Google Project Loon – Internet in the Sky: An Innovative Solution to Internet Infrastructure Woes in India

The World has moved from Industrial Age to Information Age so has the tenets of power shifted from physical resources to information, knowledge and services. World over countries and organizations are using technology... [ view full abstract ]

The World has moved from Industrial Age to Information Age so has the tenets of power shifted from physical resources to information, knowledge and services. World over countries and organizations are using technology extensively to bring in efficiency, transparency, and innovations. The usage of Internet and Communication (ICT) technology is more pronounced in developed nations as compared to developing nations. The developed nations with greater access to technology have reaped the benefit of economic and healthcare advancements. They are able to come up with innovations using ICT. Developing nations such as India, though is using ICT but the usage is not evenly distributed across the country. The reasons for uneven distribution are manifold but the major roadblocks are the accessibility of the technology and digital illiteracy. Government is trying its best to come up with projects to increase the usage of technology and level of engagement of the citizens which will in turn motivate the citizens to use ICT in urban as well as rural areas. Digital India is an ambitious programme of Government of India to provide good governance and also to bring in transparency and accountability. This will be achieved by synchronized and co-ordinated engagement with both Central Government and State Government. The projected costing for the project is INR 1130 billion The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) will be upgraded and merged with the framework of Digital India. Digital India programme has been launched with the vision of empowering the society through ICT. The programme will be implemented in phases starting from 2014 till 2018 in Indian languages which is aimed at bringing digital literacy and make available digital resources and services to Indian citizens. Through Digital India project government can achieve a lot at much faster pace. But the success of the project depends on the availability of internet infrastructure in the urban and Rural India. The purpose of this study is to understand the barriers to internet adoption and explore the probable ICT based innovative solutions like Google's Project Loon that will make Indian population especially, the rural India connected. Also, the bottlenecks of implementing Project Loon.