About telecentre.org

Telecentre.org is a worldwide network of people and organizations committed to increasing the social and economic impact of tens of thousands of grassroots telecentres by making telecentres stronger and better at what they do. Telecentres are public places where people can use computers, the Internet, and other technologies, to join the knowledge society on their own terms. By investing in the networks and organizations that work with telecentres directly, we empower people who want to use technology to promote community development; however they chose, wherever they live.  

Put simply, telecentre.org helps telecentres succeed. Our international network works with more than 200 networks and organizations in 70 countries to help provide and promote the sharing of tools, information, support and opportunities that telecentres need to grow stronger, more sustainable and more numerous.

Founded in 2005 by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Microsoft, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, telecentre.org is a $21-million social investment program currently housed at the IDRC in Ottawa, Canada. Our work is organized around five key pillars or program areas. They are: Networks, the telecentre.org Academy, Content and Services for Sustainability, Knowledge Sharing and Research. Through these program areas, and in collaboration with the organizations we partner with, we have:

• Created and supported hundreds of networks and organizations that, together, represent 80,000 telecentres and close to 40,000,000 telecentre users across the globe;
• An international academy that operates in nine countries and provides professional development training to telecentre managers in order to improve performance. The academy will train 1,000,000 knowledge workers by 2015;
• Developed content and services that local communities want, in a way telecentres can use, to generate income for sustainability and results for community development;
• Initiated a hundred face-to-face forums, workshops and events, in addition to developing an online community of 3000 members and growing;
• Worked with partners in 32 countries to build research capacity in developing world institutions.  We have put that research to work in the service of the worldwide telecentre movement.

Together, our efforts provide telecentres around the world — and the millions of people who use them — opportunities to share, learn, innovate and grow. Part of the global telecentre movement, telecentre.org is a proven catalyst for change: a global network that gathers people and organizations from around the world who believe that telecentres have an important role to play in development. We make a difference in the world.

Learn More:

• Background information — Read about our history,  our mission and values, and our impact or find out about our social investors, partners and support team
• Activities— Learn how our social investment program supports our networks, training (Academy), content and services for sustainability , knowledge sharing and research efforts.  Read some of our stories  about how we are making a difference.
• Online community — Browse our community guide to get the most of the telecentre.org online experience, get help and provide feedback

You can also browse our featured pages. Or see the list of all pages in this section.

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