Teacher sets out for digital revolution in villages

A teacher from Sehwan has taken the initiative to bring a digital revolution in the villages of Sindh.

Sajid Bhutto, a teacher at Government Degree College, Sehwan, has searched out youths in Sindh villages specialising in information communication technology. Having provided digital literacy training to 500 youths in 20 villages around Jamshoro, Bhutto helped them launch Internet of Things and E-commerce projects.

Recognising Bhutto's creative ideas and passion at the national level for promoting entrepreneurship by equipping the youth of Sindh with digital technologies, President of Pakistan Arif Alvi awarded him the certificate of the third-best idea in the category of Education from all over Pakistan in the national competition of National Idea Bank competition.

Bhutto presented the creative idea of Digital Village in the National Idea Bank, which he has primarily nurtured with his resources.

Bhutto says that he wants to turn the youth of rural Sindh into walking factories through information and digital technologies to earn a living through freelancing and e-commerce while living close to their homes.

Bhutto patronises a technology institute called 110 Innovate, which aims to popularise technology education in rural Sindh. His idea consists of three stages. These include digital literacy, finding solutions to social problems based on the Internet of Things, and employment to rural artisans, artisans, and service providers through e-commerce.

Bhutto started his project from Jamshoro. During a survey, he found that young people have laptops and smartphones but use them primarily for recreational purposes. Initiating the first phase, Bhutto conducted a four-month course in digital literacy for 500 youths through a team of six persons in which youths aged between 18 to 35 participated, and they were made aware of the digital world and its changes and possibilities.

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'The Internet of Things' training was given to the youth to solve the problems facing the agrarian economy through the internet and digital technologies to make the digital village model a reality. As a result, 18 startups emerged from Sehwan alone. Out of which, four startups are being incubated at the National Incubation Center Karachi.

These four startups include a realtime monitoring system for pond water quality and parameters in fish farming, a mobile application for identifying harmful bacteria in drinking and human consumption water. An analytical technique for analysing crop health during crop drone surveys, quantifying phosphate and nitrate fertilisers, and the startup of an e-commerce platform that sells rural women's embroidery online is also included.

According to Sajid Bhutto, there is a lot of talent in the villages of Sindh and other provinces of Pakistan, but lack of capital and internet connectivity are the biggest challenges. He said that Rs3.6 million was required to digitise the 20 villages of Jamshoro, which he had selected for Pakistan's first digital village project in Sindh.

Due to internet connectivity problems in the villages of Jamshoro, Bhutto has set up a centre in Sehwan from where projects are sought from the international market for the trained youth of Jamshoro. Bhutto says that he can also provide a workforce to the software houses operating in Pakistan for web development and coding projects in the international market.

This labour force is cheaper and more efficient than cities because they need more income to change their conditions and improve their quality of life.

A mobile laboratory has been set up in the villages of Jamshoro to provide training. Bhutto takes laptops, batteries and devices in his car to the villages where training classes are conducted for the youth near their homes.

Trainees of 'The Internet of Things' include skilled craftsmen, electricians, and mechanics who have improved their skills through the Digital Village Project and use their experience and expertise to reach out to rural people through digital technologies to find solutions to the problems.