What we take for granted today, satellite television or cellular telephone or even a humble Walkman, were part of

sci-fi a mere quarter of a century ago.

Even as we debate a new convergence policy in India [ Images ] and wonder whether we need a content regulator or talk about new spectrum allocation, the viability or desirability of direct-to-home television and broadband, a socioeconomic revolution is quietly taking place. Close to 400 million Indians watch TV regularly. Our teledensity has grown from 1 to 3 in less than a decade. India is fast emerging from the backwaters of poverty and scarcity to a front-runner in the digital area. One opportunity, which exists, is in media and entertainment. If the government of India through its myriad arms is able to create an ecosystem conducive to growth and the development of digital entertainment, there is no reason why we cannot turn this into a truly Indian century. While India has a mere 8.5 million Internet connections, there are over a billion Internet users worldwide. This number is expected to rise to about 1.5 billion in the next three years. What is responsible for this phenomenal growth and the manner in which the world is beginning to communicate? As the micro chip increases in power at a lower cost and more memory is crammed on to silicon wafers (or whatever replaces them) we will see a convergence of telecom, broadcasting and data communication driven by quantum leaps in light wave and wireless communication. A few years ago Moore's Law stated that computer chip power would double every 18 months but we have seen that it is actually happening much faster. Another famous dictum, the Photon Law, says that bandwidth triples every year. But some experts believe that in a completely networked world it would be virtually free in 10 years. Michael Dertouzos, the former director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer lab, had predicted a decade ago that by 2007 there would be one billion interconnected computers in the world. According to him, three fundamental forces were shaping this networked society. 1) The ability of computers to offload repetitive work from the human brain. 2) Electronic proximity -- that is, bringing distant people together.

3) A new kind of middlemen, a kind of information brokers necessary to match the information one person wants with the information another person has. Give or take a few years, what we are seeing will surprise the Dertouzos and the Alvin Tofflers of the world. Today the Internet provides the equivalent of 50,000 daily newspapers in all languages, including online editions of several print newspapers that have web editions. In fact, many newspapers and magazines offer their subscribers access to online editions for continuous updates. As media guru John V Pavlik says: " News content on the Internet has been developing through three stages. In stage one, which is most prevalent today, online journalists repurpose content from their mother publication. In stage two, journalists create original content with additives, which allow cross-reference through hyperlinks with other web sites. In stage three which is just about beginning, news content is designed specifically for the web as the medium of communication." A new form of "immersive story telling" is already emerging on some of the better online sites and the still nascent interactive news channels. In this form of reportage you can enter and navigate through a news report in many different ways and perspectives. Nothing has changed journalism more than the advent of the blog (weblog) and what we are seeing are just the beginnings of blogging. Already it is becoming a favoured form of disseminating news and information. Soon there will be a proliferation of the video blog. A version of peer-to-peer TV streaming is already on the Internet. These developments are still in their nascent stages but have the potential to change the whole concept of mass communication. New digital technologies are causing a paradigm shift for the media and entertainment industry. By leveraging newer technologies, we have seen media companies not only make up for lost revenue but also add many new streams. The very nature of the music industry has been changed first by Napster and more recently by Apple I-Pod. Despite the opportunities which digital media presents, the industry's energies has been largely spent on the 'non compensated trading' or copyright theft of content. The inconsistencies of global copyright laws and lack of technical standards in digital rights management have also retarded the development of a viable and robust economic model. This is changing fast both on the technology as well as the regulatory fronts and should help the transition of the old media giants into more dexterous gladiators. The other change agent is sheer demographics. Teenagers today are the first real citizens of the digital world. Unlike their parents, they have grown up in a world in which electronic delivery of information and entertainment is natural and more accepted than conventional forms like the newspaper, tape or film.

Being a powerful consumer group with increasing purchasing muscle, they are also determining both content and its access modes around the world. It is these digital generations that will take the world online further and eventually wholly, embracing the universe in a virtual cornucopia of information and entertainment. Amit Khanna is chairman of Reliance [ Get Quote ] Entertainment. The views expressed here are his own

With the advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the world has changed into a "Global Village". In present times, when we talk about mass communication revolution in India , we generally mean that TV, mobile, internet, and other means of information communication have exerted a considerable impact on social, cultural, political and economic aspects of the society and soon, as a modern society, we are going to cope up with advanced countries. But the real picture is quite different. India has important high-technology industries and technology hubs, but diffusion of technology is slow and incomplete as compared to five ILO member countries. We live in a diversified culture in which few sections celebrate huge benefits of ICT technology, on the other hand, other sections, very much underprivileged like tribal society are struggling hard even for basic survival. A large portion of our tribal population is still illiterate, struggling for electricity, drinking water, and daily bread and butter. The disparity in rural-urban infrastructure, in terms of roads, power, transport and telecommunications is a severe bottleneck. It hinders private investment in rural/tribal areas and fails to provide rural/ tribal population with key ingredients required to modernise agriculture, and more importantly establish other economic enterprises (including non-farm based enterprises). Poverty, illiteracy, inertia, traditional beliefs, poor infrastructure, technological constraints, defective administrative planning and strategy are few major causes that prevent and put tribal society far from witnessing a true revolution based on modern technology like ICT. However, it cannot be denied that mass communication technology is gradually reaching tribal homes and little population has even realized its benefits as it is evident from few projects, described in this paper, that are already working on the present theme. Today, the tribal community in few areas is also on the way of advanced civil society. The focus of this paper is on the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) that can be employed in tribal areas to generate youth employment. The initiatives are presented against a background that acknowledges that tribes are largely illiterate and belong to a very low income group. The paper discusses, in more general terms, some common misconceptions about the use of ICT in tribal regions, the potential gains ICT offers in relation to youth employment and society more widely, and the obstacles tribal community in particular faces in trying to realize these benefits.

The initiatives also show the potential that the widespread use of mobile phones offer for young people both as an income generator in its own right and as an alternative to fixed line telephones to gain easier access to the Internet. Some best practice examples show that other infrastructure constraints such as high cost of computers, and electricity supply can also be addressed. Evidence is also presented to show that the use of the Internet is not limited to the literate or to English users. The best projects like AISECT (All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology), Information Village Project (IVP) run by M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), IndiaShop.com, SEWA, TARAhaat.com and e-greenstar.com devoted to Rural/Tribal education and employment Via use of ICT show that ICT has vast potential to address education and employment problem in tribal areas in a effective manner. The final part of the paper offers few recommendations aimed at promoting ICT-related opportunities for young people. Tribal residents deserve an equal opportunity to participate in the national economy and determine their own destiny. Particular emphasis, as outlined in paper, should be given on ICT to provide employment to tribal youths so that they can integrate effectively in the Indian economy and the new Global Economy. The final solution to providing service to tribal areas in India will require a delicate blend of appropriate technological choices in combination with management and financing mechanisms, initiated at the governmental level, to support the development of tribal areas. An integrated approach including participation of public sector, the entrepreneurs, the private sector, and the NGOs who consider themselves to be in the business of "doing good, is required to catalyze information revolution in Tribal India so that millions can be lifted out of poverty and be engaged in productive employment not restricted to agricultural sector. Hence no time should be wasted in going ahead with the proposed plans.