RE: [Telecentres] Basic Telecentre Items/ICT Definition

[Elizabeth Carll, PhD]

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:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 5:24 AM To: 'Elizabeth Carll, PhD'; 'David Leeming PFnet'; [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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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