abarbarian Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I think this is amazing news. Not just the item itself and its price but also because of the way the whole project was handled.Aakash news World’s cheapest tablet PC 'Aakash'(means "sky" in Hindi) is finally launched. It will be given to students after subsidising the price by up to 50 per cent, India's Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal said while unveiling the device in New Delhi.Compare the way the Indians went about this and the way our governments handle similar situations. AakashIIT Rajasthan followed an open tender process. A three-step process was followed to evaluate the bids that were received. First, a committee scanned all bids to check their eligibility based on the conditions specified in the tender. Eligible bids were then evaluated by a technical evaluation committee comprising of eminent academics and industry experts. Bids that were found technically suitable were then evaluated by a financial evaluation committee which then declared the lowest bidder. Following set government norms, a further negotiation was then held with the lowest bidder and a further discount obtained from them It needs to be mentioned that this price does not include any subsidy from the Government and is a price that has been arrived at following a commercial tender process. The Government will also be providing price subsidy to the students on the price indicated in the earlier paragraph. The device will be distributed to students through the institutions at which they are studying. MHRD invites collaboration, ideas and inventions from the community of academics and experts and inventors to achieve the cherished goals. Content CreationThe National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NME-ICT) has proposed 18 different line items for content creation. All content that is created under this Mission needs to meet the following criteria: · It should be related to education delivery.· It should involve faculty from different institutions· All IP (Intellectual Property) created under projects funded by this Mission will vest with MHRD· All content should be created using open-source software.· All content created under this Mission is for open access by all and cannot be charged for in any way The National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NME-ICT) was launched by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, in February 2009 with a budget of Rs 4612 crore. The National Mission on Education comprises of 48 different components structured broadly around building CONTENT, enabling ACCESS and developing LOW COST ACCESS cum COMPUTING DEVICES.Open source, software to be free, hardnosed dealing to obtain the very best price for the procurer, me thinks these folk could teach our politicians a thing or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Is this that $35 tablet I read about last week? http://technology.currentweek.net/2011/09/...et-sakshat.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Of course, we will never see the device at that price here in the States. Sort of like the OLPC devices (XO netbooks). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Also here is the wiki entry with more pics and information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakshat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted October 6, 2011 Author Share Posted October 6, 2011 Ha ha was just about to post that wiki link.Looks like they have dropped the "S" in the name for the launch.Yes we will never see the tablet at that price here either even if it is made by a Birtish firm.Me post was more by way of showing what folk can do if they want and need to. In Britain the project would by now be running at a massive overspend and would be needing massive injections of cash, be six months behind schedule, and you would need to take out a bank loan now to pay for the tablet which might arrive some time in the future and you would need to arrange another top up loan to pay for the software to use on the tablet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Me post was more by way of showing what folk can do if they want and need to.I completely agree and cutting out the corporation (open hardware/software) really helps too!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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