Fellow Presentations: Day 1 (Dipak Basu)

Dipak Basu is a Cisco employee and the founder of NetHope, an organization that helps non-profits benefit from the network. His project is to create a communication and information network for the Sunderbans, a delta region in India home to Royal Bengal Tigers and the largest Mangrove forest (and also King Cobras and hurricanes, though the tourist agency is less upfront about them....)

The Sahara India Pariwar has proposed an eco-tourism project that would result in the eviction of 5.4M people and be of questionable ecological merit. (See, for example, a dissenting opinion from the Environmental Investigation Agency.) This is but one of the challenges that the poeple of the Sunderbans face. Dipak also cited economic challenges such as transportation, education, health care, employment and exploitation; as well as ecological problems like high seas death, loss of land, and forced migration.

Dipak has sketched out a network that will provide connectivity for this population, enabling them to transmit, collect and store information about weather (including cyclone warnings), emergency preparedness/response, medical emergencies, commodity prices, health care and human rights infomration. The basic structure follows the hierarchy of political divisions of villages and blocs, and the overall cost of the basic components was just $28,000. Of course, the supporting costs run much higher, and Dipak is looking for sources of capital and operating funds to make the project work.

He has had initial meetings already, and has assembled key people in the teams that will work on the project, including represetnatives from Ashoka, Cisco, and NetHope. He recognizes remaining challenges in getting the local government support, having the needed electrical power, and being able to license the wireless frequencies needed for the project.