MOU signed with the Government of Karnataka.    Intel is a new AIF trustee.    33 schools to graduate from DE program this year.    AIF will launch 1000 new DE schools in 2007.
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2007, V.1
From the Director's Desk: 2006 a Year in Review
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Welcome to the first issue of Bits & Bytes! We are very excited to share with you all the developments and stories from the ground and look forward to an active dialogue with many of you. In its sixth year, the American India Foundation's Digital Equalizer program has made significant progress toward the goals we established at inception. I hope that everyone involved with the program shares the profound sense of accomplishment I feel.
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A pathway to economic empowerment and social inclusion in the Digital and Information Economy Introduction to the Digital Equalizer Program - AIF's fastest growing initiative
The vision of the Digital Equalizer (DE) program is an India where ALL children have access to technology and information to prepare them for the emerging Digital Age. The mission is to advance the use of technology to engage, educate, enrich and empower India's underserved children. AIF's DE program is a Computer Aided Learning (CAL) program that is bridging the education and digital divide in India and preparing tens of thousands of children to compete in the digital economy.
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Summits provide insight into the DE Program and spur dialogue surrounding development and technology-based initiatives - DE Summits in Santa Clara and Delhi
On June 2nd, 2006, AIF hosted the 4th Bay Area Summit entitled 'Harnessing Technology for Social Change: Towards Bridging the Digital Divide', drawing over 200 guests. Intel Corporation was premier sponsor of the event and hosted the Summit on their Santa Clara campus. Guests were welcomed by Sivakumar Ramamurthy (Intel) and Lata Krishnan (AIF). The Summit included two talk-show style roundtables, moderated by KQED TechNation's host Moira Gunn. Roundtables addressed issues surrounding the implementation of technology-based initiatives in the developing world.
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"DEbrief" - A new reporting tool for DE
AIF thanks Amit Bakshi, a Bay Area volunteer, for making DEbrief a reality. The Digital Equalizer program has launched DEbrief, a new MIS reporting tool to monitor its schools for the 2006-07 Indian academic year. DE currently operates in 634 underserved schools across 13 states in India. To date, the program has relied on the collective knowledge of its field staff and managers, a variety of documents spread across hard drives, and manually created websites to store information about its schools. Additionally, its field staff has used MS excel files to send their managers status updates on school progress. DE has an aggressive growth path (1000 new schools by end of 2007).
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Digital Equalizer MVPs (Most Valuable Partnerships)

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): Hector Ruiz, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of AMD has been the driving force behind AMD's 50x15 initiative which aims to develop new technology and solutions that will help enable affordable internet access and computing capability for 50 percent of the world's population by the year 2015. The AMD-AIF partnership emphasizes the synergies and common goals of AMD's 50x15 initiatives and AIF's DE program. "In an increasingly connected world, I believe business leaders share an obligation to foster positive change globally", says Hector Ruiz.
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Applied Materials Corporation (AMAT): Since 2005, Applied Materials has made significant investment in AIF's DE program, supporting the launch of 8 full service DE centers across Bangalore. In February 2007, Bill Coplin, Managing Director of Global Community Affairs at AMAT helped launch the Karnataka large scale program, leading to the implementation of DE in 216 government schools across 18 districts in Karnataka. This significant commitment is a testament to AMAT's continued drive to accelerate social change in the communities in which it operates.

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In 2005, Adobe Corporation supported the launch of 2 DE centers, 1 each in Noida and Bangalore. Students from 4 DE centers (in Bangalore and Noida) recently participated in Adobe Youth Voices project, learning the basics of animation, documentary film making, video editing and post-production. "Digital education is a must for every child to compete in today's economic environment. By associating ourselves with the American India Foundation's DE program we have joined a mass revolution to bridge the digital divide," says Naresh Gupta, senior vice president, PCPBU, Adobe Inc., and Managing Director Adobe India.

Nurul Hasan Foundation and the NetIP Foundation have generously supported the Telling Stories - Brainstormer (TSB) initiative. TSB is a technology-based classroom literacy project that aims to develop skills in animation and creative writing, while bridging the digital and cultural divides within and across communities in India and the United States. This project is supported by a partnership between San Francisco State University (SFSU) and the American India Foundation (AIF) and hinges on the shared objective of enhancing technological access in the classroom.
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HSBC sponsored the initial deployment of DE's large-scale model in Andhra Pradesh. Implementation began with a cluster of ten schools in Hyderabad, and the program is well on its way to demonstrating significant yields. This project has also formed the basis for an agreement with the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) to bring DE to 60 schools across the state in 2007.


The international arm of SVB Financial Group has sponsored a DE center in a government high school in Cottonpet, Bangalore - one of the most underserved high schools in the city. SVB Global is contributing financial and human resources (employee volunteers) to establish and maintain this center over a three year period. "SVB Financial Group has a long history of actively dedicating resources to impact our local communities positively, making them better places to live and work, and that's no exception in the global markets we serve," says Ash Lilani, head of SVB Global.
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Intel Corporation is a new AIF Trustee! Join us in celebrating Intel's commitment to sustainable educational development for marginalized students in India. AIF and Intel have agreed to partner to facilitate policy initiatives that will maximize the benefits of technology in education. As part of this partnership, both organizations will work to promote opportunities for children in under-resourced schools to effectively learn how to utilize technology for their socio-economic development. In addition, the partnership will provide sustained professional development for school teachers through the collaboration of the Intel Teach program and DE. AIF will also work to boost the scientific temperament of rural students participating in DE by bringing the benefits of Intel Science Fair Programs to DE schools across India.

AIF and the John C. Ford - Global Education Initiative have signed an MOU to deliver increased opportunities for quality science, technology and math programs to schools for underserved youth in India. This objective will be met through the use of GEI Global Science-Engineering Web-Conference Network, eScience Labs, and other programs developed by leading educators and engineers with the Ford Program-GEI Project. The DE centers will also benefit from GEI Global eConsultant-Mentors Program, which brings leading engineers, educators and executives directly to underserved youth, worldwide, through the Global Science-Engineering Network.

The AIF-NASSCOM partnership was launched in 2006 at the International conference on Digital Learning organized by the Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) in New Delhi. As part of this partnership, NASSCOM foundation will provide free internet access to select DE schools as well as support hardware and software needs, employee volunteerism and DE centers and events. NASSCOM will also reach out to local entrepreneurs who can contribute to DE center operation costs, provide technical advice related to technical efficiency and cost-reduction, and help build a forum to exchange knowledge and experiences related to the use of technology in education. This partnership exemplifies the NASSCOM foundation's vision to leverage ICT technology for empowering and transforming the lives of the underserved. NASSCOM has already provided free internet connectivity to 4 DE centers in Delhi and 5 in Kanpur.
A 2-week oDEssey
We both would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to work at the Sundatta School in Mumbai during our recent trip to India. Not only did it provide us with a unique opportunity to experience a school with which AIF is involved, it enabled us to interact with five very intelligent children and build relationships with them. When the AIF representatives told us that we should work on a presentation about "Nuclear Energy" with the students, we were intimidated.
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Anjali and Tara attend Castilleja School in Palo Alto. Anjali is in the 11th grade, and Tara is in the 9th. Both girls enjoy traveling and learning about different cultures.