How has Covid impacted India鈥檚 digital divide?
The coronavirus pandemic and its resulting lockdowns are pushing everyone unexpectedly toward an online-only environment, and the spotlight has now shifted to rural India.
India has more than 630 million internet subscribers - that is more than the population of the US, the UK, Russia and South Africa put together. India also has among the world鈥檚 cheapest mobile data prices and affordable devices, which has drastically improved internet access in the last few years.
All of this excitement, however, has the sobering reality of India's continuing digital divide. For every Indian who has access to the internet, there is at least one who does not - and that person most likely lives in a rural area. The coronavirus pandemic and its resulting lockdowns are pushing everyone unexpectedly toward an online-only environment, and the spotlight has now shifted to rural India.
So, in this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss how the pandemic is forcing a change toward digital lifestyles in the country.
Presenter: Devina Gupta
Contributors: Osama Manzar, founder and director, Digital Empowerment Foundation; Avipsha Thakur, founder, Bunavat; Amith Agarwal, co-founder & CEO, AgriBazaar eMandi
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- Fri 11 Sep 2020 14:32GMT91热爆 World Service South Asia & East Asia only
- Sat 12 Sep 2020 10:32GMT91热爆 World Service South Asia & Europe and the Middle East only
- Sun 13 Sep 2020 09:06GMT91热爆 World Service except East Asia, Europe and the Middle East & South Asia
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WorklifeIndia
Live from Delhi, WorklifeIndia reflects on money, work, family, business and finance.