#‘Local Economy Accelerator Programme’ (LEAP)

[youthchronical]

Industry leaders term Karnataka’s FOF and deep tech fund biggest boost yet for ‘Beyond Bengaluru’

T.V. Mohandas Pai The government’s announcement in the State Budget to set aside ₹300 crore for a Fund of Funds (FOF) and ₹100 crore for deep tech development has received praises from the industry leaders and experts who feel that these initiatives will go a long way in boosting the start-up ecosystem in clusters such as Mysuru, Mangaluru and Hubballi. The government plans to introduce…

[un-enfant-immature]

Expanding its internet service to more countries in Africa, Tizeti raises $3 million

Tizeti, the Nigerian internet service provider behind the brand Wifi.com.ng, has raised $3 million in a new round of funding as it expands its unlimited internet service into Ghana.

The new financing was led by 4DX Ventures, a new, Africa-focused fund that’s been deploying capital at an incredibly fast clip since its launch earlier this year. Its portfolio includes Sokowatch, a startup connecting local African retailers to international suppliers; the outsourced programmer placement and apprenticeship service, Andela; and the integrated pharmacy supplier and operator, mPharma.

For Walter Baddoo, one of 4DX Ventures co-founders and a new addition to the Tizeti board, the value in a company that operates as “the Comcast of Africa” was clear.

“If you take the efficiency of point to multipoint wireless technology and you add to that solar infrastructure, you leap-frog a generation of infrastructure. That makes getting cheap data to the hands of customers much easier,” Baddoo says.

Tizeti does exactly that. Using solar energy to power its wireless towers, the company provides residences, businesses, events and conferences with unlimited high-speed broadband internet access, which now covers more than 70 percent of Lagos. Since its launch from Y Combinator’s winter 2017 batch, the company has installed over 7,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots in Nigeria with 150,000 users.

Tizeti co-founders Ifeanyi Okonkwo and Kendall Ananyi

In November, the company partnered with Facebook to offer Express Wi-Fi and roll out hundreds of hotspots across the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

Now, with the new funding, Tizeti is expanding its operations outside of Nigeria, launching a new brand — Wifi.Africa — and pushing its service into Ghana.

“Tizeti was built to tackle poor internet connectivity not only in Nigeria, but on the continent as a whole, by developing a cost-effective solution from inception to delivery, for reliable and uncapped internet access for potentially millions of Africans,” said Kendall Ananyi, the co-founder and chief executive of Tizeti.

The company’s unlimited internet packages cost $30 per-month, a price it’s able to achieve through the use of cheap solar electricity to power its towers.

“Reducing the cost of data in Africa is a critical step in accelerating the pace of internet adoption across the continent,” Baddoo said in a statement. “Tizeti makes it easier and cheaper to connect Africa to the global digital economy and we are excited to partner with Kendall and his team on this mission.”

All of this is being powered by a network of new undersea cables stretching along the ocean floor that is bringing connectivity to the continent.

“There’s a ton of capacity going to 16 submarine cables [coming into Africa],” Ananyi told us back in 2017. “The problem is getting the internet to the customers. You have balloons and drones and that will work in the rural areas but it’s not effective in urban environments. We solve the internet problem in a dense area.”

It’s not a radical concept, and it’s one that has netted the company 3,000 subscribers already and nearly $1.2 million in annual recorded revenue in its first months of operations, Ananyi told us at the time.

“There are 1.2 billion people in Africa, but only 26 percent of them are online and most get internet over mobile phones,” says Ananyi. Perhaps only 6 percent of that population has an internet subscription, he said.

Photo courtesy of Flickr/Steve Song

[brajeshupadhyay]

In the mid 90s, Bill Gates released his first book, The Road Ahead, and it blew our minds. Or at least one part of it did (I never managed to read much of it). In it, Gates described the Seattle home he was then building with inlaid fiber optic cables where each room would have its own unobtrusive touchpad to control the lights, music and temperature. Best of all, as you entered a room, it’d automatically customise those elements and even wall paintings (via LCD screens) based on personal preferences, all pinged via an electronic pin everyone in the house would wear. I was reminded of that moment from a quarter century ago as I listened to a recent webinar on access to the internet in India, organised by Agami, the law and justice organisation where I work. Much of Gates’ fantastic vision has become widely available today in the form of mobile phones, smart devices and apps – all of them powered by the internet, and what he then romantically called the Information Highway. In a socially distanced landscape, addressing the 'digital ditch' is more essential than ever. Representational image from Reuters/Kacper Pempel Now in our elastically wrenching world, Gates is having another moment of prescience (as well as right-wing data hacks and conspiracy theories), this time with brighter sweaters and a thinner, papery voice. Whatever you think of him, he did baldly predict in his 2015 TED talk that “the greatest risk of global catastrophe” was not nuclear war but “most likely a highly infectious virus...not missiles but microbes”. The march of the internet into our lives, taking over every aspect and every hour, is so ubiquitous it doesn't need much emphasis or spelling out. And concurrently, neither does the fact that as more than a fifth of humanity frets under some form of lockdown and the rest practices swivel-eyed social distancing, we are all keeping up some semblance of normalcy by going online. A recent survey found that internet browsing shot up by 72 percent in the first week of lockdown in India. Online is where we are all talking and conferencing and texting, sharing parody videos, moving our money, dropping out of online courses, asking doctors about pulse oximeters, damning house cleaning bloggers, thanking recipe writers for using metric measurements, rediscovering celebrities for their shenanigans and, of course, unquenchably consuming the news and ordering more and more supplies even as we feel all Zoomed out. The new economy is not so new anymore, and it’s vital to say this aloud: Our economy is now vastly inaccessible without the internet. All the platforms, gateways and content are useless without it. Yet according to government data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), only about half of Indians have access to the basic broadband speed of 512 Kbps or more. Last year’s IAMAI-Nielsen study found an even wider gap of only 36 percent of Indians having internet access in the first place. And only a third of them are women. This is not a digital divide anymore. This is a digital ditch. Which means, half to two-thirds of the country are in an economic ditch. Much of the high speed and reliable networks have been first laid in urban centres, and the work on Digital India programmes has not kept pace with the gradually devolving economy or the current COVID-19 crisis. Perhaps some of this slowness is due to decision makers still not quite accepting that the internet has moved this fast from being a useful luxury to an essential resource? Or is it more of a lingering bias that rural or disadvantaged Indians just don't need as much internet as people like us? Either way, the numbers tell a different story. Of all ‘regular users’ in India (who accessed the internet in the last 30 days), 40 percent are actually rural users – and that base is growing much faster than the urban one. More than 50 percent of rural customers are willing to go online to buy goods. Two thirds of all existing Indian internet users are in the 12-29 year age group, and in general this age group resides much more in rural than urban India. Data usage in rural India increased by almost 100 percent during the lockdown. And all this when rural internet penetration stands at only 27 percent (versus 51 percent in urban areas). In January, the Supreme Court declared access to the internet a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution. This was in response to a plea on the internet blockade in Jammu & Kashmir since last summer’s revoking of Article 370. Since then, there has been only partial lifting of the digital ban there – only 2G speeds for postpaid mobiles while prepaid sims still have to get verified – despite mounting reports that lack of high-speed internet is hobbling the medical community and accelerating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed, retired Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir, as well as Rahul Matthan, Partner at Trilegal law firm, criticised such internet shutdowns at the Agami webinar. They both cited similar metaphors comparing the internet today to essential services like water and electricity, and how authorities don’t switch them off to some citizens when convenient. Now, the internet has thankfully been deemed an essential service by the Home Ministry during the national lockdown, but there doesn’t seem much more on the government’s agenda here. “I don't think the [central] government has realised how critical this infrastructure is,” Aruna Sundararajan, former Telecom Secretary of India, said at the webinar. “I served on the COVID taskforce in Kerala and we devoted a whole chapter to seeing how to ensure internet services wouldn’t get disrupted, how there’d [actually] be a 30-40 percent increase in availability. We put in suggestions that people who normally don’t have access somehow need to be given it because they’re the ones who need it the most.” Governments and companies worldwide are hustling to ensure that their citizens remain online. Chile is offering a “solidarity plan" for affordable internet in partnership with private companies, while Thailand has granted 10 GB of free data to mobile users. Egypt has given free SIM cards to students and borne the cost of a 20 percent increase in all subscribers' monthly downloads. In the US, the telecom regulator negotiated with more than 50 major internet providers to get them to agree to suspend data and speed caps, suspend shutoffs and late fees, waive installation fees, provide free service and other schemes for low-income users and open Wi-Fi hotspots for the public. Meanwhile, the major telecom and broadband companies in India have offered some initiatives like free incoming calls to low-income users, Airtel and BSNL have provided extended mobile validity and Rs 10 talktime free, while Jio Phone users have got 100 minutes and 100 SMS free. Meanwhile, ACT Fibernet has offered free upgrades of unlimited data and 300 Mbps speed, Jio Fiber has offered free 10 Mbps connections to new users and double data to existing ones, and Jio has offered free broadband in some places. Some say that in this crisis, the Indian government needs to pitch in much more such as reduce red tape to enable telecom companies to build capacity fast, incentivise them to increase data limits and subsidise costs, and even use disaster relief funds to build public Wi-Fi zones. There were a host of other solutions proposed at the webinar as well. Sundararajan said the government must build the infrastructure for 4G access for all Indians – and pointed out that this is actually possible in just 6-12 months – as well as finish the incomplete project to lay fiber optic cables for 2.5 lakh gram panchayats. Sundararajan and Apar Gupta, Executive Director of Internet Freedom Foundation, also recommended that the pending Data Protection Bill be enacted to address cybersecurity concerns as citizens go online. Justice Ahmed suggested engaging the local Legal Services Authorities across the country to provide internet and justice access to their constituencies, while Matthan emphasised the right to broadband rather than just internet as a more realistic need today. Gupta recommended voluntary pledges by telecom companies to not disconnect connections for non-payment during this crisis, actualising a network neutrality enforcement mechanism in telecom licenses for private entities, and regulatory reform in telecom suspension rules to guard against internet shutdowns. The non-profit Jan Sahas has reported that a significant proportion of the distress calls they’re receiving are actually requests to recharge mobile phone accounts. “In the next 12-24 months we’ll have restrictions of some kind,” said Sundararajan, “and the need for internet is only going to exponentially accelerate.” We can’t meaningfully talk about justice for the offline world anymore, given its sharp marginalisation from most mainstream social, political and economic activity. The fact is that those of us in the information or service economies are not the only ones who need the internet, not anymore. For most of this century, all Indians have needed it to lead fuller and fully connected lives; the big difference in the last few years is that we now also need it to be fuller consumers. And in a landscape that promises to be socially distanced for the next one to two years, all of us need it whether we are in the organised or unorganised sector. There is the case of access to justice, and there is the case for access to a healthy life. Getting all citizens online is surely the one reliable way to unite them in following mandates for the greater good while giving them a way to access basic needs. And getting everyone online would also surely create a permanent resource to help the Indian economy leap away from the cliff it’s getting overfamiliar with. Gaurav Jain is a writer, editor and entrepreneur who co-founded the digital feminist portal The Ladies Finger and the award-winning boutique media house Grist Media. He works at Agami, an organisation that inspires and enables ideas for law and justice.

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/04/coronavirus-crisis-underscores-urgency_27.html

[theinvinciblenoob]

Tizeti, the Nigerian internet service provider behind the brand Wifi.com.ng, has raised $3 million in a new round of funding as it expands its unlimited internet service into Ghana.

The new financing was led by 4DX Ventures, a new, Africa-focused fund that’s been deploying capital at an incredibly fast clip since its launch earlier this year. Its portfolio includes Sokowatch, a startup connecting local African retailers to international suppliers; the outsourced programmer placement and apprenticeship service, Andela; and the integrated pharmacy supplier and operator, mPharma.

For Walter Baddoo, one of 4DX Ventures co-founders and a new addition to the Tizeti board, the value in a company that operates as “the Comcast of Africa” was clear.

“If you take the efficiency of point to multipoint wireless technology and you add to that solar infrastructure, you leap-frog a generation of infrastructure. That makes getting cheap data to the hands of customers much easier,” Baddoo says.

Tizeti does exactly that. Using solar energy to power its wireless towers, the company provides residences, businesses, events and conferences with unlimited high-speed broadband internet access, which now covers more than 70 percent of Lagos. Since its launch from Y Combinator’s winter 2017 batch, the company has installed over 7,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots in Nigeria with 150,000 users.

Tizeti co-founders Ifeanyi Okonkwo and Kendall Ananyi

In November, the company partnered with Facebook to offer Express Wi-Fi and roll out hundreds of hotspots across the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

Now, with the new funding, Tizeti is expanding its operations outside of Nigeria, launching a new brand — Wifi.Africa — and pushing its service into Ghana.

“Tizeti was built to tackle poor internet connectivity not only in Nigeria, but on the continent as a whole, by developing a cost-effective solution from inception to delivery, for reliable and uncapped internet access for potentially millions of Africans,” said Kendall Ananyi, the co-founder and chief executive of Tizeti.

The company’s unlimited internet packages cost $30 per-month, a price it’s able to achieve through the use of cheap solar electricity to power its towers.

“Reducing the cost of data in Africa is a critical step in accelerating the pace of internet adoption across the continent,” Baddoo said in a statement. “Tizeti makes it easier and cheaper to connect Africa to the global digital economy and we are excited to partner with Kendall and his team on this mission.”

All of this is being powered by a network of new undersea cables stretching along the ocean floor that is bringing connectivity to the continent.

“There’s a ton of capacity going to 16 submarine cables [coming into Africa],” Ananyi told us back in 2017. “The problem is getting the internet to the customers. You have balloons and drones and that will work in the rural areas but it’s not effective in urban environments. We solve the internet problem in a dense area.”

It’s not a radical concept, and it’s one that has netted the company 3,000 subscribers already and nearly $1.2 million in annual recorded revenue in its first months of operations, Ananyi told us at the time.

“There are 1.2 billion people in Africa, but only 26 percent of them are online and most get internet over mobile phones,” says Ananyi. Perhaps only 6 percent of that population has an internet subscription, he said.

Photo courtesy of Flickr/Steve Song

via TechCrunch

[albaniaenergymarket-lg]

Challenges on build-up a sustainable energy sector in Albania

Challenges on build-up a sustainable energy sector in Albania

Analyse by Adv. Lorenc Gordani, PhD

1. Drives shaping the future of energy in Albania

1.1 Rebalance of the energy paradigm

Today the forces shaping the future of energy based to the drives of European integration process. So, Albania even without being part of the EU, regard the energy sector, due to its involvement in the Energy Community Treaty (EnC) and global agreements in climate changes, has adopted already the legal framework, is strengthening the institutional participation, and have to work more on enforce the putting in practice the engagements taken at international level. Notwithstanding, this “nobles” drives, the create of an internal market of energy for the MS putted in act from a ‘92, has taken a long time and is currently underway at different speeds in all EU countries. Instead, the deregulation started first in England since the early 1980s, rather than the integration itself, to which this country has always been reticent, has seen the main driver to the opening up of the opportunities for private capital and increasing competition and innovation for the final consumer. Then despite the above-mentioned political commitments, it has to be highlight that the liberalisation and sustainable development (i.e. renewable resources, energy efficiency, etc.) has the potential itself to bring benefits to consumers, directly reducing emissions and increasing supply security. Policies that are also related to the improving of the competitiveness, the innovation, the comfort living, and the employment, providing further incentives at regional, national and local levels. Indeed, since mid-2000, all the drives have converged toward the energy trilemma: economic growth, affordability and security of supply. In this regard, if we referee to the last report of the World Energy Council, the current generation structure in Albania, based entirely on hydropower sources, ranking us 20th on environmental sustainability, but regard the two other pillars of security and energy affordability positioned at the 76th and 90th among the 125 countries examined. A weakness that in fact is not necessary to be find out from international institutions, as drought or cold weather has systematically highlighted as an issue to be addressed as soon as possible.

1.2 Disruptive force shaping the future of energy

The forces that drive change in the energy industry have shifted over time. For decades, finding affordable energy sources to meet a growing demand has been the key force in the industry. After the oil crisis in the 1970s, security of supply started to play a vital role. Today the energy word is in a strong change and the focus is shift towards sustainability. Accelerated urbanization will have a major impact of energy demand on the urban areas that are becoming more and more the bigger consumer, shaping the future of energy through the distribute resources, energy efficiency solutions, smart cities, etc. In specific, in Albania one third of the total number of consumers is located in the capital and the rest in the largest urban and rural areas of the western lowland with high solar radiation. Climate change and technological breakthroughs are the most relevant megatrends shaping the future of energy. Changing that influence policies and regulation, investment decisions and consumption behaviour. Technological and economic changes in the energy industry that are reverberating through the entire economy. Then to assure the catch of tomorrow trend we have to invest in the today education of new generation and young energy professionals.

1.3 Albania plans on energy efficiency and the boost of pilot projects

Actually, the energy intensity in Albania, similar to other WBs economies, is very high compared to the average of the EU. The country remain 3 times more energy intensive than the EU 28 at large and 1.6 times more than new member states from Central and Eastern Europe. A situation that make the energy efficiency to be considered as the biggest energy resource - as it is cost effective and widely available! In more, energy efficiency may also enhance energy security, while at the same time decrease the emissions. On above, the residential and transport sectors represent the largest components of total final energy consumption, accounting up to 70% of the total. Cutting it will contribute towards much-needed economic growth and reduce reliance on imported hydrocarbons. In more, delivering such savings would have a significant impact on trade balances, and public and household budgets, as well as protect against energy tariffs adjustments, contributing in final to the economic growth. Then, Albania as the others Energy Community member have already formally adopted three Directives, on Energy Efficiency, Energy Performance of Buildings, and Energy Labelling of Products. Notwithstanding the above adopting, putting the energy efficiency rules, norms and standards in practice it was shown a tough challenges. A process thought to be kick-off by mandatory audit for large energy consumers, new facilities or existing buildings subject to substantial reconstruction, or all entities applying for a funded program from the Energy Efficiency Fund. The implements process, have seen in the last months the adaptation of the 2nd and the 3rd Energy Efficiency Action Plan (EEAP). Then, in this stage essential will be the speedy adoption of the set of by-laws to implement the new legislation by Albania’s, as well as the setting up of a dedicated energy efficiency fund, the launch of the process for licensing the auditors and the complete of local energy plans, which will enable the effective financing of measures and projects in the field of energy efficiency.

1.4 Albania Commitments on Climate Change

Albania’s contribution to the global greenhouse gas emissions is relatively low, estimated at an average of 9,4 million ton/year of CO2 eqv. This is because over 99 percent of Albania’s electricity is produced from hydro sources and high-energy intensity industries are no longer operating. However, the country was been part of both the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and subsequently the Kyoto Protocol. The above is also complete by the engagement taken within Energy Community Treaty, and based on signed the Paris Agreement on 22 April 2016. Following which, in line with the EU 20-20-20 objectives, Albania has presented the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution in September 2016 meeting held in New York, aiming a reducing CO2 emissions compared to the baseline scenario of the 2016 by 11.5% reduction in 2030. Then, it is followed with the preparation of the draft law on "Climate Change" and the draft DCM for "Monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions” in conformity with the National Mitigation Strategy & National Mitigation Action Plan supported by the European Union Delegation through the IBECA. The above level of targets that will be further elaborated under the Integrated Energy and Climate Plan along 2018. This would mean that Albania’s greenhouse gas emissions allows to have a smooth trend of achieving 2 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per capita by 2050, which is been taken as a target for global contraction convergence on greenhouse gas emissions.  

2. Dilemmas on the future scenarios of the energy

2.1 The need for new power resources

The developments of Albanian economy, is continually rising the demand of the energy consumption. Historically it is faced by the inadequacy of production from national sources. Since 1999, with few exceptions (only 2010 and 2016), the country has had a deficit in covering the demand for electricity, transforming it into a large net importer from the countries of the region. This was reflected in the high financial costs that have frequently undermined the Albanian electricity system and the state budget finances. As for the future, by 2030 the demand for electricity, based to the Regulatory Authority of Energy (ERE) estimation with an expected growth rate of 1.5%, and the regional study "Sled SEE 2016" of 3%, is forecast to pass from currently 7.1 TWh to 10.8-13 TWh. A substantial increase that make mandatory the build of new generation power plants. Following the up to now policy the new resources expected to come from sources based on low costs (LCOE) such as the up to now hydroelectric using a potential of over 41 billion m3 of water from an average height of 750 m. Factors that has attracted many local and foreign companies, with international reputation, to see with interest the invest in the hydroelectric sector. And the lately, the favourable provision of new res policy and law, have create a tendency of the rise of interest of many local companies always with some connection with international photovoltaics company.

2.2 Strategy outlined on base line scenario

Following a long process last several years, Albania finally on 26 march 2018 launched a new energy strategy by 2030. A strategy prepared in framework of USAID programme to provide technical assistance to support a Long-term Low Emission Development Strategy. This strategy, based on an updated LEAP (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System) model for Albania. Then by first, a baseline scenario was established, which represents the most likely evolution of the Albanian energy sector. Next, a set of scenarios were developed that represent alternative approaches to achieving the strategic goals for the country. Further, there are develop the main matrix to quantify the impacts of alternative energy policies and strategies, making use LEAP modelling, and based to baseline scenario, calibrated to the 2014 official energy balance and extended to 2030.

2.3 Energy strategy alternative scenarios

Then, based to the baseline scenario have been outline five possible scenarios for the future of energy. First, the Renewable Energy Scenario is based upon Albania’s obligations as a Contracting Parties to the Energy Community Treaty to transpose and comply with the EU Directives on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. One of the requirements of this Directive is the preparation and adoption of a National Renewable Energy Plan (NREAP), adopted by the GoA in 2016 and update in the beginning of 2018, which sets a binding national target of 38% of renewables in the final total energy consumption of the country in the year 2020. The Energy Efficiency Scenario is also based upon the country’s commitments under the Energy Community Treaty, the new law on Energy Efficiency No. 124, dated 12.11.2015, and the new law on Energy Performance in Buildings, No. 116, dated 20.11.2016, etc. Specific measures was been developed from the 2nd and 3rd drafts of the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) finalised at December 2017. A Natural Gas Promotion Scenario is designed to calculate the amount of the natural gas, which can penetrate in the different demand sectors (residential, service, industry, transport and agriculture) as well as power generation from the fuel coming from the Trans Adriatic Natural Gas Pipeline. In last, a Combined Scenario was prepared that analyses the implementation of EE measures, the RES technologies, and the penetration of natural gas as strategic fuel. In addition, the Albania-Kosovo Coupling Scenario examines an integrated operation of the Albania and Kosovo electricity generating plants.

2.4 Strategic metrics of Albanian energy sector scenarios

2.4.1 Improve reliability and security of energy supply To help the guide the development of the Albania energy sector, the strategy have been further developed, conform the three criteria of trilemma reported in begin, calculation the overall impact (costs and benefits) of the various policy scenarios related to achieving those objectives. Metrics (or quantitative measure) are carried out for the five core Albania scenarios: Baseline, EE, Gas Promotion, RES and Combined, plus where comparison can be made, the impact of coupling the Albania and Kosovo scenarios. One of the key metrics associated with security of supply goal includes reducing imports of electricity and oil products. Figure shows the percentage of all energy imports as a function of the total primary energy supply (TPES). The EE scenario is clearly the driver for reductions in imports, and the Albania-Kosovo coupling scenario shows a dramatic improvement in import dependence (24% in 2030). The RES scenario does not affect imports, and the Gas promotion scenario significantly increases import dependence. However, the combined scenario shows the greatest reduction in imports (32% in 2030) compared to the Baseline. Another metric associated with this goal is to improve energy efficiency, including achieving the targets according to the third NEEAP. The RES scenario shows a small improvement in final energy use, but the Gas Promotion scenario increases final energy use as gas largely replaces electricity from hydropower. Consider the quantity of energy need to be generate figure shows that the EE scenario keeps electricity consumption flat between 2020 and 2030. The Combined scenario has lower electricity generation than even the EE scenario. A further metric under security of supply is the utilization of renewable energy by meeting the RES targets according to approved NREAP.  Figure shows the percentage of RES reduce dramatically on Gas Promotion scenario that displace hydropower generation used for building heating. 2.4.2 Improve cost-effectiveness of energy supply systems Figure shows that the greatest improvement in energy intensity of GDP, which is an overall measure of energy sector cost-effectiveness, improves most significantly for the EE scenario, and that the Combined scenario also shows important improvements, as well as the Albania-Kosovo coupling scenario address this metric. The greatest financial benefits result from the integrated Albania-Kosovo power system scenario, with a net financial benefit for both systems averages 75 million euros annually between 2017 and 2030. 2.4.3 Achieve INDC targets for GHG emission reductions The sustainable metric for the energy strategy see it how the scenario contributes to reaching a GHG reduction target of 11.5% below the baseline in 2030. As shown in figure the EE scenario achieves a 27% reduction in emissions relative to the Baseline scenario. The RES scenario achieves a 9% reduction, but the Gas Promotion scenario increases emissions by 34%. Thus, in conclusion, as seen by the above, in the energy world, there is always more than one solution. In this fluid framework, it is important the find out a right balance. In regard, if we want a change happen we need to start with the paradigm that transformation come not by the need (i.e. EU integration process), but by taking a guiding role through the prospect opportunity of sustainable development. To make it possible qualitative steps are required, that will make possible that a series of conventions, strategies, and laws not remain in theory or be limited by approximation of legislation, but go directly into the putting them into practice. Disclaimer: The ownership and the opinion expressed pertain to their authors. While all the effort are made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations may differ and should be discussed with an expert. For any specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, contact us through “lorenc_gordani@albaniaenergy.org”. Most Read Publications Most Visit Section Read the full article

[brajeshupadhyay]

Coronavirus crisis underscores urgency of bridging divide between India's digital haves and have-nots

In the mid 90s, Bill Gates released his first book, The Road Ahead, and it blew our minds. Or at least one part of it did (I never managed to read much of it). In it, Gates described the Seattle home he was then building with inlaid fiber optic cables where each room would have its own unobtrusive touchpad to control the lights, music and temperature. Best of all, as you entered a room, it’d automatically customise those elements and even wall paintings (via LCD screens) based on personal preferences, all pinged via an electronic pin everyone in the house would wear.

I was reminded of that moment from a quarter century ago as I listened to a recent webinar on access to the internet in India, organised by Agami, the law and justice organisation where I work. Much of Gates’ fantastic vision has become widely available today in the form of mobile phones, smart devices and apps – all of them powered by the internet, and what he then romantically called the Information Highway.

In a socially distanced landscape, addressing the 'digital ditch' is more essential than ever. Representational image from Reuters/Kacper Pempel

Now in our elastically wrenching world, Gates is having another moment of prescience (as well as right-wing data hacks and conspiracy theories), this time with brighter sweaters and a thinner, papery voice. Whatever you think of him, he did baldly predict in his 2015 TED talk that “the greatest risk of global catastrophe” was not nuclear war but “most likely a highly infectious virus...not missiles but microbes”.

The march of the internet into our lives, taking over every aspect and every hour, is so ubiquitous it doesn't need much emphasis or spelling out. And concurrently, neither does the fact that as more than a fifth of humanity frets under some form of lockdown and the rest practices swivel-eyed social distancing, we are all keeping up some semblance of normalcy by going online.

A recent survey found that internet browsing shot up by 72 percent in the first week of lockdown in India. Online is where we are all talking and conferencing and texting, sharing parody videos, moving our money, dropping out of online courses, asking doctors about pulse oximeters, damning house cleaning bloggers, thanking recipe writers for using metric measurements, rediscovering celebrities for their shenanigans and, of course, unquenchably consuming the news and ordering more and more supplies even as we feel all Zoomed out.

The new economy is not so new anymore, and it’s vital to say this aloud: Our economy is now vastly inaccessible without the internet. All the platforms, gateways and content are useless without it. Yet according to government data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), only about half of Indians have access to the basic broadband speed of 512 Kbps or more. Last year’s IAMAI-Nielsen study found an even wider gap of only 36 percent of Indians having internet access in the first place. And only a third of them are women.

This is not a digital divide anymore. This is a digital ditch.

Which means, half to two-thirds of the country are in an economic ditch.

Much of the high speed and reliable networks have been first laid in urban centres, and the work on Digital India programmes has not kept pace with the gradually devolving economy or the current COVID-19 crisis. Perhaps some of this slowness is due to decision makers still not quite accepting that the internet has moved this fast from being a useful luxury to an essential resource? Or is it more of a lingering bias that rural or disadvantaged Indians just don't need as much internet as people like us?

Either way, the numbers tell a different story. Of all ‘regular users’ in India (who accessed the internet in the last 30 days), 40 percent are actually rural users – and that base is growing much faster than the urban one. More than 50 percent of rural customers are willing to go online to buy goods. Two thirds of all existing Indian internet users are in the 12-29 year age group, and in general this age group resides much more in rural than urban India. Data usage in rural India increased by almost 100 percent during the lockdown. And all this when rural internet penetration stands at only 27 percent (versus 51 percent in urban areas).

In January, the Supreme Court declared access to the internet a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution. This was in response to a plea on the internet blockade in Jammu & Kashmir since last summer’s revoking of Article 370. Since then, there has been only partial lifting of the digital ban there – only 2G speeds for postpaid mobiles while prepaid sims still have to get verified – despite mounting reports that lack of high-speed internet is hobbling the medical community and accelerating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed, retired Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir, as well as Rahul Matthan, Partner at Trilegal law firm, criticised such internet shutdowns at the Agami webinar. They both cited similar metaphors comparing the internet today to essential services like water and electricity, and how authorities don’t switch them off to some citizens when convenient.

Now, the internet has thankfully been deemed an essential service by the Home Ministry during the national lockdown, but there doesn’t seem much more on the government’s agenda here. “I don't think the [central] government has realised how critical this infrastructure is,” Aruna Sundararajan, former Telecom Secretary of India, said at the webinar. “I served on the COVID taskforce in Kerala and we devoted a whole chapter to seeing how to ensure internet services wouldn’t get disrupted, how there’d [actually] be a 30-40 percent increase in availability. We put in suggestions that people who normally don’t have access somehow need to be given it because they’re the ones who need it the most.”

Governments and companies worldwide are hustling to ensure that their citizens remain online. Chile is offering a “solidarity plan" for affordable internet in partnership with private companies, while Thailand has granted 10 GB of free data to mobile users. Egypt has given free SIM cards to students and borne the cost of a 20 percent increase in all subscribers' monthly downloads. In the US, the telecom regulator negotiated with more than 50 major internet providers to get them to agree to suspend data and speed caps, suspend shutoffs and late fees, waive installation fees, provide free service and other schemes for low-income users and open Wi-Fi hotspots for the public.

Meanwhile, the major telecom and broadband companies in India have offered some initiatives like free incoming calls to low-income users, Airtel and BSNL have provided extended mobile validity and Rs 10 talktime free, while Jio Phone users have got 100 minutes and 100 SMS free. Meanwhile, ACT Fibernet has offered free upgrades of unlimited data and 300 Mbps speed, Jio Fiber has offered free 10 Mbps connections to new users and double data to existing ones, and Jio has offered free broadband in some places.

Some say that in this crisis, the Indian government needs to pitch in much more such as reduce red tape to enable telecom companies to build capacity fast, incentivise them to increase data limits and subsidise costs, and even use disaster relief funds to build public Wi-Fi zones. There were a host of other solutions proposed at the webinar as well. Sundararajan said the government must build the infrastructure for 4G access for all Indians – and pointed out that this is actually possible in just 6-12 months – as well as finish the incomplete project to lay fiber optic cables for 2.5 lakh gram panchayats. Sundararajan and Apar Gupta, Executive Director of Internet Freedom Foundation, also recommended that the pending Data Protection Bill be enacted to address cybersecurity concerns as citizens go online.

Justice Ahmed suggested engaging the local Legal Services Authorities across the country to provide internet and justice access to their constituencies, while Matthan emphasised the right to broadband rather than just internet as a more realistic need today. Gupta recommended voluntary pledges by telecom companies to not disconnect connections for non-payment during this crisis, actualising a network neutrality enforcement mechanism in telecom licenses for private entities, and regulatory reform in telecom suspension rules to guard against internet shutdowns.

The non-profit Jan Sahas has reported that a significant proportion of the distress calls they’re receiving are actually requests to recharge mobile phone accounts. “In the next 12-24 months we’ll have restrictions of some kind,” said Sundararajan, “and the need for internet is only going to exponentially accelerate.” We can’t meaningfully talk about justice for the offline world anymore, given its sharp marginalisation from most mainstream social, political and economic activity.

The fact is that those of us in the information or service economies are not the only ones who need the internet, not anymore. For most of this century, all Indians have needed it to lead fuller and fully connected lives; the big difference in the last few years is that we now also need it to be fuller consumers. And in a landscape that promises to be socially distanced for the next one to two years, all of us need it whether we are in the organised or unorganised sector.

There is the case of access to justice, and there is the case for access to a healthy life. Getting all citizens online is surely the one reliable way to unite them in following mandates for the greater good while giving them a way to access basic needs. And getting everyone online would also surely create a permanent resource to help the Indian economy leap away from the cliff it’s getting overfamiliar with.

Gaurav Jain is a writer, editor and entrepreneur who co-founded the digital feminist portal The Ladies Finger and the award-winning boutique media house Grist Media. He works at Agami, an organisation that inspires and enables ideas for law and justice.

via Blogger https://ift.tt/2Y7Bz9y

[brajeshupadhyay]

Coronavirus crisis underscores urgency of bridging divide between India's digital haves and have-nots

In the mid 90s, Bill Gates released his first book, The Road Ahead, and it blew our minds. Or at least one part of it did (I never managed to read much of it). In it, Gates described the Seattle home he was then building with inlaid fiber optic cables where each room would have its own unobtrusive touchpad to control the lights, music and temperature. Best of all, as you entered a room, it’d automatically customise those elements and even wall paintings (via LCD screens) based on personal preferences, all pinged via an electronic pin everyone in the house would wear.

I was reminded of that moment from a quarter century ago as I listened to a recent webinar on access to the internet in India, organised by Agami, the law and justice organisation where I work. Much of Gates’ fantastic vision has become widely available today in the form of mobile phones, smart devices and apps – all of them powered by the internet, and what he then romantically called the Information Highway.

Now in our elastically wrenching world, Gates is having another moment of prescience (as well as right-wing data hacks and conspiracy theories), this time with brighter sweaters and a thinner, papery voice. Whatever you think of him, he did baldly predict in his 2015 TED talk that “the greatest risk of global catastrophe” was not nuclear war but “most likely a highly infectious virus...not missiles but microbes”.

The march of the internet into our lives, taking over every aspect and every hour, is so ubiquitous it doesn't need much emphasis or spelling out. And concurrently, neither does the fact that as more than a fifth of humanity frets under some form of lockdown and the rest practices swivel-eyed social distancing, we are all keeping up some semblance of normalcy by going online.

A recent survey found that internet browsing shot up by 72 percent in the first week of lockdown in India. Online is where we are all talking and conferencing and texting, sharing parody videos, moving our money, dropping out of online courses, asking doctors about pulse oximeters, damning house cleaning bloggers, thanking recipe writers for using metric measurements, rediscovering celebrities for their shenanigans and, of course, unquenchably consuming the news and ordering more and more supplies even as we feel all Zoomed out.

The new economy is not so new anymore, and it’s vital to say this aloud: Our economy is now vastly inaccessible without the internet. All the platforms, gateways and content are useless without it. Yet according to government data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), only about half of Indians have access to the basic broadband speed of 512 Kbps or more. Last year’s IAMAI-Nielsen study found an even wider gap of only 36 percent of Indians having internet access in the first place. And only a third of them are women.

This is not a digital divide anymore. This is a digital ditch.

Which means, half to two-thirds of the country are in an economic ditch.

Much of the high speed and reliable networks have been first laid in urban centres, and the work on Digital India programmes has not kept pace with the gradually devolving economy or the current COVID-19 crisis. Perhaps some of this slowness is due to decision makers still not quite accepting that the internet has moved this fast from being a useful luxury to an essential resource? Or is it more of a lingering bias that rural or disadvantaged Indians just don't need as much internet as people like us?

Either way, the numbers tell a different story. Of all ‘regular users’ in India (who accessed the internet in the last 30 days), 40 percent are actually rural users – and that base is growing much faster than the urban one. More than 50 percent of rural customers are willing to go online to buy goods. Two thirds of all existing Indian internet users are in the 12-29 year age group, and in general this age group resides much more in rural than urban India. Data usage in rural India increased by almost 100 percent during the lockdown. And all this when rural internet penetration stands at only 27 percent (versus 51 percent in urban areas).

In January, the Supreme Court declared access to the internet a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution. This was in response to a plea on the internet blockade in Jammu & Kashmir since last summer’s revoking of Article 370. Since then, there has been only partial lifting of the digital ban there – only 2G speeds for postpaid mobiles while prepaid sims still have to get verified – despite mounting reports that lack of high-speed internet is hobbling the medical community and accelerating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed, retired Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir, as well as Rahul Matthan, Partner at Trilegal law firm, criticised such internet shutdowns at the Agami webinar. They both cited similar metaphors comparing the internet today to essential services like water and electricity, and how authorities don’t switch them off to some citizens when convenient.

Now, the internet has thankfully been deemed an essential service by the Home Ministry during the national lockdown, but there doesn’t seem much more on the government’s agenda here. “I don't think the [central] government has realised how critical this infrastructure is,” Aruna Sundararajan, former Telecom Secretary of India, said at the webinar. “I served on the COVID taskforce in Kerala and we devoted a whole chapter to seeing how to ensure internet services wouldn’t get disrupted, how there’d [actually] be a 30-40 percent increase in availability. We put in suggestions that people who normally don’t have access somehow need to be given it because they’re the ones who need it the most.”

Governments and companies worldwide are hustling to ensure that their citizens remain online. Chile is offering a “solidarity plan" for affordable internet in partnership with private companies, while Thailand has granted 10 GB of free data to mobile users. Egypt has given free SIM cards to students and borne the cost of a 20 percent increase in all subscribers' monthly downloads. In the US, the telecom regulator negotiated with more than 50 major internet providers to get them to agree to suspend data and speed caps, suspend shutoffs and late fees, waive installation fees, provide free service and other schemes for low-income users and open Wi-Fi hotspots for the public.

Meanwhile, the major telecom and broadband companies in India have offered some initiatives like free incoming calls to low-income users, Airtel and BSNL have provided extended mobile validity and Rs 10 talktime free, while Jio Phone users have got 100 minutes and 100 SMS free. Meanwhile, ACT Fibernet has offered free upgrades of unlimited data and 300 Mbps speed, Jio Fiber has offered free 10 Mbps connections to new users and double data to existing ones, and Jio has offered free broadband in some places.

Some say that in this crisis, the Indian government needs to pitch in much more such as reduce red tape to enable telecom companies to build capacity fast, incentivise them to increase data limits and subsidise costs, and even use disaster relief funds to build public Wi-Fi zones. There were a host of other solutions proposed at the webinar as well. Sundararajan said the government must build the infrastructure for 4G access for all Indians – and pointed out that this is actually possible in just 6-12 months – as well as finish the incomplete project to lay fiber optic cables for 2.5 lakh gram panchayats. Sundararajan and Apar Gupta, Executive Director of Internet Freedom Foundation, also recommended that the pending Data Protection Bill be enacted to address cybersecurity concerns as citizens go online.

Justice Ahmed suggested engaging the local Legal Services Authorities across the country to provide internet and justice access to their constituencies, while Matthan emphasised the right to broadband rather than just internet as a more realistic need today. Gupta recommended voluntary pledges by telecom companies to not disconnect connections for non-payment during this crisis, actualising a network neutrality enforcement mechanism in telecom licenses for private entities, and regulatory reform in telecom suspension rules to guard against internet shutdowns.

The non-profit Jan Sahas has reported that a significant proportion of the distress calls they’re receiving are actually requests to recharge mobile phone accounts. “In the next 12-24 months we’ll have restrictions of some kind,” said Sundararajan, “and the need for internet is only going to exponentially accelerate.” We can’t meaningfully talk about justice for the offline world anymore, given its sharp marginalisation from most mainstream social, political and economic activity.

The fact is that those of us in the information or service economies are not the only ones who need the internet, not anymore. For most of this century, all Indians have needed it to lead fuller and fully connected lives; the big difference in the last few years is that we now also need it to be fuller consumers. And in a landscape that promises to be socially distanced for the next 1-2 years, all of us need it whether we are in the organised or unorganised sector.

There is the case of access to justice, and there is the case for access to a healthy life. Getting all citizens online is surely the one reliable way to unite them in following mandates for the greater good while giving them a way to access basic needs. And getting everyone online would also surely create a permanent resource to help the Indian economy leap away from the cliff it’s getting overfamiliar with.

Gaurav Jain is a writer, editor and entrepreneur who co-founded the digital feminist portal The Ladies Finger and the award-winning boutique media house Grist Media. He works at Agami, an organisation that inspires and enables ideas for law and justice.

via Blogger https://ift.tt/2VYl10X

[brajeshupadhyay]

Coronavirus crisis underscores urgency of bridging divide between India's digital haves and have-nots

In the mid 90s, Bill Gates released his first book, The Road Ahead, and it blew our minds. Or at least one part of it did (I never managed to read much of it). In it, Gates described the Seattle home he was then building with inlaid fiber optic cables where each room would have its own unobtrusive touchpad to control the lights, music and temperature. Best of all, as you entered a room, it’d automatically customise those elements and even wall paintings (via LCD screens) based on personal preferences, all pinged via an electronic pin everyone in the house would wear.

I was reminded of that moment from a quarter century ago as I listened to a recent webinar on access to the internet in India, organised by Agami, the law and justice organisation where I work. Much of Gates’ fantastic vision has become widely available today in the form of mobile phones, smart devices and apps – all of them powered by the internet, and what he then romantically called the Information Highway.

Now in our elastically wrenching world, Gates is having another moment of prescience (as well as right-wing data hacks and conspiracy theories), this time with brighter sweaters and a thinner, papery voice. Whatever you think of him, he did baldly predict in his 2015 TED talk that “the greatest risk of global catastrophe” was not nuclear war but “most likely a highly infectious virus...not missiles but microbes”.

The march of the internet into our lives, taking over every aspect and every hour, is so ubiquitous it doesn't need much emphasis or spelling out. And concurrently, neither does the fact that as more than a fifth of humanity frets under some form of lockdown and the rest practices swivel-eyed social distancing, we are all keeping up some semblance of normalcy by going online.

A recent survey found that internet browsing shot up by 72 percent in the first week of lockdown in India. Online is where we are all talking and conferencing and texting, sharing parody videos, moving our money, dropping out of online courses, asking doctors about pulse oximeters, damning house cleaning bloggers, thanking recipe writers for using metric measurements, rediscovering celebrities for their shenanigans and, of course, unquenchably consuming the news and ordering more and more supplies even as we feel all Zoomed out.

The new economy is not so new anymore, and it’s vital to say this aloud: Our economy is now vastly inaccessible without the internet. All the platforms, gateways and content are useless without it. Yet according to government data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), only about half of Indians have access to the basic broadband speed of 512 Kbps or more. Last year’s IAMAI-Nielsen study found an even wider gap of only 36 percent of Indians having internet access in the first place. And only a third of them are women.

This is not a digital divide anymore. This is a digital ditch.

Which means, half to two-thirds of the country are in an economic ditch.

Much of the high speed and reliable networks have been first laid in urban centres, and the work on Digital India programmes has not kept pace with the gradually devolving economy or the current COVID-19 crisis. Perhaps some of this slowness is due to decision makers still not quite accepting that the internet has moved this fast from being a useful luxury to an essential resource? Or is it more of a lingering bias that rural or disadvantaged Indians just don't need as much internet as people like us?

Either way, the numbers tell a different story. Of all ‘regular users’ in India (who accessed the internet in the last 30 days), 40 percent are actually rural users – and that base is growing much faster than the urban one. More than 50 percent of rural customers are willing to go online to buy goods. Two thirds of all existing Indian internet users are in the 12-29 year age group, and in general this age group resides much more in rural than urban India. Data usage in rural India increased by almost 100 percent during the lockdown. And all this when rural internet penetration stands at only 27 percent (versus 51 percent in urban areas).

In January, the Supreme Court declared access to the internet a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution. This was in response to a plea on the internet blockade in Jammu & Kashmir since last summer’s revoking of Article 370. Since then, there has been only partial lifting of the digital ban there – only 2G speeds for postpaid mobiles while prepaid sims still have to get verified – despite mounting reports that lack of high-speed internet is hobbling the medical community and accelerating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed, retired Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir, as well as Rahul Matthan, Partner at Trilegal law firm, criticised such internet shutdowns at the Agami webinar. They both cited similar metaphors comparing the internet today to essential services like water and electricity, and how authorities don’t switch them off to some citizens when convenient.

Now, the internet has thankfully been deemed an essential service by the Home Ministry during the national lockdown, but there doesn’t seem much more on the government’s agenda here. “I don't think the [central] government has realised how critical this infrastructure is,” Aruna Sundararajan, former Telecom Secretary of India, said at the webinar. “I served on the COVID taskforce in Kerala and we devoted a whole chapter to seeing how to ensure internet services wouldn’t get disrupted, how there’d [actually] be a 30-40 percent increase in availability. We put in suggestions that people who normally don’t have access somehow need to be given it because they’re the ones who need it the most.”

Governments and companies worldwide are hustling to ensure that their citizens remain online. Chile is offering a “solidarity plan" for affordable internet in partnership with private companies, while Thailand has granted 10 GB of free data to mobile users. Egypt has given free SIM cards to students and borne the cost of a 20 percent increase in all subscribers' monthly downloads. In the US, the telecom regulator negotiated with more than 50 major internet providers to get them to agree to suspend data and speed caps, suspend shutoffs and late fees, waive installation fees, provide free service and other schemes for low-income users and open Wi-Fi hotspots for the public.

Meanwhile, the major telecom and broadband companies in India have offered some initiatives like free incoming calls to low-income users, Airtel and BSNL have provided extended mobile validity and Rs 10 talktime free, while Jio Phone users have got 100 minutes and 100 SMS free. Meanwhile, ACT Fibernet has offered free upgrades of unlimited data and 300 Mbps speed, Jio Fiber has offered free 10 Mbps connections to new users and double data to existing ones, and Jio has offered free broadband in some places.

Some say that in this crisis, the Indian government needs to pitch in much more such as reduce red tape to enable telecom companies to build capacity fast, incentivise them to increase data limits and subsidise costs, and even use disaster relief funds to build public Wi-Fi zones. There were a host of other solutions proposed at the webinar as well. Sundararajan said the government must build the infrastructure for 4G access for all Indians – and pointed out that this is actually possible in just 6-12 months – as well as finish the incomplete project to lay fiber optic cables for 2.5 lakh gram panchayats. Sundararajan and Apar Gupta, Executive Director of Internet Freedom Foundation, also recommended that the pending Data Protection Bill be enacted to address cybersecurity concerns as citizens go online.

Justice Ahmed suggested engaging the local Legal Services Authorities across the country to provide internet and justice access to their constituencies, while Matthan emphasised the right to broadband rather than just internet as a more realistic need today. Gupta recommended voluntary pledges by telecom companies to not disconnect connections for non-payment during this crisis, actualising a network neutrality enforcement mechanism in telecom licenses for private entities, and regulatory reform in telecom suspension rules to guard against internet shutdowns.

The non-profit Jan Sahas has reported that a significant proportion of the distress calls they’re receiving are actually requests to recharge mobile phone accounts. “In the next 12-24 months we’ll have restrictions of some kind,” said Sundararajan, “and the need for internet is only going to exponentially accelerate.” We can’t meaningfully talk about justice for the offline world anymore, given its sharp marginalisation from most mainstream social, political and economic activity.

The fact is that those of us in the information or service economies are not the only ones who need the internet, not anymore. For most of this century, all Indians have needed it to lead fuller and fully connected lives; the big difference in the last few years is that we now also need it to be fuller consumers. And in a landscape that promises to be socially distanced for the next 1-2 years, all of us need it whether we are in the organised or unorganised sector.

There is the case of access to justice, and there is the case for access to a healthy life. Getting all citizens online is surely the one reliable way to unite them in following mandates for the greater good while giving them a way to access basic needs. And getting everyone online would also surely create a permanent resource to help the Indian economy leap away from the cliff it’s getting overfamiliar with.

Gaurav Jain is a writer, editor and entrepreneur who co-founded the digital feminist portal The Ladies Finger and the award-winning boutique media house Grist Media. He works at Agami, an organisation that inspires and enables ideas for law and justice.

via Blogger https://ift.tt/3eUJI79

[brajeshupadhyay]

In the mid 90s, Bill Gates released his first book, The Road Ahead, and it blew our minds. Or at least one part of it did (I never managed to read much of it). In it, Gates described the Seattle home he was then building with inlaid fiber optic cables where each room would have its own unobtrusive touchpad to control the lights, music and temperature. Best of all, as you entered a room, it’d automatically customise those elements and even wall paintings (via LCD screens) based on personal preferences, all pinged via an electronic pin everyone in the house would wear. I was reminded of that moment from a quarter century ago as I listened to a recent webinar on access to the internet in India, organised by Agami, the law and justice organisation where I work. Much of Gates’ fantastic vision has become widely available today in the form of mobile phones, smart devices and apps – all of them powered by the internet, and what he then romantically called the Information Highway. Now in our elastically wrenching world, Gates is having another moment of prescience (as well as right-wing data hacks and conspiracy theories), this time with brighter sweaters and a thinner, papery voice. Whatever you think of him, he did baldly predict in his 2015 TED talk that “the greatest risk of global catastrophe” was not nuclear war but “most likely a highly infectious virus...not missiles but microbes”. The march of the internet into our lives, taking over every aspect and every hour, is so ubiquitous it doesn't need much emphasis or spelling out. And concurrently, neither does the fact that as more than a fifth of humanity frets under some form of lockdown and the rest practices swivel-eyed social distancing, we are all keeping up some semblance of normalcy by going online. A recent survey found that internet browsing shot up by 72 percent in the first week of lockdown in India. Online is where we are all talking and conferencing and texting, sharing parody videos, moving our money, dropping out of online courses, asking doctors about pulse oximeters, damning house cleaning bloggers, thanking recipe writers for using metric measurements, rediscovering celebrities for their shenanigans and, of course, unquenchably consuming the news and ordering more and more supplies even as we feel all Zoomed out. The new economy is not so new anymore, and it’s vital to say this aloud: Our economy is now vastly inaccessible without the internet. All the platforms, gateways and content are useless without it. Yet according to government data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), only about half of Indians have access to the basic broadband speed of 512 Kbps or more. Last year’s IAMAI-Nielsen study found an even wider gap of only 36 percent of Indians having internet access in the first place. And only a third of them are women. This is not a digital divide anymore. This is a digital ditch. Which means, half to two-thirds of the country are in an economic ditch. Much of the high speed and reliable networks have been first laid in urban centres, and the work on Digital India programmes has not kept pace with the gradually devolving economy or the current COVID-19 crisis. Perhaps some of this slowness is due to decision makers still not quite accepting that the internet has moved this fast from being a useful luxury to an essential resource? Or is it more of a lingering bias that rural or disadvantaged Indians just don't need as much internet as people like us? Either way, the numbers tell a different story. Of all ‘regular users’ in India (who accessed the internet in the last 30 days), 40 percent are actually rural users – and that base is growing much faster than the urban one. More than 50 percent of rural customers are willing to go online to buy goods. Two thirds of all existing Indian internet users are in the 12-29 year age group, and in general this age group resides much more in rural than urban India. Data usage in rural India increased by almost 100 percent during the lockdown. And all this when rural internet penetration stands at only 27 percent (versus 51 percent in urban areas). In January, the Supreme Court declared access to the internet a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution. This was in response to a plea on the internet blockade in Jammu & Kashmir since last summer’s revoking of Article 370. Since then, there has been only partial lifting of the digital ban there – only 2G speeds for postpaid mobiles while prepaid sims still have to get verified – despite mounting reports that lack of high-speed internet is hobbling the medical community and accelerating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed, retired Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir, as well as Rahul Matthan, Partner at Trilegal law firm, criticised such internet shutdowns at the Agami webinar. They both cited similar metaphors comparing the internet today to essential services like water and electricity, and how authorities don’t switch them off to some citizens when convenient. Now, the internet has thankfully been deemed an essential service by the Home Ministry during the national lockdown, but there doesn’t seem much more on the government’s agenda here. “I don't think the [central] government has realised how critical this infrastructure is,” Aruna Sundararajan, former Telecom Secretary of India, said at the webinar. “I served on the COVID taskforce in Kerala and we devoted a whole chapter to seeing how to ensure internet services wouldn’t get disrupted, how there’d [actually] be a 30-40 percent increase in availability. We put in suggestions that people who normally don’t have access somehow need to be given it because they’re the ones who need it the most.” Governments and companies worldwide are hustling to ensure that their citizens remain online. Chile is offering a “solidarity plan" for affordable internet in partnership with private companies, while Thailand has granted 10 GB of free data to mobile users. Egypt has given free SIM cards to students and borne the cost of a 20 percent increase in all subscribers' monthly downloads. In the US, the telecom regulator negotiated with more than 50 major internet providers to get them to agree to suspend data and speed caps, suspend shutoffs and late fees, waive installation fees, provide free service and other schemes for low-income users and open Wi-Fi hotspots for the public. Meanwhile, the major telecom and broadband companies in India have offered some initiatives like free incoming calls to low-income users, Airtel and BSNL have provided extended mobile validity and Rs 10 talktime free, while Jio Phone users have got 100 minutes and 100 SMS free. Meanwhile, ACT Fibernet has offered free upgrades of unlimited data and 300 Mbps speed, Jio Fiber has offered free 10 Mbps connections to new users and double data to existing ones, and Jio has offered free broadband in some places. Some say that in this crisis, the Indian government needs to pitch in much more such as reduce red tape to enable telecom companies to build capacity fast, incentivise them to increase data limits and subsidise costs, and even use disaster relief funds to build public Wi-Fi zones. There were a host of other solutions proposed at the webinar as well. Sundararajan said the government must build the infrastructure for 4G access for all Indians – and pointed out that this is actually possible in just 6-12 months – as well as finish the incomplete project to lay fiber optic cables for 2.5 lakh gram panchayats. Sundararajan and Apar Gupta, Executive Director of Internet Freedom Foundation, also recommended that the pending Data Protection Bill be enacted to address cybersecurity concerns as citizens go online. Justice Ahmed suggested engaging the local Legal Services Authorities across the country to provide internet and justice access to their constituencies, while Matthan emphasised the right to broadband rather than just internet as a more realistic need today. Gupta recommended voluntary pledges by telecom companies to not disconnect connections for non-payment during this crisis, actualising a network neutrality enforcement mechanism in telecom licenses for private entities, and regulatory reform in telecom suspension rules to guard against internet shutdowns. The non-profit Jan Sahas has reported that a significant proportion of the distress calls they’re receiving are actually requests to recharge mobile phone accounts. “In the next 12-24 months we’ll have restrictions of some kind,” said Sundararajan, “and the need for internet is only going to exponentially accelerate.” We can’t meaningfully talk about justice for the offline world anymore, given its sharp marginalisation from most mainstream social, political and economic activity. The fact is that those of us in the information or service economies are not the only ones who need the internet, not anymore. For most of this century, all Indians have needed it to lead fuller and fully connected lives; the big difference in the last few years is that we now also need it to be fuller consumers. And in a landscape that promises to be socially distanced for the next 1-2 years, all of us need it whether we are in the organised or unorganised sector. There is the case of access to justice, and there is the case for access to a healthy life. Getting all citizens online is surely the one reliable way to unite them in following mandates for the greater good while giving them a way to access basic needs. And getting everyone online would also surely create a permanent resource to help the Indian economy leap away from the cliff it’s getting overfamiliar with. Gaurav Jain is a writer, editor and entrepreneur who co-founded the digital feminist portal The Ladies Finger and the award-winning boutique media house Grist Media. He works at Agami, an organisation that inspires and enables ideas for law and justice.

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/04/coronavirus-crisis-underscores-urgency.html

[brajeshupadhyay]

In the mid 90s, Bill Gates released his first book, The Road Ahead, and it blew our minds. Or at least one part of it did (I never managed to read much of it). In it, Gates described the Seattle home he was then building with inlaid fiber optic cables where each room would have its own unobtrusive touchpad to control the lights, music and temperature. Best of all, as you entered a room, it’d automatically customise those elements and even wall paintings (via LCD screens) based on personal preferences, all pinged via an electronic pin everyone in the house would wear. I was reminded of that moment from a quarter century ago as I listened to a recent webinar on access to the internet in India, organised by Agami, the law and justice organisation where I work. Much of Gates’ fantastic vision has become widely available today in the form of mobile phones, smart devices and apps – all of them powered by the internet, and what he then romantically called the Information Highway. Now in our elastically wrenching world, Gates is having another moment of prescience (as well as right-wing data hacks and conspiracy theories), this time with brighter sweaters and a thinner, papery voice. Whatever you think of him, he did baldly predict in his 2015 TED talk that “the greatest risk of global catastrophe” was not nuclear war but “most likely a highly infectious virus...not missiles but microbes”. The march of the internet into our lives, taking over every aspect and every hour, is so ubiquitous it doesn't need much emphasis or spelling out. And concurrently, neither does the fact that as more than a fifth of humanity frets under some form of lockdown and the rest practices swivel-eyed social distancing, we are all keeping up some semblance of normalcy by going online. A recent survey found that internet browsing shot up by 72 percent in the first week of lockdown in India. Online is where we are all talking and conferencing and texting, sharing parody videos, moving our money, dropping out of online courses, asking doctors about pulse oximeters, damning house cleaning bloggers, thanking recipe writers for using metric measurements, rediscovering celebrities for their shenanigans and, of course, unquenchably consuming the news and ordering more and more supplies even as we feel all Zoomed out. The new economy is not so new anymore, and it’s vital to say this aloud: Our economy is now vastly inaccessible without the internet. All the platforms, gateways and content are useless without it. Yet according to government data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), only about half of Indians have access to the basic broadband speed of 512 Kbps or more. Last year’s IAMAI-Nielsen study found an even wider gap of only 36 percent of Indians having internet access in the first place. And only a third of them are women. This is not a digital divide anymore. This is a digital ditch. Which means, half to two-thirds of the country are in an economic ditch. Much of the high speed and reliable networks have been first laid in urban centres, and the work on Digital India programmes has not kept pace with the gradually devolving economy or the current COVID-19 crisis. Perhaps some of this slowness is due to decision makers still not quite accepting that the internet has moved this fast from being a useful luxury to an essential resource? Or is it more of a lingering bias that rural or disadvantaged Indians just don't need as much internet as people like us? Either way, the numbers tell a different story. Of all ‘regular users’ in India (who accessed the internet in the last 30 days), 40 percent are actually rural users – and that base is growing much faster than the urban one. More than 50 percent of rural customers are willing to go online to buy goods. Two thirds of all existing Indian internet users are in the 12-29 year age group, and in general this age group resides much more in rural than urban India. Data usage in rural India increased by almost 100 percent during the lockdown. And all this when rural internet penetration stands at only 27 percent (versus 51 percent in urban areas). In January, the Supreme Court declared access to the internet a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution. This was in response to a plea on the internet blockade in Jammu & Kashmir since last summer’s revoking of Article 370. Since then, there has been only partial lifting of the digital ban there – only 2G speeds for postpaid mobiles while prepaid sims still have to get verified – despite mounting reports that lack of high-speed internet is hobbling the medical community and accelerating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed, retired Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir, as well as Rahul Matthan, Partner at Trilegal law firm, criticised such internet shutdowns at the Agami webinar. They both cited similar metaphors comparing the internet today to essential services like water and electricity, and how authorities don’t switch them off to some citizens when convenient. Now, the internet has thankfully been deemed an essential service by the Home Ministry during the national lockdown, but there doesn’t seem much more on the government’s agenda here. “I don't think the [central] government has realised how critical this infrastructure is,” Aruna Sundararajan, former Telecom Secretary of India, said at the webinar. “I served on the COVID taskforce in Kerala and we devoted a whole chapter to seeing how to ensure internet services wouldn’t get disrupted, how there’d [actually] be a 30-40 percent increase in availability. We put in suggestions that people who normally don’t have access somehow need to be given it because they’re the ones who need it the most.” Governments and companies worldwide are hustling to ensure that their citizens remain online. Chile is offering a “solidarity plan" for affordable internet in partnership with private companies, while Thailand has granted 10 GB of free data to mobile users. Egypt has given free SIM cards to students and borne the cost of a 20 percent increase in all subscribers' monthly downloads. In the US, the telecom regulator negotiated with more than 50 major internet providers to get them to agree to suspend data and speed caps, suspend shutoffs and late fees, waive installation fees, provide free service and other schemes for low-income users and open Wi-Fi hotspots for the public. Meanwhile, the major telecom and broadband companies in India have offered some initiatives like free incoming calls to low-income users, Airtel and BSNL have provided extended mobile validity and Rs 10 talktime free, while Jio Phone users have got 100 minutes and 100 SMS free. Meanwhile, ACT Fibernet has offered free upgrades of unlimited data and 300 Mbps speed, Jio Fiber has offered free 10 Mbps connections to new users and double data to existing ones, and Jio has offered free broadband in some places. Some say that in this crisis, the Indian government needs to pitch in much more such as reduce red tape to enable telecom companies to build capacity fast, incentivise them to increase data limits and subsidise costs, and even use disaster relief funds to build public Wi-Fi zones. There were a host of other solutions proposed at the webinar as well. Sundararajan said the government must build the infrastructure for 4G access for all Indians – and pointed out that this is actually possible in just 6-12 months – as well as finish the incomplete project to lay fiber optic cables for 2.5 lakh gram panchayats. Sundararajan and Apar Gupta, Executive Director of Internet Freedom Foundation, also recommended that the pending Data Protection Bill be enacted to address cybersecurity concerns as citizens go online. Justice Ahmed suggested engaging the local Legal Services Authorities across the country to provide internet and justice access to their constituencies, while Matthan emphasised the right to broadband rather than just internet as a more realistic need today. Gupta recommended voluntary pledges by telecom companies to not disconnect connections for non-payment during this crisis, actualising a network neutrality enforcement mechanism in telecom licenses for private entities, and regulatory reform in telecom suspension rules to guard against internet shutdowns. The non-profit Jan Sahas has reported that a significant proportion of the distress calls they’re receiving are actually requests to recharge mobile phone accounts. “In the next 12-24 months we’ll have restrictions of some kind,” said Sundararajan, “and the need for internet is only going to exponentially accelerate.” We can’t meaningfully talk about justice for the offline world anymore, given its sharp marginalisation from most mainstream social, political and economic activity. The fact is that those of us in the information or service economies are not the only ones who need the internet, not anymore. For most of this century, all Indians have needed it to lead fuller and fully connected lives; the big difference in the last few years is that we now also need it to be fuller consumers. And in a landscape that promises to be socially distanced for the next 1-2 years, all of us need it whether we are in the organised or unorganised sector. There is the case of access to justice, and there is the case for access to a healthy life. Getting all citizens online is surely the one reliable way to unite them in following mandates for the greater good while giving them a way to access basic needs. And getting everyone online would also surely create a permanent resource to help the Indian economy leap away from the cliff it’s getting overfamiliar with. Gaurav Jain is a writer, editor and entrepreneur who co-founded the digital feminist portal The Ladies Finger and the award-winning boutique media house Grist Media. He works at Agami, an organisation that inspires and enables ideas for law and justice.

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/04/coronavirus-crisis-underscores-urgency_26.html