Dear GKD Members! We have prepared for you a special coverage on community telecenters, in particular, on the issues of sustainability and effectiveness. Individual telecenters have been shown to foster profound developmental outcomes within the communities they serve. Yet the role of telecenters in rural development and in the development of marginal urban areas is not clear. Moreover, there are many kinds of telecenters. Which telecenters are most successful in providing access to the poor and reducing rural poverty? Which business models work best? Do different countries and different kinds of communities require different types of telecenters and/or different business models? Why do so many Telecenters fail? What is wrong with the model and how can we improve it to make it more universally applicable and sustainable? Is there a model which can be replicated everywhere? What is needed to increase donor funding for telecenters? Read the materials of this Highlight to find some possible answers!
Within this special we are featuring an interview and several articles, stories and research papers by some of the key experts and champions of telecenters in Asia, Africa and Latin America as well as a number of useful Internet resources dealing with telecenters and a discussion forum: * You can access all the materials of our "Telecenters" highlight at: http://www.developmentgateway.org/ict/telecenters * DG Interview with Motoo Kusakabe: Rural Connectivity, Poverty & Entrepreneurship http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=403308 * Telecentres: How Did We Lose the Plot? (article by Earl Mardle) http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=440944 See also comments by John Daly: http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=445009 and reactions by Earl Mardle: http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=446905 * The African Community Telecentres: In Search of Sustainability (paper by Meddie Mayanja) http://www.developmentgateway.org/download/165918/In_search_of_sust_telecen ters_DG.doc * The Community Telecentre Cookbook For Africa: Recipes For Self-Sustainability (article by Michael Jensen) http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=448971 * Telecentres Sustainability: What Does It Mean? (paper by Klaus Stoll) http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=442773 * The Jhai Telecenter Model: Founded on Human Relationships, Supported by Communication and Assisted by Technology (story by Earl Mardle) http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=446462 * The Songhai Telecentres (story by Morenike Ladikpo) http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=440960 * Sustainable Telecentres? Two Cases from India (article and paper by Roger Harris) http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=442648 * A Project to Reduce Poverty through Access to ICTs in Rural Areas of China (paper by Paul Ulrich) http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=444987 * Drishtee Telecenters: A Sustainable E-Government and Market Development Solution (article by Justin Thumler and David Feige) http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=442917 * Learn how Digital Partners' Social Enterprise Laboratory is engaging private sector in development: http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=442909 * See also a video clip with Adshah Bakhtar about Drishtee and Digital Partners (requires RealPlayer): http://world-gateway.org/ict/video/Akhtar.ram * Somos@Telecentros: The Story So Far and Lessons Learned (paper by Klaus Stoll) http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=442785 * Share your opinion about how to assure sustainability of Telecenters in our discussion forum: Can community telecenters be sustainable? Is there a universally applicable model of sustainability? What are the key success stories and lessons learned in terms of impact and sustainability? http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/bboard/message?message_id=422 339&forum_id=225450&mode=t On behalf of DG ICT4D community we would like to thank all the above contributors to this special coverage for their excellent contributions. Special thanks to John Daly, Earl Mardle and Rafael Hernandez without whose guidance and support this Highlight would not be possible. And many thanks to Ramin Aliyev who did all the HTML publishing and design work. If you have done some interesting work related to community telecenters, feel free to contact us and we may be able to feature your articles as well! In the coming weeks we will be featuring the following issues: WSIS, National ICT Strategies, ICT in South Asia, ICT in Eastern Europe & Central Asia, ICT & Millennium Development Goals, ICT & Poverty Reduction, ICT & Aid Effectiveness, Open Source et al. If you or your organization have done some interesting work related to these issues and you would like others to learn about it, we will be happy to feature your contributions also! Just send us a short article with some related links and photos! To learn more about how to participate in our ICT for Development community: http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/133831/sdm/docview?docid=309249 Thank you! Oleg Petrov, Editor, ICT for Development Development Gateway Tel.: 202 473 8861 Fax: 202 614 1169 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 USA Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.developmentgateway.org/ict ---------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe, unsubscribe, add your bio and photo to your personal profile or change how often you receive email from the Gateway, go to http://www.developmentgateway.org/pvt and change the settings under "My interests" and click on "Update" at the bottom of the page. ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
