The Digital Economy for the first time in history presents us with an opportunity to conceivably addressprofitably the needs of everyone, everywhere.In just the past several years, businesses, governments, and non-profit organizations around the world have dedicatedvast sums and countless hours working to close the 'digital divide' in an attempt to ensure that the new informationand communications technologies benefit families in low-income communities. Why?We believe they are acting from two underlying motivations. The first is humanitarianism: they believe that the toolsof the Digital Economy can be used to empower and benefit the poor in ways that the tools of the Industrial Economycould not. The second is fear: they believe that the Divide may develop into a bottomless chasm - leading to socialand economic upheaval worldwide - unless effective means are found to include the forgotten many in the benefitsand opportunities of the Digital Age.

However, even as new strategies are being developed and resources pumped in, many question whether countriessuch as India can afford to focus on ICT for development purposes while millions of people still do not have adequateaccess to even basic resources. They argue that these technologies are too far removed and incapable of addressingthe everyday concerns of the poorest sections of the country. Even Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates, an obviousadvocate for the value of technology, recently expressed grave doubts about the power of technology to be of anybenefit to the poor.

We propose to show in this paper that such pessimism is misplaced. In fact, our personal belief is that we runtremendous risks if we believe it. Models for bold new measures to jump-start development already exist. All that ismissing is the courage and the will to move forward rather than continue to hesitate.Before we share this information on how people in this India and elsewhere are applying information technology toachieve a better future for the poor, we want to assure that we all understand that access to technology is not anadequate end in itself.

We also want to make the distinction between a narrow view and an expansive view of the potential of Informationand Communication Technology. The narrow view leads to limited goals such as simply expanding access totechnology for a more competitive national economy. The expansive view reveals the opportunity for our society toapply technology in ways that will benefit all its citizens, particularly the countless numbers struggling to rise from thebottom of the economic pyramid. The purpose of this paper is to make a case for how we can - and why we must -act on the expansive view.

The Opportunity

It is generally assumed that poor people in villages will not be able to use this technology. However, we know this issimply not true. As we have traveled around India and the rest of the world looking at theways ICT is being used toimprove the lot of the poor, and as we speak to women and children in remote villages, we have become more andmore convinced that we can apply technology in targeted ways to help poor people meetfundamental needs such as quality healthcare, effective education, effective government, and evengood jobs that allow them to earn a decent wage as a well as dignity and respect.Take the example of Jumabhen, an illiterate Kutchi woman living deep in the desert. Believe it ornot, she is earning a living, editing videos. Last June we watched her explain to an augustgathering, including Minister Pramod Mahajan, how a phone and video-editing technology hasallowed her to make a decent living and has made her life easier. She states that her biggestproblem is no longer poverty. Instead her main complaint is that the technology she isusing keeps changing, forcing her to relearn what the different buttons do on themachine.

Or take the story of the 35-year old loan officer of SKS Foundation in Medhak District -a microfinance agency in Andhra Pradesh. She is responsible for disbursements andcollection of loans in her district. Her education is only up to4th standard, but she hastaught herself to use Microsoft Excel so that she can keep all her records on aspreadsheet. She now interacts with software developers to help design better user-interface programs for herorganization and for her record keeping.

Or there is the story of Aditya, a 12-year old boy from Baramati in rural Maharashtra, who is the youngestMicrosoft-certified engineer in India. He is looking forward to starting his own technology firm. Or consider the twoyoung 14-year old girls from a slum in Hyderabad who received training from Satyam Computers and now havetheir own small company designing websites and doing data-entry work.Such examples abound. They demonstrate the tremendous untapped potential ofour greatest resource - the people of India. They point to ways of empoweringpeople so that they can be of greater benefit to their families, their communitiesand to the nation. How is this potential to be widely activated? There arethousands of ways, but none of them matter unless we collectively agree that wewant to do so.

India is already making huge investments in an effort to be a winner in thedeveloping worldwide digital economy. This is fine - as far as it goes - and itshould lead to greater prosperity, but since it is based on the narrow view, its impact and benefit will be limited.Alternatively, if we decide to take the expansive view, the resulting subtle but significant changes in countless policyand investment decisions will assure that the many and not just the few will benefit from the greater prosperity.

India has a remarkable opportunity to create a powerful movement capable of producing real improvements in thedaily lives of millions of people who are living at the margins of our economy. The key is for our society to unitearound a new set of aspirations for technology investment in and by low-income communities.In every case we must ask the following questions:

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