eNRICH is a generic and yet easily customizable browser that acts as a gateway for a community to the world of knowledge, communication and empowerment. It enables communities to quickly and efficiently build their own gateway, enriched with their own local content, connected to knowledge sources and services that are tailored according to their own information and communication needs, available in their own local language in a format and medium that is tuned to their assimilation capacities.
The Software has been developed as a joint initiative of UNESCO and NIC. Enrich attempts to tone down the challenges such as lack of suitable skill set, language barriers and low literacy that are faced by disadvantaged communities in using ICTs and the Internet:
• Through a simple, consistent and easy-to-use interface that requires a low level of competence from users • Through local language support • Through accessibility to the use of multiple media (textual, audio, video)
The salient features of the software include :
• A ready-to-use, single-point gateway that can be tailored at will to suit the evolving information and communication needs of the community as the enriched community grows • Post content and messages in multiple media (textual, audio and video) • Build their own content • Voice their opinion on issues of relevance to them • Communicate with their near and dear ones through e-mail, instant messenger and chat services of their choice.
Enrich achieves all this through its two interfaces:
• Community Browser Interface used by community members to • Access various knowledge resources and services available locally and on the Internet (if the site is connected to Internet) • Upload locally relevant messages and content • Interact amongst themselves and with the world beyond
• Desk Manager Interface used by Enrich Manager and researchers to • Configure the site • Moderate and administer its contents • Analyze community’s information and communication needs and preferences