Today, over 40 percent of the world’s population - most living in rural areas - lack access to affordable or reliable internet connectivity.

Fueled by COVID-19, demand for the internet has exponentially surged due to critical use cases such as digital education, remote working, telehealth, and social connectivity. Beyond the pandemic, connectivity will continue to play a fundamental role in supporting basic human needs. It is estimated that a 10% increase in broadband penetration could contribute to over a 1% increase in the nation's GDP.

Bringing together experts from various regions across the world, this two-part webinar will highlight the challenges and opportunities in enabling rural connectivity and showcase efforts in multiple areas to connect the unconnected:

  • Session 1 - Deployment of Rural Connectivity (For Asia-Pacific & African Time Zones)
    • Thursday, 07 October 2021 | 15:30 IST/10:00 UTC - 17:00 IST/11:30 UTC 

  • Session 2 - Enablement of Rural Connectivity (For North American and Latin American Time Zones)
    • Tuesday, 12 October 2021 | 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM ET 


Who Should Attend?

  • Researchers & academia
  • Users and producers of systems and components for networking systems
  • Telecommunications carriers
  • Service providers
  • Semiconductor manufacturers
  • Test houses
  • Content providers
  • Technology providers
  • Policy makers








What You Will Learn:

  • Designing User Interface for Rural Population
  • Technical Skill Development for Installing, Operating, and Maintaining Local Communication Network and Infrastructure
  • How Regulatory Interventions Improve Rural Digital Communication Infrastructure
  • Types or Grades of Services Available for Rural Communication Infrastructure

Our HostsHost Sandeep Agrawal

Sandeep Agrawal

Session 1
Thursday, 07 October 2021 | 15:30 IST/10:00 UTC - 17:00 IST/11:30 UTC
Sandeep Agrawal is a team leader at C-DOT Bangalore, leading and architecting the PM-WANI (Prime Minister's Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) program. Sandeep is actively involved in the standardization of Wi-Fi & Rural Broadband. He is Chair of IEEE P2872 Working Group for Interoperable and Secure Public Wi-Fi Infrastructure and Architecture and the IEEE SA Rural Communication Industry Connections Program. He is the Vice-Chair of IEEE P2061 Working Group for Architecture for Low mobility Energy Efficient network for Affordable Broadband Access. He is contributing to the IEEE P802.11bc Working Group for Enhanced Broadcast Service. He is also the Chair of IoT Work Group and co-lead of the Wi-Fi sensing group in WBA (Wireless Broadband Alliance).



Host Purva Rajkotia

Purva Rajkotia

Session 2
Tuesday, 12 October 2021 | 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM ET
Purva Rajkotia is the Director of Global Business Strategy & Intelligence (GBSI) and the Connectivity and Telecom Practice Lead at IEEE SA. Prior to IEEE, Purva held leadership positions with Qualcomm, Samsung, and Disney in various capacities. Purva also held leadership positions in various standards organizations such ITU, 3GPP, 3GPP2, CENELEC, etc. He has authored more than 100 patents granted by the USPTO (US Patent Office) and other worldwide patent organizations. He is one of the co-authors of the chapter on Powerline Communications in the book "MIMO Power Line Communications Narrow and Broadband Standards, EMC, and Advanced Processing" by CRC Press. He obtained his MSEE degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Our Speakers

Session 1
Thursday, 07 October 2021 | 15:30 IST/10:00 UTC - 17:00 IST/11:30 UTC

Speaker Ritu Srivastava.png
Ritu Srivastava, Director, Jadeite Solution, India

Ritu is the Chair of the IEEE IGSRA - Internet Grade of Service in Rural Areas Working Group. With around 12 years of experience, her expertise lies in leading research and development projects for national and international agencies in areas of rural broadband and regulatory issues, community networks, broadband policies, gender & access, gender and internet governance, violence against women, open spectrum policies, and community development.
Session 1
Thursday, 07 October 2021 | 15:30 IST/10:00 UTC - 17:00 IST/11:30 UTC)

Speakers


Speaker Ben Koo.png

Hsueh-Yung Benjamin Koo, Professor, Tsinghua University, China

Prof. Hsueh-Yung Benjamin Koo (顧學雍) is one of the founders of iCenter@Tsinghua, a school-in-school experiment at Tsinghua University, Beijing, where he serves as the Director of International Relations of iCenter. He works on the design and deployment strategies of digital learning infrastructures for individuals and institutions. He created a collective-learning methodology: Extreme Learning Process (XLP), which is being practiced at many levels of educational institutions in China. Prof. Koo’s research interest is related to knowledge management in general. 
Session 2
Tuesday, 12 October 2021 | 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM ET

Speaker Headshot - Erick Huerta.png
Erick Huerta, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, Rhizomatica, Mexico

Erick is an expert in connectivity issues related to remote areas and indigenous peoples and he has served as Co-Rapporteur on Development of Information Technology and Communication in remote areas and groups with unattended needs, and Head of the Study Group on Indigenous Populations, the Permanent Consultative Committee 1 of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission of the OAS, as well as advisor to the Directorate General of Telecommunications Policy on development issues in preparation of the World Telecommunication Development Conference and the Plenipotentiary Conference of the ITU.
Session 2
Tuesday, 12 October 2021 | 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM ET

Speaker Headshot - Anmol Anubhai.png

Anmol Anubhai, UX Researcher II, Amazon Web Services

Anmol Anubhai is a human-centered design researcher, with international research experience and mixed research methods repertoire who is passionate about building meaningful emerging technologies. She has experience leading strategic qualitative and quantitative design research for spaces such as AI-driven recommender systems, IoT data analytics, healthcare, education, journalism, mobile vision, virtual reality, multilingual chatbots, and eco-friendly sustainable home appliances.

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