Question 3: How to make grassroots telecentre operators more active member of global telecentre movement?

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Permalink Reply by Jacob Baiden Odame on November 21, 2009 at 5:08pm

It is great to operate virtually and learn and share, but I think one way to reach to grass -root participation, is to build a strong national level branch in all countries. These national movements will have specific programs each year that will help to reach the grass-root levels efficiently.

Also, resources to support telecentres should be digitized on CDs so that they can be distributed widely periodically. This will enable organization working in locations with limited or no internet connectivity to contribute content and also access useful materials that will ensure sustainability.

Regards,

Jacob

Permalink Reply by Cleopa Timon Otieno on November 23, 2009 at 2:32am

The efforts to reach grassroots telecentres may not have yielded much and very few are in touch with the global movement. In my view, there is need to conduct a massive baseline survey in all regions that TCA will be involved to have the facts right interms of where these telecentres are actually located, the infrastructure, existing policy at government levels, technologies deployed, structure of the telecentres management, population served challenges faced, community response and involvement with the telecentres, etc. This among other things will create a link between the grassroots telecentres and the TCA through its supported networks, its is this link and basleine research findings that will allow for major transformations at grassroots level. There is a need to also empower telecentre networks to be advocates of the change TCA wishes to see in the next five years, this comes with issues on capacity building based on the train trainers (TOT) model, more community content facilitators at telecentre level since this is where the stories and actions that need to be documented is usually.

Permalink Reply by Sandra Nassali on November 23, 2009 at 3:38am

Cleopa, i really like your ideas.. ''In my view, there is need to conduct a massive baseline survey in all regions that TCA will be involved to have the facts right interms of where these telecentres are actually located, the infrastructure, existing policy at government levels, technologies deployed, structure of the telecentres management, population served challenges faced, community response and involvement with the telecentres, etc. This among other things will create a link between the grassroots telecentres and the TCA through its supported networks, its is this link and basleine research findings that will allow for major transformations at grassroots level.''

Cheers!

Permalink Reply by Niranjan Meegammana on November 24, 2009 at 2:22pm

Cleopa/Sanda

Thanks for the idea I am adding
The issues with base line surveys, quickly they get out dated as telecenters quickly develop/change and some times get closed, it's important for us to maintain data more accurately at provincial, level so that national, global data can be retrieved.

It is important such data to maintained to be used for other purposes, telecentre.org research pillar can be strengthened to establish a network to collect data and up date on an online system, where it could be shared,

There need to be visits to telecenters at least once in three months to collect data, also involving support, content & services deployment, We did this in Uva Province Sri Lanka, for 17 Months, and the results are amazing, we were able to make decisions on data, which improved Telecenter Network sustainability.

I am looking at this not only as a researcher but as a developer too, our data and research findings need to be used to improve Telecenters. So I think a monitoring oriented would be better option as surveys only mean raw data with out observations and experiences which creates the real scientific picture.


add online monitoring system maintained by local partners


Niranjan Meegammana
Shilpa Sayura Foundation
http://www.shilpasayura.org

Permalink Reply by Cuchie Echeverria on November 24, 2009 at 4:10am

Hi Cleopa.

I support your sound ideas especially about telecentre profiling at least on a regional basis, considering that each region may have different needs and concerns.

Having reliable benchmark data is an effective way to go about planning initiatives that will best meet the needs of each region and that will deliver the desired results.

Permalink Reply by Jimmy L. Calata on November 25, 2009 at 12:42am

Unreliable input means unreliable output indeed. There is a need for updated data too, given the volatility and dynamism among our telecentres and their respective ecologies. We may add feedbacking and reporting system (horizontal and vertical) too as part of the local, regional and global telecentre information systems.

Permalink Reply by Cuchie Echeverria on November 27, 2009 at 2:47am

By the way, Cleopa, do you mean TCF (telecentre.org Foundation) instead of TCA (Telecentre Academy)? Just want to clarify.

Permalink Reply by ROBINSON WIKANA MUKANGAYI on November 23, 2009 at 5:55am

The existing members must take up the role of being TCF ambassadors of spearheading the interests of TCF in our respective communities.
again, TCF must always stand by the view that their is need for TCs all over the world especially in African countries. We should stand firm to even advice the Governments that this is the only way in this millenium so that Telecentres are encouraged and frequesncies allocated for FM radios that come through the initiative. TCF should act as consultancies for the Govts like in Kenya where they have a dream of doing digital villages but sadly sidelining the already existing TCs.
Constant trainings on our website will build our know how on management, stting up, challenges among other issues of TCs.
Lastly, taking up the reported challenges by the members about some issues in the community or TCs and trying to come up with solutions will prove our values.

Permalink Reply by Laia Fauró Gual on November 24, 2009 at 9:38am

I guess that to facilitate the engagement of the community would be needed a personal vinculation/attention somehow. Maybe if some referent people would be identified, introduced to the community (maybe by countries/regions/language) people will know that they are asking someone, they can get in touch with another individual. It would be as a personal guide or orientator.
It could also be positive, puntual actions to highlight expert members and "make them available" to others. As a suggestion, like "today, afternoon with XXXX, an expert about some issues is online to answer, talk, chat with other members in the community.
Making this virtual world as much "face to face" world as possible...

Permalink Reply by AHMED SUDAN on November 29, 2009 at 1:54pm

The on-line consultations are very important to plan for the future of Telecentre.org….we first thanks and appreciate for IDRC, ,,, Telecentre.org and its partners their great support for this community movement. … we should think on the sustainability of our Telecentre and how we move them from community Telecentre to knowledge (development) Telecentre and what is the possibility of investing in these Telecentres to make them self dependent and sustainable..
I think we learn a lot from this great network we share experience and best practices with many Telecentres which help us to construct more than ten community development projects and they are really amazing specially if we consider the fact that we start from zero when we attended the first tc-mena forum in Cairo on December 2006 keeping in mind ICT is not part of our culture and not a priority in Sudan but the great support of digital city of Eindhoven and telecentre.org , ugabytes.org and Drishtee and other partners make the dream become true. ... Really sharing is something different…
In the next decade we should concentrate on e-education with a multilingual curriculum and knowledge … we should use the e-education to fight against poverty in our Telecentre and we have to eliminate it in our countries. … we have to establish many national Telecentre academy … we should utilize the partnerships between members in saving time and money to construct telemedicine units,, e-agriculture projects, ,,, tackle the problem of climate change … keeping in minds the 8th millennium development goals of the united nation to facilitate the life of our community and make it more comfortable..
If we look at Telecentre.org portal the idea is excellent but it has been distorted by too many groups than we need this make many of members to reply… thanks… it is a good idea… forward emails but I admit there are many brilliant members and they have a great contribution… these things guided me to an idea we should have maximum 10 to 12 groups which should include the e-services (e-education.. e-health ….etc.).. Telecentre.org should have a focal person in each country and there should be a regional group and they meet monthly online with a facilitator to report and there should annual meeting and small meeting in the big conferences like WSIS, e-India, e-Asia …
We should work very hard on partnership (PPP) and get the government and private sector involved in this movement because they will help a lot…. Keep in mind the disadvantage community specially the disabled (people with special needs),, prisoners ,, poor orphans and students,, women because working with is very essential and it is a humanitarian issue…Training.. Capacity building..Technical support is important issues.
Finally we hope that Telecentre.org will be the network that connect the whole world

Thank you
Ahmed eisa
GDCO Sudan

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