Established in 2002, the New Delhi-based Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) aims to connect unreached and underserved communities of India to the Internet in an effort to bring them out of digital darkness by empowering them to access information online.
With the belief “Inform, Communicate, and Empower,” DEF finds sustainable digital interventions to overcome information poverty in rural and remote locations of India, and empower communities with digital literacy, digital tools, and last mile connectivity. Through its various projects across six programmatic areas – Access & Infrastructure, Education & Empowerment, Governance & Citizen Services, Markets & Social Enterprise, Knowledge Hubs & Networks, and Research & Advocacy – DEF has made a difference in more than 750 locations across 136 districts of 22 Indian states, thus impacting millions of lives through its digital interventions.