Dear Colleagues, UgaBYTES is once again hosting a month long Telecentre focused e-conference which builds on the lessons learnt over last year. This specific one is within the broader telecentre.org online telecentre support strategy, which is implemented by UgaBYTES and funded by IDRC, Microsoft and SDCF.
For more information contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please find the details below... ******************************************************************* >>E-conference theme: Overcoming challenges: Mapping the future of our >>telecentres A telecentre providing information and knowledge access to an African or Asian rural village has got several challenges. However, alternative solutions and opportunities remain little exploited through sharing experiences and grassroots stories. This month long e-conference aims at broadly mapping the way forward to the core problems affecting telecentre work across the world. The e-conference will be run on four weekly sub themes with each facilitated by a resource person and having an opening keynote word from a subject matter specialist. The facilitator will summarize the days and weeks discussion for each sub theme. The daily summaries will also focus next days discussion. Four e-conference reports will be produced according to the sub themes of the conference, which will be distributed in the September East African Telecentre leaders forum in Uganda. The e-conference will be run on the UgaBYTES mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] Practitioners or participants who are not yet on the list can write to the [EMAIL PROTECTED] requesting to be subscribed for the conference but should keep in mind that the conference starts on July 1 and ends on 31st July 2006. Practitioners who have got successful or failed case stories on any of the sub themes should submit them before or within the course of the discussions on the topic. See below for e-conference sub themes details. >>Week 1 - July 1-7: >>Demystifying Solar Energy for ICTs: The case of solar power providers >>and Telecentre practitioners Energy problems limp the growth of the rural ICT sector in most parts of the developing world. Interestingly, alternative sources of power have shown a possibility of boosting the sub sector - Solar power being central. Telecentres that have implemented full-scale solar power have registered over 200% success compared to the regimes of hydro power- Nakaseke being one such case. BUT there are lots of uncertainties about this mentionable power alternative, which can only be addressed through interactive discussion between solar power providers and telecentre practitioners. The e-conference will bring face-to-face, in a Question and Answer interaction, several solar power providers and the telecentre practitioners on the list. Ten reputable solar power companies have already accepted to take part in the e-workshop. They will answer your questions as they come-in while at the same time interactions will coherently happening among Telecentre practitioners. The main purpose of the e-workshop is to clarify why solar power, how it works in ICTs, and reviewing successful rural ICT cases. At the end of the e-workshop a Q&A solar guide for rural ICTs will be produced and widely shared. >>Week 2 July 8-14: >>Options for rural connectivity: the challenges and opportunities Internet Connectivity forms the fibre of the telecentre movement. Many telecentre support services are being tailored online to fertilize grassroots effort for universal access to ICT tools. It is disappointing to note that most rural telecentres until now to get dependable connectivity that matches the cost and traffic flow at the access points. Telecentres pay for high connectivity options of which they can only use less than 10% of the bandwidth due to limited user traffic- hence building frustrations among rural ICT proponents. This segment of the E-conference will bring face-to-face different Internet Service Providers (ISP) and Telecentre practitioners to logically find a lasting solution for rural connectivity. It will elaborate the right blending of traffic, connectivity options, and lifecycle costing of rural connectivity. >>Week 3 July 15-21: >>The role of ICT access points to rural social-economic development: The >>missing link and framework Telecentres have a unique opportunity to play a pivotal role in reducing rural poverty. They are already making a major contribution to rural connectivity and information access albeit with limited information-knowledge sharing, and integration with community- based Organizations. Interestingly, statistics show that over 65% of rural population acquire information through the word-of-month, with the civil society organizations (CSO) being central in information sourcing, repackaging and dissemination. This e-conference segment will explore the missing links and framework to increasing the role of ICTs in rural social-economic development programs. It will analyse the advantage of working through change agents as opposed to individual community members. >>Week 4 July 22-28: >>Telecentre sustainability: The contribution of delivering social >>services through existing access points. Telecentre sustainability is the preoccupation of the Telecentre think tank today. This leaves no doubt that social responsibilities are receiving light consideration at the expense of ensuring financial sustainability. However, unfolding events show that different rural social service providers are interested in using Telecentres as conduits of rural information and knowledge flow. The possibility delights the telecentre movement BUT a lot of issues remain unclear. This e-workshop segment will bring some of the service providers and Telecentre practitioners together to chat collaborative possibilities. It is envisaged that telecentres will attract social service providers in a partnership that will increase their Telecentres sustainable while at the same time increasing their social responsibility. Equally, the discussions will focus telecentre managers on the aspects they have to put right in order to attract partners. >>Conference participation Participation is open to anybody with interest in ICT4D. However special contribution is called from Telecentre practitioners, networks, leaders and NGOs across the work. >>Conference Language The primary language will English. >>Conference Duration 1 month long with 4 weekly sub themes. This e-workshop is part of the Online Telecentre helpdesk and Support services project, which is funded by IDRC http://www.idrc.ca, Microsoft and SDC and implemented by UgaBYTES Initiative http://www.ugabytes.org, under the broader telecentre.org http://www.telecentre.org online telecentre support strategy. For inquiries or to submit a case story please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Looking forward to sharing with you --- Sulah E-conference Coordinator -- Secretariat UgaBYTES Initiative Plot 30 Kampala Road 5th Floor - GreenLand Tower opposite Bank of Uganda P.O.Box 6081 Kampala-Uganda [EMAIL PROTECTED] Check our website: http://www.ugabytes.org To post a message to all the list members, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To see the collection of prior postings to the list, visit the ugabytes Archives. http://chiron.lunarpages.com/pipermail/ugabytes_ugabytes.org/ ------ Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. _______________________________________________ ugabytes mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://ugabytes.org/mailman/listinfo/ugabytes_ugabytes.org _______________________________________________ telecentres mailing list [email protected] http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/telecentres To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
