Intel has begun work with the Tamil Nadu Government in a pilot project to provide speech recognition software in personal computers, Debjani Ghosh, Vice President-Sales and Marketing Group, and Managing Director for South Asian Region, told Business Line.
The tech major has been involved for over nine years in programmes to enable schools and Government departments adopt technological tools for efficient services. It has trained over 50,000 teachers in the State, set up embedded systems laboratories in top institutes such as IIT-Madras, and initiated schemes for soft skills development in Government-run Arts and Science colleges.
“You do have basic speech recognitions in phones, but there are not many for PCs,” Ghosh said. The company is on this project with partners whom Ghosh refused to reveal. “When you are talking about rural audiences, they are okay using the phone to talk, but they are more comfortable using larger devices for speech recognition.”
This project, which can assist non-English speaking Indians, comes at a time when the lack of vernacular e-content is starkly lacking. India has about 250 million internet users, but there is no Indian language among the top 10 languages used in online communication, said Ghosh at a summit Intel organised in association with ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu. By 2015, we will have millions of more users added to the base, and how are we going to handle the technology and content for this growing population? she wondered.
Intel had taken up digital literacy drives in Rajasthan and Meghalaya to introduce computers, e-mail, and online information access to villagers. The National Digital Literacy Mission was about enabling rural inhabitants access relevant data – “It was about helping a farmer know the latest mandi prices.” But these programmes become effective if they are accompanied by online content in local language.
TK Ramachandran, Secretary to Government, Information and Technology Department, Tamil Nadu, said the State is setting up an online platform for technology companies to pitch their products. This will enhance the Government’s exposure to tools on offer for e-governance. “There have been responses from about a dozen companies. Intel should also participate,” he said.
ICTACT executes its projects with a host of partners including Microsoft, Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, and Intel.