[Telecentres] Telecentre definition.

[Don Cameron]

Hi Taran,

Leaving for now your two questions on the overall value of Internet
Governance, some thoughts on your observations from an Australian
perspective:

(1) Telecentres all have communications equipment - YES
(2) Community, even when people don't physically socialize in the Telecentre
itself, is at the core - YES
(3) The information, or, the Knowledge (Sensible Communication and
Information) is the reason Telecentres exist - NO 
(4) Telecentes in the context of the WGIG relate to internet access, but are
not limited to Internet Access - YES (usually)
(5) Capabilities of Telecentres can be positively and negatively affected by
proper and improper internet governance (respectively) - Undefined use of
'proper and improper' - A qualified NO with political & cultural
ramifications.
(6) Domain names? Bah, that's not relevant to any Telecentres I know of - NO
(7) Access to content; languages, licensing, Standards being conformed to -
YES & NO

Comments on the points with a NO response:

(3) Many Telecentre's exist for reasons of enhancing community economic
development. Access to information and knowledge are frequently secondary
considerations, and in some cases non-existent. The priorities of many
Telecentre's is to generate local employment and wealth through the sale of
services; to foster market creation; as vessels used in support of specific
community development initiatives that may or may not involve access to
knowledge. Of course a great many Telecentre's do exist for reasons of
information and knowledge, however this is far from universal.

(5) US anti-Spam laws are considered 'proper' by many US citizens however
these laws fall far short of Australian anti-Spam law. 'Proper Governance'
is a matter of democracy and will not be constant across international
boundaries despite the fact these laws impact across international
boundaries (98% of Spam received in Australia is sent by US Spammers acting
in accord with US law), hence we cannot state that 'proper governance' is of
itself an influencing factor because 'proper governance' is a matter of
democracy. An ability or otherwise to enforce domestic governance and law
has far more influence and impact on Telecentre's than Internet governance.

(6) Telecentre's frequently operate as ISP's or local POP's meaning domain
name management has a high impact on business operations. Some also provide
hosting and content services also meaning domain names play a vital part in
operations (My involvement with AuDA a few years ago was a direct result of
my involvement with Telecentre's)   

(7) I don't think you can bundle issues of language, content and standards
into a single group. Language is highly relevant, content less so, standards
sometimes not at all depending on the role and function of the Telecentre
(this of course varies widely from Telecentre to Telecentre). By way of
example, some of our Telecentre's operate primarily as business incubation
and staff training centers and utilize software and systems specific to the
businesses they are working with. Most use software of a type and brand
commonly deployed throughout the community. The matter of Standards is not
really an issue for these Telecentre's. Content can be provided or received
and is arguably one of the biggest issues facing many Telecentre's. I feel
this warrants separate analysis. Language is a huge issue for many
Telecentre's, a complete non-issue for others. This is probably an area best
analyzed by Telecentre's working with language difficulties.

Rgds, Don