[Telecentres] Sustainability and Scaling-Up Concerns

[klaus at chasquinet.org]

Dear Friends

Some late remarks regarding Sustainability, Up-Scaling, and all that.
Just thinking aloud, sorry it might be a long one. But nevertheless, what do you 
think?.

Question: Can Telecenters be financially sustainable?. 

Answer: I think the answer to this is based on our experiences in Latin America and 
other parts of the world is "No" if the business model of the telecenter is just based 
on the sale of traditional telecenter services based on connectivity like browsing, 
email, chat, VoIP, and the answer is still "No" if other non internet based services 
like photo-copying, secretarial services or training are included.

Thesis: The role of Telecenters is not to bridge the so called "digital divide" (sorry 
for swearing in an public email) by providing connectivity services but the role of a 
telecenter is to act as a agent for social and economical development. 

Question: So how can a telecenter be sustainable?.

Answer: Telecenters have to base their business plan on being an agent for social 
and economical development.

Question: How can Telecenters do that?

Answer: In nearly every community in which telecenters are based exists "capital" 
and the role of the telecenter is to help the community to free and develop this 
capital in order to achieve social and economic development with the help of the 
tools the ICT's are offering.

Thesis: In order to build up its business plan each telecenter has to identify the 
capital of its community and offer besides the traditional connectivity based 
services specifics services that aid the social and economic development of its 
community. As it turns out these services can not be developed by a single 
telecenter and they have to be developed by networks of telecenters (kind of 
services and structure, see below). This creates an additional income stream that is 
sustained because it is feed from the direct financial gains a community receives 
through the new services.

Question: Will a single telecenter that based his business plan on social and 
economical development be sustainable?.

Answer: With luck and hard work, maybe.

Thesis: One telecenter alone is an island, a network of telecenters is a market place 
for social and economic development.

Question: Why should a Telecenter be part of a network of telecenters and which 
implication has the network membership of a telecenter for its financial 
sustainability?.

Answer: Telecenters that basically operate on their own and just in their own 
community have a very limited "market" for their services aiding social and 
economic development, and anyway the nature of the new ICT's as communication 
tools is contrary to an isolated development of a Telecenter.

Telecenters should be part of a network of telecenters because:

a) as the example of Somos at Telecentros in Latin America shows, Telecenters can 
be established and run cheaper if the receive the support from a network of 
Telecenters. 

b) a network of telecenters creates a internal market-place that can be used by the 
individual telecenters that make up the network for social and economic 
development.

c) a network of telecenters creates the "critical mass", the market place and 
organizational structure that allows the private and governmental sectors to engage 
with the social sector and the communities.

d) only networks of telecenters can create and implement the conditions and tools 
that are really needed to aid social and economical development on a local level.

Thesis: Networks of Telecenters are not just networks of mutual support and interest 
between telecenters but are a social enterprise, a business with the goal to create 
the right conditions for communities to exploit the tools ICT's offer for social and 
economic development. 

The Telecenters and their networks have to engage with the private and 
governmental sector in order to be sustainable. 

For Telecenters in order to be effective in aiding social and economic growth the 
right conditions for their operation have to exist and the right ICT tools (what tools, 
see below) have to be available to the Telecenters. These conditions and tools can 
only be created and implemented in partnership with the private and governmental 
sector.

The engagement between the telecenters and the private and governmental sector 
has to be on the basis that:

a) Telecenters and their networks are not just seen by the private sector as "a 
market place" and "customers" 

b) the governmental sector sees the telecenters not just as a tool to boost their 
connectivity statistics. 

c) Telecenters and their networks also understand and the respect the legitimate 
needs, values and goals of the private and governmental sector.

Only when the social, private and governmental sector learn to see each other as 
partners with the common goal of social and economic development (each in his 
own way) can sustainability (each according to their own definition) in each sector 
be achieved. 

Telecenters that do not engage with the private and governmental sector through a 
network Telecenters are not sustainable in the long run.

Governments (national and local) that do not engage with the local telecenters 
directly or through the telecenter networks fail in their obligation to aid social and 
economical development.

The private sector misses important business opportunities if it does not engage 
with the Telecenters and their networks.  

Question: How can a Telecenter network be sustainable?

Answer: Not by depending on hand-outs and membership fees. 

Basically a Telecenter Network has two income streams available that can be 
developed to sustain the network:

a) providing services to its members
b) providing services to the private and governmental sector

A telecenter network can do both things by creating the scale and organization and 
implementing the tools that allow the individual telecenters and their users to fully 
engage with the private and governmental sector and vice versa. 

Regional Telecenter networks need to establish for example on-line platforms that 
do allow not only the local and national marketing and exchange of information, 
goods and services but also platforms that alow the flow of information, goods and 
services on a global level.

For this mechanisms have to be established that 

a) allow the cheap and efficient transport of physical goods.

b) allow to adapt national laws, rules and regulations to the new realities of a global 
market based on ICT's

c) allow the free flow of remittances monies and financial services such as health 
insurances and pensions.

The Telecenter networks as social enterprises benefit directly financially from the 
flow of goods and services they create.

It now becomes clear why it is imperative that all sectors need to work together to 
make this happen, one or even two sectors co-operating alone can not do it. 

It now becomes also clear that we need to create regional, hemispheric and global 
networks of telecenters that co-operate with each other as social enterprises. Only if 
we have this structures in place telecenters can be real, sustainable agents of social 
and economic development. The creation of the Telecenters of the Americas 
Partnership that stretches from Alaska to the tip of Chile is a first step in this 
direction and I hope other regions will follow soon. 

Question: So what about Up-scaling?.

Answer: Maybe a simplistic answer, but if the above structures and mechanisms are 
in place, each community will realize the importance of a telecenter and they will be 
as common and natural as television because nobody will want to be without, and 
we don't have to worry about sustainaiblity because the benefits far outweigh the 
costs and connectivity will become financially viable in places where it never could 
before. 

Question: The private and governmental sector have realized the importance and 
significance of telecenters and try to implement their own telecenter networks and 
support structures, will this be effective in aiding social and economic development?

Answer: Ah, the "Shortcut to Glory" model. 

Isn't it frustrating when you sit in your office of a software or hardware firm and you 
look at the potential market Telecenters represent and you can not access this 
market because these Telecenters seem to have no sufficient organizational 
structure that would allow you to access and develop this market that makes 
economic sense for you?. 

Isn't it frustrating when you sit in your governmental office and you look at the 
potential the telecenters offer for social and economic development, let alone the 
potential to finally connect all these rural areas no telco company will ever touch 
because it does not make business sense. But these telecenters and their networks 
are not playing ball and are not interested in implementing large scale "top down, 
one model fits all" networks of telecenters, instead the are talking about "community 
driven holistic sustainability models. Even more frustrating when this World Bank 
loan to "bridge the digital divide" that will solve all the problems is so nice to come 
by. 

Isn't it natural that the private and governmental sector join together and succumb 
to the temptation to implement their own large scale telecenter networks that open 
up large markets and fulfil the private and governmental sector needs. Isn't it 
natural that of course the telecenters and their networks will be fully consulted in 
creating and implementing these networks and isn't it natural that at the end only 
those elements suggested by the Telecenters and their networks will be 
implemented that fit the private and governmental sectors needs. 

Why should we protest against these developments when its our own fault. It is a 
natural development as long as the Telecenters and their networks don't get their 
act together in creating national, regional, hemispheric and global telecenter 
networks that are professionally run as social enterprises that are serious partners 
for the private and governmental sector and not just the dependent recipients of 
hand-outs. You want to be taken serious, get serious!. This is also true regarding 
WSIS, yes its a disaster, but we allowed it to be a disaster because we have not got 
our act together and our input is dependant rather on coincidences then organized 
and informed. If we had our act together three years ago (as we could have) we 
would not be treated in the WSIS process like the poor relatives but would have 
been a serious partner all the others sectors had to respect and take serious. 
Lesson learned: we have to get our act together and be better then all the rest 
because we have a responsibility to each and one of the people who go to the 
telecenters in our communities in the hope to create a better live for themselves. It 
is all about them, not us!. 

Thoughts just from the top of my head, sorry that it got so long.

Yours

Klaus