Internet access has demonstrated time and again that it has the potential to create a fair society, enhance the accountability to the disenfranchised and fuel inclusiveness. This will naturally bring hope, confidence, enthusiasm and dignity in the mind of every citizen, which is important if the society wants to make sustained progress.

Google Railwire became the port of high-speed internet access for users, making them experience internet like they had never done before. Thus, advancing equity and inclusion. An important piece of this puzzle was about creating awareness amidst public, policy makers and inspiring them by showing transformation brought.

he Google Access team works towards improving internet access in emerging markets. As part of this initiative, they were bringing fast, free Wi-Fi to 400 of the largest train stations across India. As one of the first large scale Wi-Fi deployments in India, this set the market reference point for quality public Wi-Fi.

The task was simply put as create an opportunity for the TG to experience high speed internet. The sophistication of the task stemmed in from its uniqueness, scale and reach.

The objectives were defined as-

· Increase awareness and daily active users of RailWiFi.???

· Increase brand association of RailWiFi with Google as a project partner.

· Highlight the project among key opinion formers- stakeholders in Govt., policy and industry partners.

In India, it is predicted that language changes every 15-20 kilometers at the level of communication. This simple fact demonstrates the complexity and the challenges the program had. However, there was one human truth which cut across all these barriers – The want to do better. We latched on to this simple human insight and presented internet as a tool which will support them in this journey. Turning railway platform into a platform that lets you discover all that internet has to offer.

The creative idea did not stop by just getting people experience internet, but worked harder after that to bring out the real stories of transformation. These stories of advancement from people amongst them inspired the larger mass to experience and use the internet to achieve what they seek.

The strategy – create an opportunity and inspire this audience to experience high-speed internet.

The target audience was both public and policy makers.

The strategy was 2 pronged -

1) About the wifi - The task outlined was to create awareness around wifi work amongst both public and policy makers.

2) The impact - The task outlined was to tell the world about the transformation which this wifi had brought across millions of Indians. We went back to the stations, spent time talking to people understanding what this meant and did for them. We found that a simple high speed wifi opened up a world of possibilities for them. These stories of transformation were truly inspiring and unique and needed to be told, thus #storiesfromstation was born.

The execution had 2 specific parts

1) About the wifi - The task outlined was to create awareness around wifi work amongst both public and policy makers.

2) The impact - The task outlined was to tell the world about the transformation which this wifi had brought across millions of Indians. We told 3 stories amidst the hundreds we found

a. with a porter- Srinath

b. a woman autorickshaw driver- Helen

c. martial art trainer - Naresh Babu

These videos went viral on social media and generated over 5M views and over 20M reach with Govt of India also tweeting about it.

The coverage was successfully mentioned across national and regional publications. Even Govt. of India applauded the work and its outcome.

Print:

The Times of India: http://myimpact.impactmeasurement.co.in/index.php?page=Clipj&id=d2a8ab4869d198e04a91b685c17d1ba4&id2=857c5b94945fc4ae91db5a75d53d11af

Online:

The Indian Express: http://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/kerala-luggage-porter-who-cracked-kpsc-exam-using-free-wifi-at-railway-station-to-study-is-an-inspiration-5173257/

ET Telecom (ANI): http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/when-free-rail-wifi-becomes-boon-for-a-kerala-porter-118051001215_1.html

NDTV: Kerala Coolie A Step Closer To Civil Services Dream, Used Railway WiFi To Prep

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Financial Express: Heart-touching! How an autorickshaw woman driver is using Indian Railways free WiFi to educate her son https://www.financialexpress.com/infrastructure/railways/heart-touching-how-an-autorickshaw-woman-driver-is-using-indian-railways-free-wifi-to-educate-her-son/1170183/

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