New services for rural K'taka soon

The Karnataka IT Vision Group is aiming to influence and shape government policies towards financial inclusion programmes for rural areas and encourage support for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs), head of the group and Infosys Co-Chairman Kris Gopalakrishnan said on Saturday.

“The role of the IT vision group is to influence policy, budget spending and to see the kind of support the (IT) industry gets,” Kris told the audience at the World Economic Forum-sponsored Global Shapers Meet in the City on Saturday.

“Our role is to make sure the industry’s voice is heard and ensure access to government services for the poorest of the poor. One of the things we are doing is to use the mobile phones to reach the government services to the rural areas,” he said. Technology has changed the way banking has been happening (traditionally)… The model of correspondents going to each houses to provide financial services, instead of a rural (bank) branch is emerging as a likely model. People in the village such as a teacher, can manage financial needs of nearly 20 or 25 houses, Kris said. He said the transforming technology landscape is calling for a different approach to education and the way jobs are defined in the IT sector.

Global Shapers is a youth community that brings together young icons, social activists and entrepreneurs who would help individuals in their community “discover leadership qualities” in them and provide solutions for some of the world’s pressing problems.