Subu Kota was opening Asian offices for IntraLearn Software Corp. last year when the company presented its distance-learning software to education officials in India. That’s when one of the officials posed the question: "Why can’t the same technology take care of illiteracy?" “It stuck with us,” Kota said. Now, Kota president and CEO of the Boston Group and one of the founders of IntraLearn Software Corp., both based in Northborough, is leading an effort to use technology to eradicate illiteracy.

Like Kota, many people have dedicated themselves to teaching others how to read and write. In that respect, Kota’s goal isn’t so unusual. What makes his story unique, though, is how he intends to achieve his goal. Instead of teachers and textbooks, Kota plans to use voice-activated, user friendly software to teach the fundamentals of language. In the past, Kota and others associated with the project hope to help litterate people out of poverty and give them an opportunity for a better life.

“I strongly believe that with this program, lives of millions will be changed,” said Ronak V. Desai, director of the Boston Group.

IntraLearn Software Corp., founded in 1994, provides e-learning applications to mid-market enterprises. Some 450 organizations worldwide use IntraLearn to provide e-learning to more than 2 million users. The Boston Group, a software consultancy to Fortune 500 companies, provides technical support to IntraLearn on the Indian subcontinent and in South-east Asia.

Kota and his team wasted no time in modifying their product once the Indian education official asked about using the technology to fight illiteracy: Kota figured they could develop the platform to teach letters, then words and then sentences; the goal is to teach people to read a newspaper within six months.

The first phase was developing the content: how the screen will work, how people will understand it, etc. Because the target population isn’t familiar with computers, the IntraLearn team needed to create a system that was inviting and easy to use.

The software allows people to learn by watching and interacting ‘with a monitor, Desai explained. “There won’t be any mouse or keyboard attached to the computer, so the villager can learn just by watching and talking into the computer.”

The team is now developing the course content. “Just like simple textbooks we have in print, we’re converting them to web-based, multimedia material, Kota said. He hopes to have the course content set within the next two months.

The government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh will provide computer kiosks at community centers in various villages. Kota said the goal is to have 16 to 20 kiosks for the pilot program. Officials also hope to have computer-savvy individuals help guide others through the language lessons.

Kota hopes to have the program up and running by September, a schedule even he admitted is quite ambitious. But he pointed out that about 15 people from his company are working on this project. Kota said he is financing the program himself, but he didn’t give a cost estimate. IntraLearn in Andhra Pradesh state will teach people how to read the common language of Telugu. The software is designed so that individuals can structure their own lessons.

“It’s flexible,” Kota said. “We’re trying to provide a structural learning and the ease of access.” Someone can start, for example, by learning the alphabet and work his or her way up from there. Someone who already knowe the alphabet can start with words and then learn to form sentences.

“In some 'countries like India, many methods have been tried, but achieved a meager Success said technical director Venkata Ramana Kuppa. “Here in the Boston Group, it is felt that technology-driven programs should help to reach the geographically spread, large number of people”. The program also is targeting women,

Kota said. "The result will have a much greater impact on society if we concentrate on women. The woman will teach the children,” he said.

Jan Pyda,.director of consulting, also sees educating women as a key component of bringing prosperity to under developed and developing countries. Women have “a tremendous role to play in this society and in this movement of eradicating illiteracy,” Pyda said.

Kota’s interest in eliminating illiteracy in India stems from a personal connection as well as a professional one. The 66 year-old is a native of India. He earned his master’s degree in computer engi- neering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and a bache1or’s degree in electronics and communications from a well-known college in Kakinada. Kota moved to the United States in 1968 and now lives with his family in Northborough. “We feel we are fortunate,” he said. “We feel that we haven’t paid back anything to the country.”

However, Kota sees IntraLearn reaching well beyond India in its crusade against illiteracy. He hopes to study the program once it has been running for six or so months, take the wrinkles out and then adapt it for use in other areas. “I see the application must larger,” he said. "The same concept can be applied to any language.”

By Mark Pratt