It's affordability and simple user interface has made mobile phones successful with even illiterate people. However, apart from basic voice communication, these people are not able to exploit the benefits of information and services available in other facilities like internet.In a bid to help illiterate, semi-literate and the elderly people to connect and engage with information through internet in mobile devices, a collaborative research between IBM Research of India and the National Institute of Design (NID) will identify the communication needs and preferences of the illiterate and semi-literate population. The research will further explore an open, common user interface platform for mobile devices, to make them easier to use for the elderly, and illiterate or semi-illiterate populations in developing countries. The new research partnership is part of IBM's open collaborative research (OCR) program, an initiative to foster innovation through university-industry research collaboration. The University of Tokyo (RCAST) will be the other key collaborator of this global initiative.Director of NID Pradyumna Vyas said, "With the increasing digitisation of information today, it's very important to make the internet accessible to everyone including the illiterate, the elderly and so on. Thus it is a very important research project."The software developed by IBM research and the universities will be made available as open source. "This collaborative research program will result in critical insights to the accessibility requirements of the elderly and people with little or no education in developing nations," said director of IBM research in India, Manish Gupta.Talking about the research, faculty of NID Jignesh Khakhar said, "By bringing IBM's deep knowledge in mobile web and NID's interface design and ethnological expertise, this initiative is aimed to develop inclusive technologies and help the underprivileged improve their lives."

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