Jia Labs

As in most developing countries, the digital divide in India is rampant. Almost 90% of the population lacks basic digital literacy and less than 27% of schools have a computer lab. As the next era of economic growth is being fueled by digitalization, solving for this digital divide is essential in ensuring equitable growth and sustainability.

Our solution is three-fold: set up micro computer labs for imparting digital skills, use open core resources through a web-mobile platform, and provide training-of-trainers solutions to schools and institutes. At the heart of this model is the Jia PC, an ultra affordable PC under $100, developed in-house. We run a subscription-based model to make it extremely affordable.

At scale, the solution can provide digital creativity skills to underserved populations across the world. These skills can translate to better civic participation, greater economic opportunities, and higher participation in the digitalized world.

It is quite telling that the background picture on the Community-Driven Innovation webpage shows two persons with a laptop and desktop PC. It doesn’t seem odd to associate those tools with innovation, except when one realizes the magnitude of the digital divide that exists today.

In India, ~90% of the population lacks in basic digital literacy. Less than 27% of schools have a computer lab. PC penetration is less than 20% compared to developed countries where it’s over 80%. World Bank data shows that PC penetration is strongly positively correlated with GDP per capita (strength 0.77- http://bit.ly/2YvwMMc), Quality of Higher Education (strength 0.87- http://bit.ly/2WM55ht), and Level of Skills (strength 0.85- http://bit.ly/2RyTMrs).

In an increasingly digitalized world, this large, underserved population is being left further behind. They are unable to participate in e-governance systems, use digital tools for economic opportunities, improve their skills through online resources, nor find resources to solve everyday problems. The innovation potential of these populations is severely stunted due to lack of digital literacy and creativity.

Jia, after whom the PC is named, is a 10-year old school student in a low-income private school, based in Jasidih, Jharkhand. Most computers in her school don’t work. She now uses her namesake PC for painting, homework, school projects, and learning art and craft through YouTube.

Akash is a 16 year-old school student living in Rampur, Jharkhand. Owning a Jia PC has allowed him to work on independent projects on Arduino and Python.

Moni, 24 years old, works for an NGO in Khekra village in Central India. The Jia PC is the first computer she has ever used and now uses it regularly for administrative work and research.

Surindar, 63 years old, runs a small school in Deoghar, Jharkhand. Setting up a Jia Lab has helped her provide wide exposure to her students and use audio-video resources to engage her students. She has also seen her older students become more aware and confident of employment opportunities.

The above stories closely represent the experiences of our users. Our target audience comprises low-income, digitally underserved populations. Working closely with them has allowed us to create a model that integrates hardware, software, and training in an affordable offering.

We designed the solution to meet the 5A framework- accessible, affordable, available, appropriate, adequate.

Accessibility was solved for by using multilingual and contextualized digital resources for training. To solve for affordability, we first designed PCs under $100 using Raspberry Pi CPUs, and then built a subscription-based model where we charge <$4 per student per month. To make it available, we started working with schools and vocational institutes that helped us reach students as well as their families. Using the appropriate tool was extremely important and we had witnessed the severe limitations of mobile devices in increasing digital literacy; this led us zeroing in on the PC. Adequacy of the solution is what keeps us on our feet and drives continuous innovation; the initial pilots have shown positive results and we constantly seek rich feedback from our users to better the solution.

So, our solution works in the following way- we engage with leaders of institutes; set up a Jia Lab at the institute; the Jia PCs come with all modules integrated onto a learning platform; students can revise on a mobile device what they started in class; we conduct continual workshops with teachers to help them deliver the training; provide students, teachers and institute leaders with performance data; and provide completion certificates to students.

To deliver the above, we use technology in the following ways:

Hardware- Raspberry Pi, Libre Computer, Jia PCs, projectors and networking devices.

Prototyping- 3D printing, laser cutting, 3D CAD

Software- Ubuntu and Raspbian OS for the Jia PC, learning management system for web and mobile

Content- curated from Code.Org, Google for Education, YouTube, Northstar Digital Literacy, among others

Data Analysis- Microsoft PowerBI

Communication with stakeholders- Whatsapp, Slack

Ideation- paper, sticky notes, sketch pens

Our solution uses the following innovative approaches:

1. PC-based solution- Through continuous engagement with our target communities, we realized that mobile devices are fairly limited in their potential to increase digital literacy and, especially, creativity. Personal computers, on the other hand, proved to be very successful in the above endeavours. We did, however, have to solve for affordability as most personal computers were much out of the financial capability of our target audience. So, we developed the Jia PCs under $100. This has reduced the cost of a PC by almost half and the cost of setting up a computer lab to almost one-third.

2. Phygital platform- Post the launch of the Jia PC, we quickly realized that the absence of appropriate, affordable hardware was only a part of the problem. For the digitally underserved, it is equally important to curate and create resources that can guide them towards greater digital literacy. Also, just a digital platform wouldn’t work. There had to be an offline component too. So, we developed a Training-of-teachers (ToT) curriculum in line with digital resources to assist them in delivery of content. We are also working on a mobile version of the platform so that students can practice and revise after class.

3. Subscription model- To integrate our offerings into an extremely affordable model, we developed a subscription-based solution where we set up the computer lab, provide the e-learning platform with digital resources, and conduct ToT at a price of $2-$4 per student per month (depending on age group of students). 

The core technology that our solution uses is the Raspberry Pi or single board computers as a whole. Using the Raspberry Pi, we were able to build two PCs- Jia and Jia Pro- for under $100 (including taxes). Single board computers worked best for us to increase affordability while keeping the core functionality of a PC intact. We are also testing other boards, such as those from Libre Computer, for the next iteration.

The PC has shown positive results as the primary computing and e-learning device for our target audience. On the software end, we are using a range of open core digital resources, such as Code.Org and Northstar Digital Literacy Curriculum, for content and curricula. Using the Ubuntu and Raspbian OS allows us to keep the price point low. We are currently using Thinkific as the learning management system for teachers and students. We also use WhatsApp for sharing resources with teachers.

We have been working with children and youth from semi urban and rural areas for over two years. Our work initially involved setting up Tinkering Labs at schools under the Atal Tinkering Lab initiative of the government. Working on this initiative gave us rich exposure to problems at the grassroots. We realized that students were missing something much more foundational. We couldn't have expected students to do well with 3D printers when most of them didn't even know how to use a computer.

According to a report by the Department of School Education and Literacy, less than 27% of schools in the country have computers. From our work on the ground, we have also found that many of the schools that have computers don't actually use them nor do students have access. Students from these schools grow up to become digitally marginalized and intimidated by technology. The educational and employment opportunities available to them become much more limited.

The following aspects of our model are key to solving the problem:

Micro: Micro labs allow for low capital cost and can be retrofitted into any existing institution. The low cost of Jia PCs further increases affordability and viability of the solution.

In Situ: The solution had to be within reach of our target audience. To do this, we partner with local schools, vocational institutes, and community centers to set up Jia Labs.

Blended: By including teacher development in the model, we are able to ensure greater sustainability and contextualization.

Currently Serving: 600

In 1 year: 5000

In 5 years: 100000

We are employing a pilot-driven expansion model. Over the next year, our aim is to pilot in varied geographies across India and keep refining the solution.

Over the next five years, we wish to expand to other South and South East Asian countries for pilots. In India, post the pilots in the first year, we wish to enter rapid expansion by regional replication.

For the next 1 year:

• The biggest barrier as with most new solutions is the slow rate of adoption. A cultural issue here is that with the government providing subsidised education and skill development, a lot of people find it unnecessary to pay for educational programs.

For the next 5 years:

• Local language content: We believe that basic literacy is a step before digital literacy. Finding good resources that allow our users to increase their basic literacy, specially through local language content, will be very important.
• We estimate a total funding requirement of $5mn over the next 5 years, which could become a barrier.
• Market: We notice that investors are favoring new technologies in education even when there is no proof of results. Our focus is way more on technology that shows clear outcomes even if it doesn't sound fancy. This might become a barrier for us when raising capital.

• Slow rate of adoption: A majority of the education sector in India is driven by the government. We are creating strong linkages with state governments to show them the results of our pilots and seek their support in scaling.
• Local language content: We have been lucky to find a lot of local language content already existing. We also know of other startups that are working strongly in this domain. We plan to create the right partnerships to bring relevant resources in local languages to our users.
• Funding: We have a strong business model and are confident that investors will see merit in it. 
• Raising Capital: While we have seen a bend towards technology solutionism among many investors, we are also coming across platforms that are much more interested in real impact. We aim to pursue the latter for our capital needs.

Full-time staff: 4

Part-time staff: 6

The management team comprises:

Abhinav: Engineer by qualification, has worked extensively on grassroots innovations in different domains and geographies, responsible for product development, business, strategy.

Aakriti: Masters in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, responsible for design, research, monitoring, evaluation, and program implementation.

Usha: A first generation entrepreneur who started her career as a teacher, responsible for admin, finance, HR, and program strategy.

The management team is supported by a small team of full-time and part-time members who handle engineering, design, marketing, and outreach.

Our team is unique in its perspective of combining design thinking, lean innovation, and social entrepreneurship in developing solutions. Our deep understanding of the situation at the grassroots, strong background in ethnographic research, and confidence in developing technological solutions has helped us create offerings that are feasible, viable, and desirable. We have an undying focus on the end user and every decision is derived from a clear understanding of the user's needs. This has given us and our stakeholders a lot of confidence in the work we do.

Our current partnerships are with the following:

N/Core Tech: Strategy mentorship

Cisco: Technology mentorship

Frontier Markets: Market Access Partnership for Western India

Sinhgad University, Pune: Research & Technology partnership for design research and product development

We run a B2B model and will soon add a B2G component to our business model. Our customers are low-cost private schools, government schools, and vocational institutes.

We charge a flat fee of Rs. 100/ student per month to schools and Rs. 250/ student per month to vocational institutes. Our offering includes: hardware for setting up the Jia Lab, online-offline resources for increasing applied digital skills, training of teachers to deliver the modules.

We operate a fee-for-service model where we charge a small fee per student per month for our services. Our revenue model ensures break-even for each Jia Lab within 8 months. 

Our major funding requirement is due to the 8-month cycle of break even and the initial capital expenditure of setting up a Jia Lab.

We are open to different forms of funding. We use grant funding for product and organizational development. A combination of debt and equity funding from impact investors would also suit us well.

We are applying to Solve to develop a wider perspective. I did a lot of work in the field of grassroots innovations and realized that a lot of great solutions don't move forward because the innovator or entrepreneur isn't able to imagine beyond their own limited understanding of the world. A solution that could impact millions, stays with a few hundred at best.

To understand the true impact potential of a solution and to build scale into its design is crucial for the solution to reach the full breadth of its target audience. In the domain of social impact, context becomes extremely important and a one-size-fits-all solution mostly fails. 

Our aim, through Solve, is to build cross border partnerships and linkages so that our solution can become more holistic, complementary, and impactful. We are most looking forward to being part of the Solve community.

Ideo.org

Sir Ken Robinson

MIT Fab Lab 

D School, Stanford

Dr. Sugata Mitra

We are looking to partner with individuals and organizations working at the intersection of design, technology, and social impact, with a special focus towards empowering through and with technology.

Most educational solutions have employed a one-size-fits-all model and tried to replicate. It is not surprising that these solutions have failed to achieved their expected impact because learning is personal. And education has to be too. 

We see AI as essential on two levels of our solution. Firstly, with the wide variety of learning styles and the ever-changing context of learners, AI will play a crucial role in making sure that educational material and pedagogy can be individualized. 

Secondly, our aim is to make technology creators. As Anthony James said, "Anyone can play technology, but the future belongs to those who use it to create." We plan to add modules of machine learning and AI training in our offerings so that a generation of AI innovators can be prepared at the grassroots.

Jia Labs, in its current form, is catered towards educational institutions but our long term aim is for the labs to become centers for community-led innovation at the grassroots. One of our mentors, Prof. Anil Gupta, likes to say, " Minds on the margin are not marginal minds." We have seen this first hand when interacting with our target audience and their community members. There is a hotbed of innovation potential at the grassroots, going unrecognised.

Our hope is that each Jia Lab becomes a platform for the local community to come out with solutions to their and others' problems. Providing the right tools and training, communities can build solutions for themselves and each other. We are inspired by the work that was done by International Development Innovation Network and MIT Fab Lab and wish to propagate a similar principle through a social enterprise model.

Starting with digital literacy, adding digital creativity tools, progressing to STEM projects, and finally supporting open innovation- is the path we see for Jia Labs.Through imparting digital literacy and creativity, we can make our otherwise-marginalized users better prepared for a digitalized future. By including STEM and supporting open innovation, these communities can become creators rather than mere consumers of technological solutions. 

We will use the prize to increase reach of Jia Labs across the country and accelerate the process of integrating local communities into our programs.

We are often disheartened by stories of skill development programs for women that focus on non-tech skills. This is particularly common in developing countries where, culturally, women are meant to do only a certain kind of work, if any at all. Science and technology is considered out of their reach and this myth takes many practical forms.

With Jia Labs, an important focus for us is to bring girls and women into the sphere of technology, both as users and creators. To this effect, we are partnering with organizations to set up Jia Labs specifically for women in semi urban and rural parts of India. We have conducted a few pilots in Jharkhand and will soon start a long-term program. 

We will use the prize to accelerate our effort to create safe, unbiased spaces across the country for girls and women to play and create with technology.

Jia Labs, in its current form, is catered towards educational institutions but our long term aim is for the labs to become centers for community-led innovation at the grassroots. One of our mentors, Prof. Anil Gupta, likes to say, " Minds on the margin are not marginal minds." We have seen this first hand when interacting with our target audience and their community members. There is a hotbed of innovation potential at the grassroots, going unrecognised.

Our hope is that each Jia Lab becomes a platform for the local community to come out with solutions to their and others' problems. Providing the right tools and training, communities can build solutions for themselves and each other. We are inspired by the work that was done by International Development Innovation Network and MIT Fab Lab and wish to propagate a similar principle through a social enterprise model.

Starting with digital literacy, adding digital creativity tools, progressing to STEM projects, and finally supporting open innovation- is the path we see for Jia Labs.Through imparting digital literacy and creativity, we can make our otherwise-marginalized users better prepared for a digitalized future. By including STEM and supporting open innovation, these communities can become creators rather than mere consumers of technological solutions. 

We will use the prize to increase reach of Jia Labs across the country and accelerate the process of integrating local communities into our programs.