[Telecentres] Basic Telecentre Items/ICT Definition

Tue Oct 5 16:49:30 BST 2004

Dear All

Some pieces of information in this line: in Hungary the picture is
variable. You can find (very small) telecottages providing most of
services (inc. Internet access) for free, if local government is
susidising the operator (like libraries)  But most of telecottages are
organisational hybrids, priovide paid, low cost services.  2-3 % of
telecottage are closing down in in 1-3 years after their opening because
of financial problems, but in most cases the real problem is not
material, but human (personal conflicts between former partners, e.g.
local mayor and telecentre operator, telecentres usually obtain some
kind of political power, social influence, mayor/local government can
stop supporting the telecentre by giving the building for free for
example, if the operator doesn't support the mayor, council members). In
this case, if the infrastrucure was given as grant, computers can be
taken back by the program organiser (e.g. Telecentre Association) and
given to other NGO-s (it is usually defined  this way in the grant
contract). 

Matyas Gaspar

-----Original Message-----
From: telecentres-bounces at wsis-cs.org
[mailto:telecentres-bounces at wsis-cs.org] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Carll,
PhD
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 3:13 PM
To: Don Cameron; 'David Leeming PFnet'; telecentres at wsis-cs.org
Subject: RE: [Telecentres] Basic Telecentre Items/ICT Definition

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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