Knowledge and information are essential for people to successfully respond to the opportunities and challenges of social, economic and technological changes. But to be useful, knowledge and information must be effectively communicated to people. Any activity to be successfully accomplished requires communication, be it verbal or written. Communication can be considered as the building block of success. When a person is able to convey what he wants to say clearly and precisely and is able to understand correctly what the other person is saying, effective communication is accomplished. The essence of communication is language. The command a person has over a language determines how effectively he is able to communicate and make himself understood as well as understand others. More than 850 million people in developing countries are excluded from a wide range of information and knowledge, with the rural poor in particular remaining isolated from both traditional media and new information and communication technologies which would improve their livelihoods. India has a vast pool of talent at its disposal; there is no doubt in it .However there is something which is holding it back from forging ahead in full throttle.

"If information and knowledge are central to democracy, they are the conditions of development"

Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary-General, in an address to the World Bank Conference, ‘Global Knowledge’ (1997)

People should no doubt take pride in their mother tongue but knowledge of one language does not imply disrespect to another. Coming from a land in which there are nearly twenty two official languages who can understand the importance of communication more than us? But ironically that seems to be the problem. With each state burning a candle for its language people have lost sight of the big picture, communication. People need to be more objective and understand the simple fact that learning English is our step towards a better future and it in no way intends to undermine the importance of our regional language or hurt anyone’s sentiments. Open Forum’s new operational strategy is to position ICTs strategically to advocate for inclusive and pro-poor ICT policy; enhance partners’ capacity to communicate and advocate for affirmative policy change and public action; voice the voiceless through grassroots communication; and, channelize communication for development. For achieving this mission and set target Open Forum has initiated a Monthly Hindi Publication called Antatah and Quarterly English Publication called Development. Both the initiative is approved from Registrar for Newspapers of India, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India. Also for making informative contents abailable for its proper dissemination Open Forum has also initiated Digital Library Project, which will be available on-line as well as off-line for content sharing. These services of Open Forum are aimed benefiting the poor communities through communication channels and coordinated advocacy using Open Forum’s Mission & Vision central to these efforts. It is envisaged, that the these services will highlight issues from partners perspective also as to lead a informed and articulated debate among the policy makers who have access to such communications channels and also use Internet as one of the preferred mediums for accessing information. Open Forum has invested in its editorial work and capacity building programme among the NGOs to enhance visibility for content that is critical to policy.