[Telecentres] Basic Telecentre Items/ICT Definition

[Elizabeth Carll, PhD]

Don and all,

For those of us who may not have the background that some do with regard to
telecenters, this discussion is very helpful and may provide information as
to how to describe telecenters so that all who are involved with WSIS and
beyond would have an accurate understanding.

Perhaps I wasn't clear as to what I meant by interactive, as I do see
telecenters providing ongoing information/support  for community development
whereas libraries may provide seminars in business development and hobby
development etc., as does my library, but these are one shot deals.
Telecenters, from my understanding, provide ongoing interactive (two way)
information to provide support and development.

I was not aware that most telecenters charge for services, with the
exception of internet cafe types.  I thought most are funded through grants
and other resources and not paid for by the members of the community.  I
wonder if this is a common perception or misperception and may be possibly
related to the demise of many of the telecenters mentioned, as the
expectation may be that they should exist until local businesses take
over/adopt/integrate the functions into private/government
businesses/programs.

It would make for an interesting research project to find out what happened
when the telecenters closed.  Did the services merely end or were those
services, which were seen as helpful, integrated into a variety of community
businesses and programs?

Elizabeth
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Don Cameron [mailto:donc at internode.on.net]
  Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 5:24 AM
  To: 'Elizabeth Carll, PhD'; 'David Leeming PFnet'; telecentres at wsis-cs.org
  Subject: RE: [Telecentres] Basic Telecentre Items/ICT Definition


  >> Not being a techie, my view of a Telecentre is fairly simplistic. I see
it as a point/place in a community for interactive (two way flow)
dissemination of information.  I view Telecentre's as interactive libraries
(snip)



  Hi Elizabeth, all,



  The other perspective that probably best defines a Telecentre is that of
the business developer / entrepreneur (neither strictly technical nor
strictly social). Telecentre's are first and foremost a community business
constructed by community entrepreneurs for the purpose of enhancing
community development and potential. This is achieved through the promotion
and sale of a range of ICT-based services combined with a mix of
community-building interactions. The major skill-set required of Telecentre
administrators is that of business acumen with a lesser mix of social and
technical capability. Most libraries do not charge for services; most
Telecentre's do charge. Most libraries are partially or fully sustained by
taxpayer funds; most Telecentre's are independent of Government support
albeit some funds may have been provided for start-up purposes (noting that
Governments often provide start-up funds for a variety of new businesses in
support of CED so Telecentre's are not overly advantaged in this respect).
The Internet itself is inherently a 'user-pays' system so while some
similarities between Telecentre's and libraries may exist, I think the
fundamental differences probably outweigh any commonality of purpose or
function. The purpose of a library is to provide access to information. The
purpose of a Telecentre is to aid community development.



  Continuing in this vein of detailing exactly what comprises this concept
we call 'a Telecentre' is probably beneficial to those new to the concept
(or yet to walk through the door of a Telecentre), however I wonder how much
time we should devote considering that:



  a) We will undoubtedly have to revisit this topic when presenting to WSIS
as delegates can be expected to share similar misconceptions about just what
a Telecentre is (or opinions about what a Telecentre should be). Perhaps at
this point it would be prudent to point any further questions concerning
"what is a Telecentre" to the numerous and excellent web resources that
explain the concept. For an Australian perspective I recommend the offerings
of our two major Telecentre networks available at:
http://www.ctc.nsw.gov.au/about/ and
http://www.telecentres.wa.gov.au/telecentres/  Perhaps a few other
Telecentre practitioners might provide similar references so anyone with
further questions can easily gain an international perspective.



  b) We are yet to address the fundamental issue that brought us together
and several key questions remain unanswered. Is the purpose of this forum to
offer a mechanism for the Telecentre movement to provide input into WSIS, or
is the intent for WSIS to use the Telecentre movement as a vessel for
promotions and to achieve a stated set of aims and objectives? (hopefully
both!). If the former I think we really need to establish our bona-fide
representation (to ensure that input is coming from Telecentre's and not
from other parties with interests of merit however not necessarily in accord
with the interests of Telecentre's), and ascertain just what input we wish
to promote to WSIS on behalf of the Telecentre movement. If the later (to
provide services and functions on behalf of WSIS), to determine just what we
can provide and what degree of investment is being asked of us by WSIS. If
as I hope the approach is two-fold (to be partners with WSIS in providing
input and helping to achieve collective objectives), what formalities need
to be addressed so we are both representative as well as participative in
the process?



  Rgds, Don


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