The combination of the connectivity of the Internet and the flexibility of the World
Wide Web has led to a revolution in information and communication. Advances in
computer processing and telecommunication have further fuelled the pace of change
towards an information society. For those connected, the death of distance has led to
opportunities for networking and developing partnerships in a new knowledge economy
operating as a global village. In South India IT companies are at the leading edge of this
technological revolution and although the digital divide is as evident in India as in any
other developing country efforts to bridge it are well underway. ICT-enabled knowledge
centres have been established by the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation to bring
marginalized rural communities the chance of being part of the global village. This has
become a reality not only in terms of connectivity but by events aimed at sharing the
experience with those attempting to reach excluded communities in other developing
countries. The third of these South-South Exchange Workshops that took place in October
2004 brought 21 development practitioners together from 15 countries (including four
from India) to learn about the MSSRF approach and share their own knowledge directly
with the villagers.