USING TELECENTERS FOR DEVELOPMENT: CAN WE MAKE IT HAPPEN? Royal
D. Colle and Raul Roman Department of Communication Cornell
University Information Technologies Group at CID Harvard University
Cambridge MA, April 17 th 2002
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A brief account of our involvement in telecenters A telecenter
project in South India (IDRC) A Handbook for Telecenter Staffs
(FAO, ITU) Experts panel Field research Field evaluation
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What is this seminar about? A brief introduction to the
rationale behind telecenters Information needs assessment in India
Some major issues in telecenter development: CONTENT AWARENESS
SUSTAINABILITY An invitation to discussion
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The telecenter movement A worldwide movement: China, India,
Mexico. I dont know what the Internet is or how it works, but it is
changing our lives. A village chief in Cambodia
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Three assumptions behind telecenters Information and
communication are important in development ICTs enlarge their
impact Shared access = a strategy
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Our research project in India
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Assessing community needs Qualitative data: 20 focus groups
Quantitative data: survey (N=750) Objectives of data collection:
strategic value: project design and evaluation village awareness
participation (telecenter steering committees)
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Some information about our villages
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The problem of content: why is it important? Trying to get
information from the Internet is like drinking from a firehose you
dont even know what the source of the water is.
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What we found out regarding content WHAT type of content?
Differences depending on gender, age and occupation Health
Government Employment Agriculture Through what MEDIA?
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Media use in villages studied
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Socioeconomic differences in the use of information
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WHEN? The right tempo of content
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Content creation: the role of universities 1. Continual
research: needs assessments 2. Own knowledge packaging 3. Packaging
of information from external sources 4.Training of students in
different aspects of ICT for development. 5. ICT training for
community groups 6. Orient university officials and faculty to
become opinion leaders in this area.
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The issue of awareness: an example from India
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How important are these services?
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Raising awareness: the use of intermediaries Too often projects
assume motivation is present; too often it is not. In designing ICT
systems within development projects it is critical to have an
answer to the Why should I? question for all stakeholders Why
should they learn ICT skills? Why should they access ICTs? Why
should they use ICT-borne information? Richard Heeks The role of
the telecenter champion The role of volunteers
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The issue of financial sustainability Creativity in income
generation: Fees Contracts Shared access Membership fees The
examples of Australia, Hungary and Bhutan. Still there is some
controversy around this issue...
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The controversy around financial sustainability Soon we will be
evaluating public libraries in terms of their sustainability, not
in terms of the cultural and educational service that public
libraries are set to provide. I believe telecenters should be a
modern version of public libraries. Alfonso Gumucio
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What are we learning? Willingness to pay for services
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Some conclusions A demand-creating project No field of dreams
Information necessary but not enough
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And many issues for discussion Are our projects contributing to
equality of choices or are they favoring the already most
advantaged sectors? In other words, are we widening the gap? Or are
we maintaining a gap at a higher level? Are telecenter projects
sustainable in the long term while providing affordable development
communication services? What is the scalability of these pilot
projects? Can THEY (the villagers) make it happen?
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A final note People in the West tacitly assume that their model
or practice of decision-making is universal and it is not. The
Western model includes: Symptoms crystallized Underlying problem
identified Evidence and information gathered Alternative courses of
action evaluated Apply decision mechanism among alternative For
example, what if decisions are almost exclusively based on personal
power? There is no need for information. And what if there are no
resources beyond pure survival? There is no need for
information.