The blog is written by Saurabh Singh, Piramal Foundation

When I joined Piramal foundation, I was determined to create an impact at large scale. Fortunately, I am leading a portfolio which provides me with the perfect opportunity to do that. At Piramal foundation I am leading the hyperlocal NGO development program to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the Aspirational District Collaboratives which will result in the success of Transformation of Aspirational Districts, a program initiated by NITI under the wish of Hon. Prime Minister. 

For such a grand pursuit, I am trying to collect the building blocks, and a standard communication process at large scale is one of those. We have been searching for that for the past two months and then we got to know about Glific and its WhatsApp bot. I reviewed it thoroughly and found some important use cases which include learning management system, event communication and assessment at basic level. 

Communication is really important for a large scale drive and especially when you have to create impact in 112 districts and 27 states. We have to overcome multi-layered communication to reduce the time to benefits and required support we are offering for our customers. 

When I was invited to the Glific Boot Camp by Sneha, I was excited. I was sure that I will get the opportunity to learn about the platform and its features which can fulfill my needs as well as I will meet more people who have innovative ideas for technology in the development sector. 

Glific Boot Camp was actually my first visit to Goa, in the past I planned multiple times, however the nearest I could reach was up to Ratnagiri. When I reached Varca le Palm resort, I was amazed by the serene beauty of the location, I was feeling relaxed and energetic. As soon as I reached the place, the first thing I did was to explore the place. During lunch I met the people from Glific. I was happy with the warm welcome I received. I spent the evening enjoying peaceful moments at the beach. 

Second day started with an hour walk at the beach and had discussions with Erica and Ankit. I was quite eager to tell my objectives and in the process we understood each other. At Glific boot camp, there were only two new organizations, Siksharth was the second one. In the morning we were briefed about the two day engagement and we introduced each other. During the entire day I tried to learn about Glific, process of designing communication flow, data extraction and labelling from Abhishek. At the end of the day, I was successful in designing a version of communication flow on the Glific flow diagram. I am thankful to Abhishek for helping me learn things so quickly.  

In the evening I spend one hour with Ankit in understanding each other and discussing possible technology and services development sectors actually needs. 

I spent the entire third day in developing demonstration for WhatsApp bot, which I successfully did and prepared a presentation for the next day. In the evening I went to explore jungle side of the Varca and visited nearby villages. We ended the day with formal introduction of Glific sprint team and had a small get together. 

On the final day I presented my presentation and left the location after a brief discussion with Erica about future strategies and mutual support. 

In between I had a great opportunity to interact with Mr Donald Lobo, Saurav Vaishnav and the DBC team of Piramal foundation. 

Glific Boot Camp was a great learning opportunity for me and I am quite hopeful with possible scope of the platform in our organization. I am hopeful that our cooperation and mutual support with the Glific team and Tech4Dev team will keep growing.  

In the end I am thankful to the Glific team for providing this learning opportunity.