dedication

Just like the telecentre movement, creating this book was a collective endeavour. From the very start, we invited others into the process, asking for ideas on the most interesting telecentre projects in the world. From there, we spoke with dozens of people in each country that we visited, all of them committed to the values of the telecentre movement. In the end, this book is built from the words, images, ideas and passion that so many people shared with us so generously. These people comprise a list so long that we could not possibly capture every name, although we have tried to do so on the final pages of our book. It is to these people, and to the thousands like them in the telecentre movement around the world, that this book is dedicated.

Telecentre

A telecentre is a public place where people can access computers, the Internet and other technologies that help them gather information and communicate with others at the same time as they develop digital skills. While each telecentre is different, the common focus is on the use of technologies to support community and social development – reducing isolation, bridging the digital divide, promoting health issues, creating economic opportunities and reaching out to youth. Telecentres exist in almost every country on the planet, although they sometimes go by different names (e.g. village knowledge centres, infocentres, community technology centres, community multimedia centres or school-based telecentres).

Wikipedia definition of “telecentre”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecentre
October 31, 2005, 8:17 pm GMT

The telecentre has evolved

Most early telecentres started with a modest goal: giving people a chance to access and learn about technology. A telephone, a photocopier, a computer, the Internet.

Yet telecentres have evolved. It’s no longer just about access and skills. Today’s telecentres use computers and the Internet to do everything from improving public health to extending education to a wider audience to strengthening local democracy.

No matter what they are called—telecentres, community multimedia centres, telecottages, village knowledge centres, community technology centres, telehuts, Internet learning centres, community access points , library computer labs and so on—they share a common commitment : to help communities enter the information age and embrace the knowledge economy on their own terms. This is the telecentre movement today.

This is the telecentre movement today.

Empowering communities	Connecting isolated villages	Learning for all
With only 300 residents, the Hungarian village of Alsómocsolád refuses to be left behind in the struggle for scarce government resources. Instead, local residents take over responsibility for postal services and other government programs through their village telecentre.	In rural Chile, the village of Puerto Saavedra overcomes limited access to medical care and quality education. Today, the local telecentre gives villagers a global doorway to the best of both.	In Luang Prabang, Bhuddist monks, local women and students go to the E-way telecentre to learn computer skills that provide the key to education and prosperity in Laos’ emerging knowledge economy.
Unleashing new voices	Enhancing economic opportunity	Embracing the power of networks
Lowell, Massachusetts, is half a world away from Southeast Asia, but recent immigrants to the United States can now produce their own bilingual videos and create rich, local media for their community.	In downtown Accra, Ghana, a “social cyber café” acts as small business incubator that overcomes inadequate local infrastructure and helps turn the dreams of entrepreneurs of all ages into reality.	In India, governments, businesses and communities are using networks and collaboration to reach an almost unimaginable goal: to bring local knowledge centres to every one of India’s 600,000 villages.

The telecentre is many things

When telecentres first started appearing in Europe and North America in the mid-1980s, personal computers were extremely expensive and almost no one had ever heard of the Internet. Sharing access to computers, photocopiers, faxes and e-mail helped people—especially those in rural communities—learn how these new technologies could benefit them. Telecentres provided a gathering place and a springboard that helped communities join the information age and generate knowledge for themselves.

This idea of sharing technology tools has evolved dramatically in the 20 years since these first telecentres opened their doors. Governments, community organizations, the private sector and grassroots technology activists have set up public access computing programs in almost every country on the planet, creating tens of thousands—or maybe even hundreds of thousands—of telecentres.

There’s no one single model for creating a telecentre. They are as diverse as the communities they serve. Some community technology champions have set up stand-alone, nonprofit institutions. Others have integrated community access to computers and the Internet into public facilities, such as schools, libraries, municipal buildings and social service agencies. Still others have encouraged and supported small-scale social entrepreneurs to set up independent computer kiosks in rural areas.

Similarly, the way these telecentres are used by the public varies from place to place. They’re helping community members learn and develop skills, creating local content and capturing local knowledge, supporting economic development, delivering microcredit and banking services, offering access to doctors and other distant professionals— the list is almost endless.

The technologies available in telecentres—and the ways they get used—have also evolved over the years. Computers are joined by old technologies (poster boards, ham radio, fax, community loudspeakers) as well as new ones (broadband Internet, video production facilities, low-power radio transmitters). Whether using new technologies or old, communities can bend and blend them into a combination of services that suit their needs.

Across all of this diversity, one thing remains the same: successful telecentres help communities seize knowledge and the benefits of the information age on their own terms.

This is what telecentres are all about. This is why it truly is a movement, rather than just a fractured collection of public technology initiatives scattered throughout the world. They may have different names, different methods and different audiences, but their shared values make them part of an international movement utilizing technologies for local development.

As is the case with any kind of endeavour, the telecentre movement has seen its share of failures and downturns. Individual centres have gone under for a variety of reasons: high costs and limited funding, lack of use within the community, difficulty finding and keeping trained staff. Even whole telecentre initiatives have disappeared as governments and other kinds of donors pull funds, leaving hundreds or even thousands of centres wondering how—and if—they can keep their doors open.

Yet the urge of communities to seize the benefits of information and communication technologies is so strong that what initially looks like failure often snowballs into a new kind of success.

In many countries, the closure of government programs hasn’t stopped communities from keeping their local telecentres going. They roll into the regular programs of social service agencies, spin off as social enterprises or continue through the power of volunteerism. Even where the telecentres themselves don’t continue, the introduction of technology still ripples out across communities in the form of new jobs, new businesses and new ideas.

At the same time, countries that are newer to the telecentre movement are looking at innovative models that mix the best ingredients of early telecentres with fresh ideas aimed at increasing the likelihood of success and long-term sustainability. For example, a handful of “information kiosk” organizations in India are breaking new ground. They’re focusing both on local entrepreneurship—each kiosk is privately owned—and on important community services such as health care, banking, government services, education and literacy.

It is this resilience and spirit of innovation that have helped the telecentre grow from a small idea into a global movement.

This book provides a quick glimpse into the lives of a few of the people who are leading the telecentre movement in their own countries, and of the people who are benefiting from their local telecentres. Understanding their stories will help us to understand their passion—and paint a picture of a future where technology is driven by the needs of people and the communities they live in.

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