High speed Internet access has changed the world immeasurably. A dazzling array of divides have been bridged – from educational and political to cultural and linguistic. Some gaps have not been narrowed, however, and some have been widened. This is particularly true for rural communities in developing countries, where building Internet infrastructures is not economically attractive due to the high cost of reaching users with low purchasing power.

AirJaldi is a social enterprise established in Dharamsala, India with aim of narrowing these gaps. Early in 2005, following the deregulation for outdoor use of WiFi in India , we began our work by helping to create the Dharamsala Community Wireless-Mesh Network in cooperation with the Tibetan Technology Center.

Our work centers on:

• Research and Development, with a focus on techonologies suitable for rural areas.

• Training and capacity building, mainly through courses given at our AirJaldi Netowrk Academies .

• Knowledge sharing and advocacy, carried out through public events organized by us (such as the  AirJaldi Summit held in Dharamsala in October 2006 and the ExtremCom 2010  workshop held in Dharamsala on September 2010) and participation in public seminars, workshops and conferences.