Key to bridging the digital divide in India is improving PC penetration and the effort is to improve this from the present level of 14 per 1000 to 65 per 1000 in 3-4 years time. It has been a long recognised fact that availability o multilingual software would be key to achieving this given the fact that less than 5% of India knows English. Market for computers would substantially improve when applications running on them are accessible to a wider Indian population, especially those living in semi-urban and rural areas.

This is the opportunity that CK Technologies Pvt Ltd (CK) aims to address. The company has developed a bilingual Office Suite called Shakti Office that attempts to break two barriers; accessibility by enabling users literate in one native language to access computers and affordability, by making SO available at only 1/10^th of the price of a licensed Microsoft Office suite.

Company Background

CK Technologies is based in Chennai and is one of the companies incubated by the TeNet Group of IIT, Madras. The promoter of CK is Manoj Annadurai, an engineer with a decade experience in s/w analysis and design. Manoj is also a member of the Indian Language Technology Mission of the Ministry of IT and Communication, Govt of India and also on the Board of Directors of Media Labs Asia.

Impact Potential

A sector of significant impact of SO would be education in rural schools where the process of teaching is expected to be far easier, effective and help in student retention. CK has already made an entry into this sector by making SO part of the Sarva Shiksha Abiyaan (SSA) program in Tamil Nadu, a program of the Government of India that aims at the Universalisation of Elementary Education.

Products like SO would be useful to rural banks, co-operative credit societies, to the large number of Small & Medium Enterprises (SME) in India. Local language s/w would also be crucial for the success of Govt sponsored e-governance schemes.

A good example of the nature of impact is the use of SO in the n-Logue rural internet kiosks, kiosks that enable villagers to access relevant and useful information. An attempt is being made to promote rural healthcare delivery and telemedicine, made possible due to availability of appropriate software.

Investment by AIMVCF

CK has so far been focussed on selling SO to the Govt sector/ PSUs. Investment by AIMVCF would be used to further intensify this effort as well as make an aggressive foray through retail channels. A total of Rs.50 lacs is sought to be invested, spread over three tranches.