[Telecentres] Business Model and sustainability issues

[Klaus Stoll]

Dear Shahid

Greetings from Quito, Ecuador. My organization, Fundacion Chasquinet, has 
together with the regional Telecenter network for Latin America and the Caribbean 
Somos2Telecentros worked since many years on developing Sustainability models 
for telecenters. we understand Sustainability not only as financial but also as 
political, social, technical and cultural sustainability. Our work resulted in a 
telecenter sustainability toolkit available on CD,( sorry, so far only available in 
spanish, a short preview can be seen at 
www.telecentros.org/sostenibilidad/toolkit1.1.htm. The toolkit was supported by 
IDRC, ICA and the reproduction supported by TCO). The toolkit contains in a 
interactive way hundreds of resources that help telecenters to reach sustenability. 
As a very very short summary I can say that we came to the conclusion that 
telecenters can and must be sustainable from the day they open their doors and that 
this sustainability is only possible of the telecenter is really grassroots-up community 
based following a business plan that is orientated on the needs and social capital 
that are present in every community. Telecenter sustainability is no longer a wish, it 
can be a reality but this reality can only be created based on a lot of work between 
all stakeholders within the community. If interested I am happy to discuss this 
further.

Yours

Klaus


> At / À 12:41 AM 04/01/2006, Shahid Uddin Akbar wrote / a écrit:
> >Dear All,
> >
> >Telecenter has become the most efficient tool to bring the benefits
> >of ICT in the rural areas. In many countries, we have seen enormous
> >initatives based on Telecenter model, in different names - community
> >information center, knowledge center, Telecenter, rural information
> >center etc.
> >
> >But still struggling to get the Business Model which should be based
> >on local perspective, focus and obviously need based. It also needs
> >to consider the location issues, whether in remote rural areas or in
> >semi urban areas.
> >
> >As most of the developing countries are still fighting to alliviate
> >poverty and basic human needs, it seems sometime that ICT at remote
> >rural is really fancy for the community people. Such projects also
> >have limited scope to serve to the local beneficiary groups as local
> >contents are still a major challenge which has not been resolved yet.
> >Only few pr! ojects (mainly in India and 1/2 in Bangladesh) have made
> >significants progress and those needs to be shared and knowledge
> >transferred.
> >
> >At this perspective and seeing the broader scopes to promote
> >Telecenter movement forward, it is the high time to work together and
> >establish networks among regional actors, and finally a global
> >alliance may be useful to coordinate the local initiatives and build
> >capacity of the operators.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Shahid Uddin Akbar
> >Coordinator
> >ICT for Development Program, Bangladesh (ICTDP'B)
> >Dhaka, Bangladesh
> ><http://www.sonagazi.info>www.sonagazi.info
> >
> >
> >
> ><http://pa.yahoo.com/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=37474/*http://promo.
> >yahoo.com/broadband/>Yahoo! DSL Something to write home about. Just
> >$16.99/mo. or less _______________________________________________
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> 
> -------
> Meddie Mayanja
> Senior Program Officer
> telecentre.org
> Information and Communication for Development (ICT4D)
> Program and Partnership Branch
> 
> International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
> PO Box 8500, Ottawa, Canada K1G 3H9
> 
> tel:  (613) 236-6163, ext 2604
> fax:  (613) 567-7749
> e-mail: mmayanja at idrc.ca
> skype: mayanjameddie
> http://www.idrc.ca/supportnet
> wsis.telecentre.org
> telecentre.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 




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