Bridging the Digital Divide

The benefits of technological advances and globalization have not yet touched the lives of many of India's people. A quarter of the population still lives below the poverty line and the Internet penetration rate is a little over 3%. Consequently, innovations that pop in this space have the potential to generate maximal fizz or profits.

One such innovation that only recently caught my eye is India Post's ePost service that allows email to be delivered as snail mail and vice versa. Delivery times in the former case average a day compared with about a week by snail mail. And the profits? The launch of corporate e-post, which is being promoted as an inexpensive and effective means to reach the hitherto unconnected masses. An article in this Indian daily suggests that corporate customers can "print their messages including text and picture on official letterheads and send them simultaneously to up to 9,999 addresses in one go".

Yes, if the digital divide must be bridged and the empowering benefits of the Internet must be enjoyed by all, so must the perils of corporate spam.