A PC that can withstand dustyconditions, varying temperatures and high humidity like in India, can work in the harsh conditions of rural environments, can provide massive rural populations access to the Internet and thus opening up a world of business and personal communication opportunities and canmake the rural community, not an individual the end user! Yes, Intel 
community PCs launched last month are suited to meet all these requirements.
The initiative of launching of the community PC, according to Frank Jones, President, Intel India, is an effort towards social inclusion, which will enable positive change in India in terms of increased technological penetration and access and thereby higher standards of living for the citizens. The low cost IT solutions on mass scale is big issue, which is worked upon through the community PC. The Community PC is part of an effort by Intel to apply its technology to emerging markets (India, China, Brazil, Russia, South America and African countries). Designed as a result of defining locally relevant computing solutions based on Intel technology, the PC platform is equipped to
operate in a community setting while accommodating the varying environmental conditions prevalent in the country. With the objective to ridge the urban-rural divide, Intel also announced its ‘Jagruti’ initiative. By collaborating with leaders in business, government, education, online services and Internet service providers, Intel’s Jagruti programme will support the pread of rural Conference Report Internet kiosks based on the new Intel-Powered Community PCs. These PCs would be available through Intel partners, HCL and Wipro. The launch was done by Frank Jones driving a tractor into the main hall and bringing the “community PC” followed by a lecture- umdemonstration by Intel Vice President Will Agatstein and the Product Manager Rakesh Godhwani; they showed a set of applications – adult literacy (from TCS), children education (from Azim Premji Foundation) and ntertainment (Hindi movie) – convincing the audience that the hardware is “best” (no deficient functionality) and “cheap” (shared access will bring down the costs to Rs 10 per person per day for 3 persons over 3 years) too. This was followed by talks by Intel Corporate VP Bill Siu and Amar Babu, Intel South Asia MD. They informed that the PCs have already been tested in pilot projects at the following locations: Bedeti, Assam, Juna Chamu, Gujarat, Mandya, Karnataka, Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, Mallapuram, Keral
