ICFOSS to provide programming services for Aakash

Aakash tablet, the device developed by the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) is getting ready to roll out nationally in the next few months. To promote development of applications and apps for Aakash tablet, International Centre for Free & Open Source Software (ICFOSS) is organising a series of workshops as part of its incubation support programme.

The tablet is being developed by a team at IIT Bombay under the leadership of Padmashree Prof (Dr.) D B Phatak. Aakash runs on dual Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)-based operating systems—Android and Ubuntu 12— and applications can be developed on either of these platforms.

The first workshop, scheduled for 16-17 February 2013 at Technopark. The workshop will benefit independent developers, students, and IT companies who want to develop applications on Aakash.

Aakash was initially unveiled by Shri Kapil Sibal, the Minister for Human Resources Development, Government of India, in October 2011. The second version of the device, Aakash 2, was released on 11 November 2012 and has significantly improved capabilities. MHRD plans to distribute Aakash at a subsidized price of Rs.1130 for students to about 50 lakhs students across the country over the next few months. The device is expected to link 25000 colleges and 400 universities in a nation-wide e-learning programme.

“Given that the Aakash device is to be used at the grassroots level all over the country, there are significant opportunities for independent developers as well as companies to create and market applications for this platform. While the applications required initially would be for e-learning, as the penetration of the device improves, business applications as well as social computing applications also become possible. ICFOSS believes that Aakash, once its planned penetration in different parts of the country is achieved, can be a useful tool in bridging the Digital Divide and bringing about inclusive development in the country.” says Satish Babu, Director, ICFOSS.

The first workshop covers the basics of designing, implementing, debugging, testing and version control for applications on Aakash, using both the Ubuntu and Android platforms. Besides these technology aspects, the workshop will also cover marketing and release mechanisms for the apps developed for the platform.

“As an open, FOSS-based platform that can support applications that provide educational, business and social utility, Aakash holds immense potential, both for developers and software companies, as well as for large users such as central and state Governments. ICFOSS would like to offer the benefit of this programme–the first of its kind outside IIT Bombay–to students and developers, especially those who are planning start-ups, under its incubation support programme“, added Satish Babu.

For more details please visit: www.icfoss.org/aakash.html. Students and techies interested to attend this workshop can contact 0471-2700012 or mail to [email protected] .