The Web in the village

An NGO in Delhi is empowering people across villages in India with digital literacy

At a time when data is being considered a more valuable resource than gold, contemporary economists have come to define poverty not simply in terms of lack of money and resources, but also lack of access to information. This is what makes the 15-year trajectory of the Delhi-based Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) so important. Since 2002, DEF has been spreading digital literacy across the country, with the understanding that marginalised communities can be empowered to improve their lives on their own simply by training them to use computer-based technologies. “When I began working in the development sector,” says Osama Manzar,