‘There needs to be a 911 for the Internet’.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BANGALORE: The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, who is on a two-day visit to India, addressed the first Interner.org summit in New Delhi, on Thursday. He will meet prime minister Narendra Modi tomorrow to discuss possible ways to bring free basic internet connectivity to rural India.
Internet.org is an organization that is supported by leaders in the tech industry, non-profits and local communities. The organization is working towards finding out ways that can bring internet access to two-thirds of the world’s population that is unaware about the tremendous possibilities of cyber connectivity.
Zuckerberg in his speech said, “In developing countries, 25% fewer women are online, compared to men. A lot of people who have never experienced the Internet just don’t know why they would want it. A recent survey shows that 69% of people in India say they don’t know why it would be useful for them.”
He added: “In the US, you can always dial 911 even if you don’t have a phone plan, the way you dial 100 here in India. There needs to be a 911 for the Internet. We’ve been working with operators to offer free basic Internet for everyone, to break down the social barriers. With this model, we’ve already helped people connect 3 million people,” he added.
During his speech, Zuckerberg stressed the importance of regional languages in the future connected world. He said Facebook is currently offering services in 10 different Indian languages and the company will be soon launching a contest where developers will be asked to make apps in regional languages. Towards this, he has announced a fund of more than $1 billion.
After his meeting with Modi tomorrow, Zuckerberg is also expected to conduct discussions with key cabinet ministers on enabling free basic internet access in rural India, an initiative that is looked upon as the pivotal step in moving towards a connected world.
The tech industry has shown keen interest in India after Modi took over the office of the prime minister. Many technology leaders like Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos have met Modi and conducted discussions with him.
While talking about his upcoming meeting with Modi, Zuckerberg said, “prime minister Modi is working to connect all the villages and I want to see how Facebook can help his government do that,”
Earlier, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg had also visited Modi during her India tour.
Modi made tremendous use of Twitter and Facebook for reaching out to the masses during his election campaign and even later after becoming the prime minister, for better governance.
According eMarketer, a research and analysis firm, the number of Internet users in India will hit 108.9 million by the end of 2014 when compared to 77.8 million in 2013. India has the second largest number of active Facebook users, only behind the US.
1 Comment
Dear all,
The views expressed over here are fact and this is going to happen. In near future India will be worlds no 1 country to have maximum users on internet.
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