TenthPlanet’s Open Source Foundation, (located at Anna Salai) has turned 10 young women from the IT field into amateur entrepreneurs. The organisation has given these youngsters financial support, infrastructure and a good platform to perform and learn. Says Kumaran Mani, CEO, Tenth Planet Technologies: The women have learnt to do documentation, coding, product testing, product delivery, business ethics, team management and customer-friendly approach. They have been trained to use the open source tools, which are available free online, to implement the sites. Each site deals with a different subject or domain. They will have features such as online directory, job portal, event management, online buying, catalogue, subscription and ticketing system for upcoming events.
“What we have launched now is the first version and an improvised one, which will give good revenue, will be launched by 2012,” said Usha Sri and Sailaja, the team leaders.
The sites.
The site www.garbo.in contains a large number of images, photos and videos regarding garbage. Users can register and look at the displayed photos or even upload their own photos on this site. Solutions to manage waste have also been provided here. “This will create an awareness about waste management, segregation and so on,” said Usha Sri.
“We have also created a site for those conscious of pollution at the global level. The site cleangreen.in deals with news regarding instruments and devices to control pollution, organisations involved in controlling pollution across the world, articles regarding individuals who have contributed towards this cause, etc,” she added.
Isaiplanet.com is sure to be a hit with music lovers. “More than 10,000 Tamil film songs are available and the site is being updated. The entrepreneurs have also catered to the taste of all women in the State through the site sareepuram.com. “One can log on to this site to know about saris available in a number of shops in T. Nagar. One can avoid getting caught in a traffic jam or driving down all the way. Instead, one can order online or just pay a visit to a particular shop to pick up their choice,” says Usha Sri. With the festive season about to begin this does seem to be a convenient way to shop.
Restaurants et al
Restaurants, coffee shop, cake shop, recipes and other food related articles and information can be obtained from eatwell.in. Disasters that had occurred across the world — date of occurrence, severity of damage, organisations that had helped during the contingency, leaders who had evinced interest in helping the people of the area and other information can be accessed through the siteworldstatus.net
The other sites created by them are opengov.in; article51.jaijagat.org and sugarmills.in
“The 10 entrepreneurs who began these sites will benefit out of it when more and more people browse these sites. The women, who were job seekers a few months ago have turned out as job creators. This is the power of open source,” says Kumaran Mani.
Tenth Planet Technologies is at 807, 6th Floor, P.T. Lee Building, Anna Salai. Ph: 4296 1000.
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-downtown/looking-for-a-prosperous-market/article2422163.ece