Page 85 - DMGT302_FUNDAMENTALS_OF_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Fundamentals of Project Management

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knowledge super power of the world in the shortest possible time it is imperative to
convert our demographic advantage into knowledge powerhouse by nurturing and honing
our working population into knowledge or knowledge enabled working population.”
MHRD believed that it could play a major role as human resource development would be
the key in making India a knowledge superpower of the world. However, poor literacy
rates (74% in census as per census, 2011), the slow growth of educational institutions, poor

enrolment of students, and high dropout rates were some of the challenges which needed
to be answered to make the country a knowledge superpower.
The mission statement further said, “Hence, the conventional approach must also be aided
and supported by the technological interventions through ICT so as to make available the
knowledge resources to every learner as per his/her convenience and just in time.”
According to experts, the tablet, a relatively new entrant, would be the best solution for
this.
Indian Tablet Industry
In 2012, the Indian tablet industry was in a nascent stage. According to Hindustan Times,
there was a 0.6 million installed base of tablets at the end of 2011. The first entrant into the
Indian tablet space was Olive pad from Olive Telecom, which was launched in October
2010
However, the device was unable to make much of an impact. In the same month, electronic
major Samsung jumped into the Indian tablet market with the launch of Galaxy Tab 7.
After that, in March, 2011, Apple officially launched the iPad in the Indian market. Experts
considered this a late launch.
Development of Aakash Tablet
The search for a low cost computing device was not new. Way back in 2002, the first low
cost computing device came into existence. In 2002, Simputer Trust developed and released
a low cost, portable alternative to the personal computer under the name Simputer, a
combination of the words SIMPle comPUTER which could further be expanded to Simple,
Inexpensive Multilingual People’s compUTER. After three years, in 2005, One Laptop Per
Child Association Inc., offered a US$ 100 laptop to Indian children under the mission to
provide inexpensive educational computers in developing nations across the world.
Nicholas Negroponte (Negroponte) gave a presentation on the OLPC in New Delhi on
April 7, 2006...
Challenges in Development of Aakash
According to experts, the development of a low cost tablet itself was a big challenge.
When a good quality mobile phone was not available for under US$ 10, then thinking
about a full-fledged tablet and making it a reality was itself a big challenge. When the
Ministry of MHRD decided to develop a computing and access device in the price range of
US$ 50 many tech and industry experts expected that it would turn out to be a nightmare
for MHRD. During the process of making Aakash a reality, the MHRD had to face criticism
from various sources. Jha wrote, “Exceptions apart, the US soil has remained the laboratory
where new computing technologies get born. And China has refined the craft of
manufacturing into its second nature, making the nation, the electronics factory of the
world. Then, how would India make the “lowest cost” computer in a tablet form? It has
never been known for creating computing technologies...
Looking Forward
According to various reports, the Aakash tablet got an unexpectedly good response from
various state governments. Universities too placed big orders for the tablet. For example,
Contd...

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