[Telecentres] Basic Telecentre Items/ICT Definition

[Elizabeth Carll, PhD]

David,

Your points are well taken.  Not being a techie, my view of a telecenter is
fairly simplistic.  I see it as a point/place in a community for interactive
(two way flow) dissemination of information.  I view telecenters as
interactive libraries.  Community libraries disseminate information, have
community meetings/ seminars/discussions.  It is the interactive nature of
the ongoing communication that distinguishes the telecenter from a library,
which obviously is related to the medium of the communication.

The importance of including necessary content areas in the language of any
outcome document is similar to insuring that all the necessary sections for
books are included in the library from the outset.   Once a plan (of action)
is implemented, funding and space allocation become very competitive.  What
is not in the initial agreement/plan may end up being excluded.

Elizabeth

Dr. Elizabeth Carll
Focal Point
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies;
Chair Media/ICT Working Group,
NGO Committee on Mental Health, New York
Tel: 1-631-754-2424
Fax: 1-631-754-5032
ecarll at optonline.net

 -----Original Message-----
From: telecentres-bounces at wsis-cs.org
[mailto:telecentres-bounces at wsis-cs.org]On Behalf Of David Leeming PFnet
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 12:39 AM
To: telecentres at wsis-cs.org
Subject: Re: [Telecentres] Basic Telecentre Items/ICT Definition



  Then perhaps a definition of a Telecentre needs to map out the functions
these human resources perform. There are also functions that are required
for useful information exchange to take place, that may not be strictly
associated with the telecentre. These include awareness raising, training,
mobilisation of the stakeholders all along the information "chain" including
the "knowledge centres" (in a country like ours, CRM is not widely
practiced....the central institutions are often the worst at communication).
ICT strategy building is important, too. In fact it is difficult to see
where to demarkate a telecentre, looking at it from the "information flow"
point of view.

  As a simple example, to allow rural people to obtain legal advice by
email, it was not as simple and notifying them of the (say) Public
Solicitor's email address. We had to train (remotely) the rural ICT
operators to publicise it and raise awareness, hold meetings with the Public
Solicitor and other stakeholders and discuss the procedures required and
other practicalities, and above all get everyone on board. (now it works
marvellously). Information doesn't just flow - it needs to be driven by the
knowledge owners as much as their "customers" or "clients".

  I suppose we are getting into a defination of "content" as well as
"function".

  David


   ----- Original Message -----
    From: Elizabeth Carll, PhD
    To: David Leeming PFnet ; telecentres at wsis-cs.org
    Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 12:48 PM
    Subject: RE: [Telecentres] Basic Telecentre Items/ICT Definition


    David,

    Thanks for the clarification.  I always thought that such staff support
would be available at all telecentres and considered that to be in the
category of human resources.  It is always interesting to hear how others
view and designate telecentre support activities.

    Elizabeth
      -----Original Message-----
      From: telecentres-bounces at wsis-cs.org
[mailto:telecentres-bounces at wsis-cs.org]On Behalf Of David Leeming PFnet
      Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 8:36 PM
      To: telecentres at wsis-cs.org
      Subject: [Telecentres] Basic Telecentre Items/ICT Definition


      Elizabeth et al.

      Well, how about living ones - human intermediaries. Community
intermediaries to help people understand their needs, to interpret and
respond to incoming information, for consultative processes, to learn how to
filter information appropriately. Technical intermediaries (commonly known
as "assistants" or "operators") to help people use the ICTs, when there are
no existing skills, and to train them as the demand and awareness grows. The
community driven ethic is extremely important, these are facilitators only.

      David

      David,

      Excellent point, as ICTs are certainly only a means to the end product
of learning and participating.  To what other appropriate tools are you
referring, in addition to ICTs?

      Elizabeth
        -----Original Message-----
        From: telecentres-bounces at wsis-cs.org
[mailto:telecentres-bounces at wsis-cs.org]On Behalf Of David Leeming PFnet
        Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 7:04 PM
        To: telecentres at wsis-cs.org
        Subject: Re: [Telecentres] Basic Telecentre Items/ICT Definition


        Hi,

        If we're talking about the Information Society then we should
concentrate on the information activities and not the techology. A
telecentre may be simply described as a place where people can participate
(and learn to participate) in the wider emerging information society, using
appropriate tools including ICTs.

        David
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