About the Scope Foundation Mission
According to a World Bank report, increasing mobile penetration by a mere 10 per cent will increase per capita GDP in developing countries by 0.81 per cent. Growing mobile phone penetration in rural regions will lead to the next wave of growth in the adoption of digital technology. The opportunity is ripe for designing early-level interventions to help rural communities discover the power of the digital medium and the internet in a structured and guided manner. However, in order to achieve this, traditional societal barriers that women face, concerning exposure to technology and handling of gadgets, have to be overcome.
Under the goal of digital literacy, the Scope provides guided online experiences that help users discover and mine information that is most useful and relevant to their life – information that will eventually decrease the current information gap faced in the region. The Scope is successfully nurturing a growing community of digitally-savvy women who act as proponents and torch-bearers of the digital literacy programme. Armed with the newly-acquired digital skills, these women feel liberated and acknowledge that their work has now become remunerative and satisfying.
Problem Statement
More than 66 per cent of India’s population lives in rural areas, of which close to 70 per cent depends on agriculture for its livelihood. They have little or no access to education, transport, financial services and the Internet. This is a huge barrier to encouraging rural entrepreneurship, implementing digital and financial inclusion, and building rural capacities and livelihoods. Enhancing the scope of digital penetration to rural communities would help in expanding the scope of the various initiatives that are already in place to help develop greater prosperity for all. The Scope Foundation is focusing on bringing innovative technologies and approaches across different sectors to enhance the quality of life in rural communities.
About the Theme
The Covid-19 induced lockdown in India has accelerated digital transformation and ensured business continuity. India is now the second-fastest digitizing economy and is increasingly recognized as a global force. Enabled by massive investment in new technology and a huge internet market driven by 560 million connected consumers, the country has emerged as an upcoming leader in digital solutions. As emphasized by researchers at Harvard University “India is leapfrogging into the Fourth Industrial Revolution”
The Scope’ Data-Driven Governance (DDG) portfolio aims to strengthen rural and urban decision systems through the use of data and technology. Scope have been providing functional and technical support to governments for carrying out data-intensive planning as a means to supplement decision-making, leading to the creation of the DELTA (Data, Evaluation, Learning, Technology, and Analysis) framework.
Scope focuses on creating a new regulatory regime, coupled with significant investments in science, technology and entrepreneurship to enable people develop cutting-edge technology and in the rapidly growing digital market.
