Aprimatologist, environmentalist and UN messenger of peace - that's Dame Jane Goodall for one and all. But what is she doing at a technology platform like Map World Forum, raised the brow of many a technologist at the event.

The technological and economic advances has only widened the urban-rural divide leaving the majority of the population of the country languishing in preindependence conditions. Over the years, several government agencies and a large number of voluntary organisations were involved in developing technologies that cater to the development of rural India. Unfortunately, these technologies hardly touched the lives of rural population. The one technology that has the potential to enrich rural lives and promises to bring in revolutionary changes is - geospatial technology.

Can information and communication technologies (ICTs) support development and social infrastructure projects? Will the money invested in communication devices and computers bring in tangible benefits to the targeted group or it is better spent on providing food, shelter, health and education?