>> For some years I've wondered about the future of telecenters - which cost a fair amount of money to build and maintain - in the face of increasingly smaller and more mobile ICTs (snip).
Hi Don, This is why when we talk of "sustainability" we must be so careful to detail just what it is we are trying to sustain. The common image of a Telecentre is inherently unsustainable and most people understand this - It would be foolish to promote a concept that by design is premised on the technologies of today being artificially sustained into the future - such is not the way of technology developments. Computers become smaller and more mobile. Land telephony is replaced by mobile telephony. Low-speed (or non-existent) home connectivity is replaced by high-speed connectivity. The physical community of a Telecentre is by design geographically restrictive and must give way to ICT-based interactions as more and more people join our community from outlying areas, lacking in ability to physically participate because of travel or time requirements. The success of a Telecentre must also lead to its demise. It is when we consider a Telecentre to be nothing more than a place to access knowledge that we also understand the concept is inherently unsustainable - But this does not mean the reality of Telecentre's is unsustainable because most Telecentre's are so much more than this. Communities, Governments and most NPO's correctly view emergency/crisis aid centres as an essential community service. Governments exist to serve and protect, and a Telecentre providing emergency support services and capacity is perceived as an element of community worthy of being sustained. Small and impoverished communities identify a great many needs however not all needs are prioritised as essential. Telecentre's that focus on essential community needs will be supported and sustained through community involvement (eg: the provision of banking services where commercial banks have deemed the community too poor to support the commercial model so the bank has left, or communities facing high crime rates with a Telecentre working to mitigate youth crime) Telecentre sustainability is a matter of determining just what it is we wish to sustain giving regard to community as well as political priorities and ensuring our Telecentre's meet these needs. If by doing this we also sustain a facility providing access to knowledge then this is a bonus, but it is not a prerequisite. Rgds, Don _______________________________________________ telecentres mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/telecentres To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
