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<DIV><SPAN class=953515312-05102004>Don and all,</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=953515312-05102004></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=953515312-05102004>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.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=953515312-05102004></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=953515312-05102004>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.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=953515312-05102004></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=953515312-05102004>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. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=953515312-05102004></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=953515312-05102004>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?</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=953515312-05102004></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=953515312-05102004>Elizabeth</SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Don Cameron
[mailto:donc@internode.on.net]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, October 05, 2004 5:24
AM<BR><B>To:</B> 'Elizabeth Carll, PhD'; 'David Leeming PFnet';
telecentres@wsis-cs.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: [Telecentres] Basic Telecentre
Items/ICT Definition<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">>>
</SPAN></FONT>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)<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Hi Elizabeth, all,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">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.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">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:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">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: <A
href="http://www.ctc.nsw.gov.au/about/">http://www.ctc.nsw.gov.au/about/</A>
and <A
href="http://www.telecentres.wa.gov.au/telecentres/">http://www.telecentres.wa.gov.au/telecentres/</A><FONT
color=navy><SPAN style="COLOR: navy"> </SPAN></FONT>Perhaps a few other
Telecentre practitioners might provide similar references so anyone with
further questions can easily gain an international
perspective.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">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?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Rgds, Don <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>