Change Initiatives in collaboration with UNESCO is building a virtual community for poor women in the Indian state of West Bengal. Called Nabanna, the virtual community involves 650 poor women from five regions of the state. Change Initiatives’ task is to set up a web-based information system in the local language to address gender concerns in the regions. Our research has shown how absence of an information-sharing mechanism restricts awareness among poor women, hindering their ability to mobilize and fight social injustices.

Work on Nabanna commenced in February 2003 in five regions: Baduria, Arbelia, Rudrapur, Taragunia and Punda. Since then the poor women have been learning how to use computers, setting up information and communication technology (ICT) centers and creating content, as they go about working on the web portal.

In our work, we are assimilating a wide array of ICT tools with traditional media to detect innovation in information use through a novel research methodology. The media for interaction thus not only involves a specially developed web browser but also human interfaces that are allowing uneducated women to become part of the electronic network. Further, to ensure efficient circulation of content, a community newspaper is published monthly.

Physical space for the virtual community is being built around five ICT centers in the five regions, where women are being trained in knowledge management basics. The centers are equipped with PCs, printers, scanners and internet access. Laptops and Pocket PCs are extensively used, as these allow us to reach out to the poor women who cannot afford to visit the ICT centers. The browser for the project is eNRICH, a software developed jointly by the Government of India’s National Informatics Centre and UNESCO.

Operating in the local language (Bangla), eNRICH is a web-based solution for community knowledge management adapted to the needs and circumstances of the poor.

The focal point of Nabanna is research. Researchers from the London School of Economics and Queensland University of Technology have developed an Ethnographic Action Research (EAR) methodology to discover procedures for information use. Ethnography helps us to understand local cultures, while action research brings about new activities through new understanding of situations. Content work relates to health, livelihood and education. We have developed an evolving and dynamic approach to content creation by researching context of information use and incorporating observations in subsequent content creation work.

After a year of intensive participatory research, step-by-step capacity building among local women and the gradual development of communication systems and information structures, the foundation of Nabanna was established. The immediate challenges are to develop specific information modules, test and improve mechanisms and interfaces, and involve additional partners in providing information, accessing markets and incorporating new innovations.