one of the first organizations to realise the potential of digital literacy and bring it to the underserved communities through ‘Follow the Fibre’ initiative in 2011. We now bring our ten years worth of experience of making millions become digitally literate to create the best fit portal for digital literacy and skills. With DigiSakshar, we hope to further the Prime Minister’s agenda of a self-reliant India through digital literacy. With digital literacy through physical centres taking a huge hit due to the current crisis, Digisakshar hopes to provide a safe online learning environment for Digital Novices to learn new skills. Vodafone Idea has been one of our most bankable partners in our quest towards using technology for social good, and we thank them for their continuous and unwavering support. CGI who has always encouraged Digital literacy through various initiatives with us will continue to support Digisakshar. We hope that this partnership grows further and we bring more such innovative and scalable technology solutions to help make real change happen.”
The free to use portal provides over 40 courses in both Hindi and English, designed for all age groups and curated to cover basic, intermediate and advanced knowledge on digital skills. The courses range from basics of computer operations, handling mobile phones, using internet securely, digital payments, finding jobs and livelihood opportunities, accessing common and government websites and many more .
The web platform curates personalized content from different sources in Hindi and English and will soon also be available in Kannada, Oriya and Marathi.
Given the audience it caters to, access to DigiSakshar has been kept simple with a single OTP based login and easy to navigate pages. The portal is designed keeping in mind the learning needs of different users and has built-in accessibility features to ensure inclusion for the visually impaired. The course modules contain both text and videos for ease of learning. The user can access personalised content, multi-level courses and self-assess through question banks.
DigiSakshar can also be used and promoted by non-profit organisations and volunteers to make digital literacy accessible across India and empower the underpriviliged communities of our country to become digitally literate and self-reliant.