Cybercafés and their potential as Community Development Tools in India

Abstract

The following article examines the role of Cybercafés in urban, semiurban and suburban areas of India. Cybercafés have become an important access point for different urban communities in India, and the paper discusses their role in an urban development context.
To examine the role of Cybercafés, a broad quantitative and qualitative analysis of cybercafes has been made in different urban, semiurban and suburban areas in India, including a user survey of 1500 users and 30 interviews.
This paper discusses some of the findings, shows some up to date trends of the Indian Cybercafe Scene and shows some interesting potentials that Cybercafés in urban areas have to serve different communities.