Fellowship
Digital Youth Fellowship Programme
Applications are invited for 2014-15 from willing youths from India and South Asia to work as digital fellows in various community based flagship programmes of Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF).
About Digital Youth Fellowship Programme (DYFP)
Initiated in 2013-14, the fellowship programme seeks to engage willing youths in India and South Asia, working or non-working, student and working professionals, who are keen to have development and grassroots experience in working with communities in any parts in India. The fellowship period is for minimum 90 days duration. Invited and selected fellows are guided to work with communities under various programmes that have Information Communication Technology (ICT) applications, usage and utility.
Fellowship Programmes
Currently, applications are invited for the various flagship programmes of Digital Empowerment Foundation as briefly outlined below:
Digital Panchayat
Under this initiative, fellows are ought to travel and work with a cluster of Panchayats at a district level. The tasks of the fellows are cut out to make elected members digitally literate and collect content of the Panchayats and put them online through dedicated Digital Panchayat website. Check out online Panchayats at http://epanchayat.in.
Wireless for Communities (W4C)
The Wireless for Communities (W4C) initiative establishes wireless based broadband internet cluster and provides connectivity in remote areas denied of connectivity and access. Using the free spectrum for wireless connectivity, W4C program has so far established 8 community networks in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand. If you are keen to experience the W4C journey, as a Digital Wireless Fellow, you can join the program for a minimum 3 months period and explore on the ground how to connect rural and remote locations and feel empowered. More details at http://wforc.in
Chanderiyaan
The Chanderiyaan project was initiated by DEF as a part of digital cluster development flagship programme. As a fellow you can join the Digital Fellowship of the Loom programme and contribute in textile and apparel designing and making entrepreneurs out of the weavers and contribute in overall cluster development. Check out the Chanderiyaan project at http://chanderiyaan.chanderi.org/, the Chanderiyaan e-commerce platform at http://chanderiyaan.net and the Chanderi heritage town at http://chanderiheritage.in
Community Information Resource Centres (CIRC)
Digital Empowerment Foundation has established more than 30 CIRCs across India, which are digitally enabled and Internet connected for information services delivery and access, digital literacy, ICT Skills, citizen services and livelihood opportunities. The mission at DEF continues to establish one CIRC in each district of India. As CIRC resource persons, selected fellows are supposed to work with a particular CIRC, can join a 3-6 months stationed programme and contribute in making one person per household digitally literate and information empowered. Check out for more details at http://defindia.org.
Digital Library Programme (DLP)
As a fellow of the DLP programme, selected fellows are invited to work with district public libraries in Kanpur Rural District (Uttar Pradesh) and Betiah in West Champaran District of Bihar. Selected fellows shall contribute in implementing and running various programme activities in the libraries with the support of ICTs.
SOOCHNA SEVA
Applications are invited from youths to work in the SOOCHNA SEVA programme of DEF in 5 backward districts in India – West Champaran (Bihar), Tehri Garhwal (Uttarakhand), Barmer (Rajasthan), Ranchi (Jharkhand), and Guna (Madhya Pradesh). The SOOCHNA SEVA programme seeks to provide public schemes information services delivery to rural and poor citizens in these districts and empowers citizens by enabling them to have government entitlements and benefits.
eNGO
Fellows are invited to join the eNGO programme to empower grassroots NGOs and development agencies with ICT support. Fellows shall provide support in having NGOs their own web platforms; provide content, training and capacity building support of NGOs and their functionaries to make them ICT enabled. Details at http://pirengo.org
Qualifications of Fellows
Applications are invited from young fellows in the age group 20-40 years with minimum qualification of a graduate, and having skills in writing and communication capacities in English, Hindi or any in any local languages in India. Having basic or advanced knowledge of ICTs is desirable.
Fellowship Duration
The minimum duration for fellows is 3 months. Willing fellows may participate in extended fellowship duration.
Roles & Responsibilities of Fellows
The following is brief of roles and responsibilities of fellows:
Selected fellows shall be desired to provide support / contribution in:
- Community mobilization and engagement
- Skill development & capacity building
- Reporting and documentation
- Information and content aggregation
- Research inputs including data capturing and mining
Number of Fellowships
Currently, the programmes looks to engage 100 fellows for various community based ICT programmes during 2014-15.
Fellowship Entitlements
Selected fellows shall be entitled with following benefits:
- Travel Allowance
- Accommodation
- A Monthly stipend to meet food expenses
- Experience certificate after successful tenure as fellows
Programme Contact
Willing applicants can write to Ms. Ritu Srivastava, Programme Manager at ritu@defindia.net with a formal communication along with updated curriculum vitae. Application shall accompany with a 500 words note on why the applicant is willing to join the Digital Youth Fellowship Programme.