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Photograph by Zach Beecher

Saratoga's Dipak Basu has developed Anudip, a non-profit organization set up to teach information technology to those in rural India. Basu's hope to help those in his native country find jobs and improve their livelihoods.

Basu is giving back to his native India

By Shannon Burkey

Dipak Basu is an entrepreneur for the new millennium--a "social benefit" entrepreneur looking to change the world.

The Saratoga resident and former Cisco executive is using his corporate skills to give back to society and help those who are less fortunate through his new India-based venture, Anudip.

"I wanted to bring the prosperity that has come out of India back to the country," Basu said.

After a trip to India two years ago, Basu started to think of ways to assist the people of his native country.

"I was moved by the plight of the people and wanted to help them, but I didn't know how to," Basu said.

After seeing a joint study done by ActionAid International and Stanford University's Digital Vision Program that found people in marginalized areas can be dramatically affected by more jobs in their regions, he decided helping them learn marketable skills would be an invaluable way to help.

"We established that the most important thing we can do is give them jobs," Basu said. "Livelihood is an important thing."

Anudip is the result. The nonprofit organization is building a chain of computerized resource centers in rural India to teach information technology to those in the area so they can find jobs.

"Everyone wants to get into IT, even in rural areas, so we brought supply and demand together," Basu said. "If we take these people and develop their computer skills so that they can get employment, then they can gradually start to uplift the community."

The first center opened its doors in May, and its first 20 students graduated at the end of July. The second center opened in July with full classes, and a third center is slated to open at the end of September. Anudip is also in the process of starting a software development center that will hire the graduates of the resource center.

Although Anudip is a new venture, working as a "social benefit" entrepreneur is nothing new to Basu.

In 2001, he founded NetHope, a consortium of the world's largest non-government aid organizations that work together to enhance humanitarian operations in poor and war-torn regions using information technology. NetHope received the Tech Laureate award from the San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation in 2004.

However, it was his participation in the 2005 Global Social Benefit Incubator program, offered through the Center for Science, Technology and Society at Santa Clara University, that he said really helped him to fine-tune his business plan for Anudip and make it a reality.

The GSBI program is an intensive two-week residential program that works with social benefit entrepreneurs to turn their concepts into sustainable enterprises. The participants are mentored and taught by local technology experts and business executives who help them to "emerge with a cohesive business plan that could bring their life-altering ventures to resource-strapped regions of the world."

"There are so many wonderful citizens in the Bay Area that want to give their time and skills back to their communities, and there are so many people willing to share what works for them," said Center for Science, Technology, and Society spokeswoman Karen Bernosky.

The program is important, Basu said, because it teaches the social benefit entrepreneurs how to maintain sustainability and a financial stream. He added that a lot of nonprofits fail because the "visionaries" who started them do not know how to maintain that sustainability.

"Whether it is sheep-herding or IT, the key concept is sustainability," Basu said. "You must have a financial stream."

Anudip started as a nebulous idea, Basu said, but it is growing and bringing hope--and job prospects--to the people of India.

"We are being realistic about what can be done," Basu said, "but every day we learn something new that improves on what we are doing."