AISECT (Part A): Leading India's Skill Development Mission

The case is a narration of the 20-year journey of the All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technology (AISECT), a social enterprise offering information and computer technology (ICT) services, including skill development, higher education, financial inclusion, and e-governance, to youth in rural and semi-urban areas of India. It reflects the vision of AISECT's Founding Chairman, Santosh Choubey, to build a social organization aimed at disseminating science and technology (S&T) knowledge, services, and solutions to underserved rural areas in India and generating job opportunities for rural youth. In its initial years, AISECT joined a Government of India initiative to introduce and offer basic computer education to students in government high schools in Bhopal. AISECT developed a model in which it trained local youth to become entrepreneur-trainers who could operate ICT centers at the government schools, receiving a share of the government's funds. During the early nineties, AISECT set up ICT training centers in the selected government schools in MP and built a franchisee network of sustainable multipurpose training centers (MPTCs). The centers, owned and operated by village-level entrepreneurs (VLEs), would provide ICT-based and other skill-based education and services to rural communities. Through the MPTC model, AISECT not only penetrated and spread IT literacy in the semi- urban and rural areas of the state but also generated job opportunities for rural youth through its "train the trainer" model. The case is set in March 2005, when Choubey relives the struggles, challenges, and successes along the way and is gradually carried forward into the future. The case ends with Choubey contemplating the road ahead for AISECT. With the skill education landscape changing and new entrants competing for limited government funds, what should AISECT do to maintain its leadership position and ensure its sustainability and continued expansion across India?

Learning Objective:

The case is appropriate for an MBA-level introductory marketing course or an Executive Education course that focuses on strategic marketing issues. The case can be taught effectively to MBA students or executives in marketing courses, such as rural marketing, strategic marketing, and entrepreneurship, where the focus is on new business models for winning in emerging markets. The Case can be taught from aspects of business model innovation, importance of micro-entrepreneurs for rural marketing.