The organizations of India that are at the forefront of addressing, and working for, the needs of the socioeconomic communities of the country happen to be struggling today because of the shortage of resources viz-a-viz the challenges that they meet on-ground. Upwards of 90% of NGOs in India annually expend less than 1 crore INR on their efforts, with funding deficits cited as the primary cause. Per NITI Aayog’s recommendations, investments to social services, including NGOs’ funding, should amount to 14 percent of India’s GDP. However, at present, from infrastructural limitations to a shortage of labor, NGOs are in dire need of help. It is for such a shortage that 3D printing could prove to be a boon for these social organizations for whom resources and means to access the same, both are in scarce amounts.
The most impactful feature of 3D printing that makes it an efficient solution for NGOs is its capacity to significantly decrease production costs, with reports rating its cost-efficiency as 75% compared to traditional manufacturing processes. 3D printing technology allows for directly producing parts without the need for expensive tools and their operation. As a result, NGOs can use 3D printing to develop prosthetics for people with disabilities, expanding their impact while reducing costs by an estimated 35%; or, they could also expand their physical presence by constructing cost-effective furniture to provide infrastructural resources in their buildings.
It is to increase the access for NGOs to this novel technology that would facilitate the expansion of their necessary work in India that the project, “The Iterate Academy” was launched as a means to meet the needs of the underserved by digitizing the frontline working groups.