Session
CGNet Swara
CGNet Swara - Kundan Kumar, Shubhranshu Chaudhary, Diptendu Roy & Team Members of CGNet Swara
CGNet Swara - Kundan Kumar, Shubhranshu Chaudhary, Diptendu Roy & Team Members of CGNet Swara
Organization's Website
Speakers
CGNet Swara - Kundan Kumar, Shubhranshu Chaudhary, Diptendu Roy & Team Members of CGNet Swara
Onsite Moderator
A Team Member from CGNet Swara
Rapporteur
A Team Member from CGNet Swara
SDGs
9.c
10. Reduced Inequalities
10.3
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Targets: - CGNet app aims to afford these communities cohesion and possible redress by giving shared voice to those who have neither recourse nor linguistic representation in India's mainstream media. SDG 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels - Establishment of an open source citizen journalism platform in the conflict affected media dark zone. In the local indigenous language. SDG 10 - Reduce Inequality within and among the countries SDG 10.3 - Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard - The software underlying CGNet Swara is open-source and freely available from an online repository. The system was originally developed as a project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is currently maintained with the support of Microsoft Research India and several volunteers. The CGNet Swara server can be easily replicated. The system requirements are: A desktop computer running Linux and Asterisk. An Internet connection (for hosting the Web server). A telephony interface. We recommend the Topex Mobilink IP to enable calls via a cellular SIM card. We have also made the code for Bultoo Radio open-source. We are happy to offer guidance to other organizations who are seeking to establish similar services around the world SDG 9.c - Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020
10. Reduced Inequalities
10.3
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Targets: - CGNet app aims to afford these communities cohesion and possible redress by giving shared voice to those who have neither recourse nor linguistic representation in India's mainstream media. SDG 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels - Establishment of an open source citizen journalism platform in the conflict affected media dark zone. In the local indigenous language. SDG 10 - Reduce Inequality within and among the countries SDG 10.3 - Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard - The software underlying CGNet Swara is open-source and freely available from an online repository. The system was originally developed as a project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is currently maintained with the support of Microsoft Research India and several volunteers. The CGNet Swara server can be easily replicated. The system requirements are: A desktop computer running Linux and Asterisk. An Internet connection (for hosting the Web server). A telephony interface. We recommend the Topex Mobilink IP to enable calls via a cellular SIM card. We have also made the code for Bultoo Radio open-source. We are happy to offer guidance to other organizations who are seeking to establish similar services around the world SDG 9.c - Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020
Format
Presentation with Videos along with Speakers
Duration (minutes)
30
Description
An IVR system designed to give voice to communities at the heart of India's Maoist insurgency was launched in 2010, as part of a campaign to end the conflict through the combination of oral tradition and new technology. It is a voice-based platform that allows people in rural and marginalized communities to report local news and issues. The app allows tribes living in the remote jungle interior of the Dandakaranya forest to become citizen journalists, posting and sharing pictures and stories on CGNet.
Many indigenous people, known as the adivasi ("original dwellers"), in the Dandakaranya region are blighted by problems typical of so many of India's remote communities: land loss and evictions, lack of schooling, absence of medical care, and dearth of civic amenities - combined with deep mistrust of local authorities. In the 15th years since its launch, the platform has logged over a million calls and thousands of published reports. These have included everything from reporting cholera outbreaks and resolving payment disputes to sharing news about village affairs. The network also features poetry and folk songs.
Papers relevant to the session:
Revisiting CGNet Swara and its impact in rural India - https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2737856.2738026
Emergent Practices Around CGNet Swara,
A Voice Forum for Citizen Journalism in Rural India - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ict…
Framing citizen activism: a comparative study of the CGNET Swara and Mobile Voices projects - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01296612.2016.1277825
Our team will facilitate and manage the interaction in hybrid mode i.e taking in-person questions onsite and taking questions from the streaming platform such as youtube or zoom. Last four to five minutes of the talk would be dedicated to the interaction with facility to reach out after the event.
Our team will facilitate and manage the interaction in hybrid mode i.e taking in-person questions onsite and taking questions from the streaming platform such as youtube or zoom. Last four to five minutes of the talk would be dedicated to the interaction with facility to reach out after the event.