Venue: The Tower International, Salt Lake Electronics Complex, Kolkata.

Date: 2^nd- 3^rd March 2006.

Organiser: Change Initiatives

Supported by: Institute for Development Policy & Management, University of Manchester

 

Change Initiatives organized a workshop on the scope for ICT-based Enterprises for Women on 2^nd and 3^rd March 2006 in Kolkata. Dr G.D. Gautam, Special Secretary, Department of IT, Government of West Bengal inaugurated this workshop. Also present at the occasion were President of Change Initiatives Mr Sibaji Roy, Vice President Dr Mukul Mukherjee & Workshop Convener Ms. Alokananda Rao. The entire session was presided by Director of

Change Initiatives, Ms Jhumpa Ghosh Ray.

 

The workshop had five technical sessions on support opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the ICT sector. The speakers were representatives from government, technical institutes, private sector and NGOs..

 

Potential women entrepreneurs attended the workshop. The women were mainly from the middle class who knew computers. Some of the participants were from NGOs such as Gramin Sanchar Society (GRASSO) and Vivekananda Mission.

 

This workshop was a platform for entrepreneurship skill development among ICT trained women.

 

The sessions are discussed in details below.

 

Day 1

Inaugural Session: 10:00- 11:00 a.m.

 

Jhumpa Ghosh Ray, Director, Change Initiatives gave an introduction on Change Initiatives and its diverse activities. She also spoke elaborately on the backdrop of the workshops, its aims and objectives.

 

Mr. Sibaji Roy, President of Change Initiatives explained the concept of ICT-as what falls under the topic and what not. He also discussed the role of bank in supporting women entrepreneurs.

 

Dr Mukul Mukherjee, Vice President spoke about how to make entry of women easier in this field. She also explained the significance of ICT in the present globalization context. She especially stressed on ICT-based enterprises in development. She opined on the lack of demand-oriented idea in ICT-based enterprises.

 

Ms. Alokananda Rao, Workshop Convener also spoke on the aim of the workshop, that is, passing on IT knowledge to the women and work towards developing entrepreneurs.

 

Dr G.D.Gautam, Special Secretary, Department of IT, Government of West Bengal said in ICT the main component is the media through which information passes. He said ICT impact could be assessed both in terms of improved productivity and increase in the quality of life.

 

He said in developed countries growth of ICT infrastructure and ICT-based enterprises have occurred simultaneously. The digital divide in the developed countries is, therefore, less acute compared to India despite the country’s impressive credentials in software development and call centres.

 

West Bengal is a late starter in this respect (around 2000). Presently the state government is taking initiatives to bring foreign investment to develop this field. The government is trying to reduce the cost of computers and develop connectivity so for empowerment.

 

While emphasizing the employment generation capacities of ICT-based enterprises, Dr Gautam stressed certain features of such businesses:

• Assess demand for the enterprise
• Efficient utilisation of money by the government so that everybody who is paying gets the benefit.
• Use of vernacular language.
• Self-belief and perceptions on making a contribution to society
• Change in the attitude.

 

 

 

Technical Session I: 11:15- 1:15 am

Support Opportunities from Government.

Chaired by: Mr. Sibaji Roy, President Change Initiatives

 

Speaker 1: Mr Gautam Burman, Chief Executive Officer, Webel Technologies

 

Mr Burman outlined the ICT aims and objectives of the West Bengal government. By 2010, the state wants to become among the top three states of India vis-à-vis ICT development. It has set itself a target of generating around 15% of India’s software exports by 2010 and of meeting around 10% of the domestic demand for software services.

 

Mr Burman outlined some advantages in setting up ICT enterprises in the state. There is a deep talent pool, loans are available easily, presence of many business schools plus availability of cheap electricity.

 

Mr Burman also discussed the factors behind sustainable ICT development. They are:

 

• Taking ICT to the grassroots
• Make IT training compulsory at schools
• Strengthen communication infrastructure
• Promote sustainable IT development by diversifying into more products and services

 

Emphasising financial independence of women as well as the risks associated with setting up a ICT-based enterprise, Mr Burman suggested some areas of work to the participants:

• Assemble PCs
• Data-entry work
• Give training to government officials.
• Establish Voice-mail centre.

 

Speaker: Mr. D. Baidya, Small Industries Service Institute (SISI), Government of India.

 

Mr Baidya spoke on the activities of SISI. The organization gives training in specific areas and supports aspiring entrepreneurs. He then discussed the procedures to set up an SSI, such as acquiring a trade licence, undertaking a market survey and preparing a project survey.

 

He regretted the lack of entrepreneurial attitude in West Bengal especially among women. He also stressed on profit motivation.

 

He described various IT business opportunities for women like DTP centres, call centres, software processing, web designing and data entry work relating to activities of banks, libraries and bill collection.

 

He emphasized planned business activity, team work, development of a network and skill management.

 

Speaker: Mr. C. L. Mukhopadhyay, Department of Technical Training and Education, State Government.

 

He mainly emphasized on development of skill through proper training prior to establishing a business. Four to six ITI centers are there for women though admission rate in such institution is very small. He was of the opinion that awareness needs to be created among the women for taking up such training programme. For this purpose steps have been taken up in form of advertisements at local channels.

 

A participant from NGO raised question on government’s lack of initiatives in generating awareness among women in this regard. In response to this he welcomed all sorts of positive suggestions to improve the current situation. He also spoke about the West Bengal State Vocational Training Act.

Technical Session II: 02:00 – 03:30 p.m.: Experiences of Women Entrepreneurs and Support Agencies from West Bengal and Bangladesh.

Chaired By: Ms. Alakananda Rao

 

Speaker: Mr. Shantanu Sengupta, Secretary, Gramin Sanchar Society (GRASSO).

 

Mr Sengupta spoke on the experiences of the NGO Grasso, which runs a mobile telephone franchise in rural West Bengal. By taking mobile telephony in remote rural regions through franchisees, a la entrepreneurs, Grasso has strengthened the communication infrastructure of West Bengal at the grassroots, along with generating self-employment.

 

Mr Sengupta stressed on the availability of micro-finance for aspiring women entrepreneurs.

 

He said that the state government has started strengthening the communication infrastructure of West Bengal, though a lot needs to be done in this area.

 

He said the communication infrastructure must reach the grassroots. He also emphasized sustainable entrepreneurship. According to him telephone is one of the strongest mode of communication. Telephone network development in rural area will automatically lead to rural employment. He also emphasized on developing communication skill in vernacular language. Women can run training centers and also take part in marketing and product development.

 

Speaker: Mr. Zakir Hossain Sarker, Action-aid Bangladesh.

 

He presented a case study on how ICTs has helped the marginalized section in rural Bangladesh, through Reflect research methodology. The concept of ICT was incorporated very recently since mid 2005. Availability of information will enable to fight poverty and both protect and increase ones’ assets. ICT also empowers women through development of skill and self-confidence.

 

Speaker: Mr. Arfatul Islam Journalist Bangladesh.

Topic: Mobile lady

 

He presented a case study on how poor Bangladeshi women can change their destiny with the help of mobile phone. Operation of mobile phone was taught to poor women at the end of 1991. Now these women have immensely gained from the use of mobile phone. They have been able to set up a network through which they can collect information and apply them in their small business activities. He also said that this could be successful even in India if the call rate is cheap.

 

Technical Session II: 03:45 – 05:00 p.m.: Support Opportunities from Bank Finance.

Chaired by: Dr. Mukul Mukherjee

 

Speaker: Mr. Swaraj Chatterjee, Faculty Staff Training College, Bank of India.

 

He gave lecture on how a nationalized bank can support establishment of profit making enterprise. Prior to setting up of any enterprise any entrepreneur needs to be profit motivated, competitive in nature, hard working and properly trained. Professionalism is most important for entrepreneurship. He elaborated on different aspects of bank support. For instance bank gives loan for fixed capital (room rent, furniture, equipments etc) and also for working capitals. Making a project proposal and submission of it is essential before getting loan from banks. This project proposal should consist information on market survey, budget and profit expected.

 

Day 2

Technical Session III: 10:00 – 11:15 am: Technology Options and Training Needs for ICT Entrepreneurs.

Chaired By: Ms. Jhumpa Ghosh Ray

 

Speaker Dr. Anupam Basu, Professor IIT Kharagpur (Department of Computer Science & Engineering)

 

He suggested:

• Working with DTP.
• Web page designing.
• Imparting computer education in schools
• Developing academic/ study materials and imparting it through computers to make the learning process more attractive.
• Setting up of information centres from which informations on competitive exam results, academic opportunities about hospitals, agricultural Good Practices etc.
• Setting up of studios with web cameras.
• Developing electronic form of education materials for the blind children.

Prior to these, he stressed on the fact that the local demand trend has to be surveyed.

 

 

Speaker Mr. Souri Chatterjee, Business Manager, IL&FS Education and Technology Services

 

Mr Chatterjee said lack of information is a component of the vicious circle of poverty. This he explained through this diagram:

 

 

 

 

 

Lack of information

 

 

Poverty Lack of skills

 

Low-income generation

 

 

 

He said information is a commodity which can be brought and sold in the market. He then gave examples of commodities in the ‘information sector’:

• Agricultural information
• E-governance information
• Entertainment
• Telemedicine
• Information on job opportunities
• Value-added services like consumer rights, environment, booking of long distance tickets etc.

 

He stressed on local level demand and sustainability and also opined that one has to develop networking skills, transactional skills, and technology skills to set up an enterprise.

He also emphasized on creating need in the locality, making the people aware and then marketing it.

 

Speaker: Mr. Chiranjeev Rudra, General Manager (IT) Webel Toonz Academy

Mr. Shouvik Bhattacharya, Faculty, Webel Toonz Academy

 

 

Mr. Rudra gave an introduction of their Academy. He said that those who have artistic inclination could take up this training. This can be started from school level. He also added that this course is expensive but educational loan is available. After completion of training one first needs to work under an organization to gain experience. Lastly, he said setting an entrepreneurial unit is not feasible for small investors. However as a freelancer one can take up a part of the entire process, for example one can take up the character making part prior to animation making.

 

Mr. Bhattacharya showed a short film and briefed on animation making.

 

11.30am-01.00pm: Technology Options and Training Needs and women’s Experiences as Entrepreneurs

 

Speaker: Mr Sunil Balchandran, General Manager, VSNL-TATA INDICOM

 

Mr Balchandran suggested technology options suitable for operations in the medium scale. He told the participants to explore the scope of setting up maintenance agencies in the telecom sector and product franchisees of telecom companies.

 

Speaker: Ms. Enakshee Jha, Entrepreneur, Kasturi Netcom LTD.

 

An entrepreneur herself, Ms Jha cited a range of activities in the small-scale space. She suggested data-entry operations and STD booths. She said STD booths can double up as data entry centres as well. Some of the activities she suggested are:

 

• Data-entry of salary bills. Large companies are increasingly outsourcing this activity.
• Data-entry of legal papers.
• DTP, printing jobs
• Data entry processing for foreign banks and nationalized banks. (They often work on a franchisee basis)
• PCO cum computer centres where they can do jobs like preparing CV, letters, e-mails etc.
• Cyber cafes can be set up which will double up as computer training centres.
• She also spoke about certain requirements prior to setting up an enterprise like market surveys assessing strength area, look out for multiple source of income.

 

Speaker: Mr. Arindam Batabyal, GRASSO

 

He gave a general speech on how IT can bring about a change in rural women’s life. He spoke on their CDMA, WLL technology and BSNL bulk franchise concept.

 

Technical Session IV: 1.45- 3.15pm: Developing Entrepreneurial Skills and Support Issues

 

Speaker: Mr. Aloke Banga, Entrepreneurship Development Cell, Government of West Bengal.

 

He stressed on changing one’s way of thinking or attitude and then moved onto initiatives. He also stated some of the reasons why one should be self employed: