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How to Use ICTsand Telecenters
Effectively for Development
Samir Farjallah
2007-September-04
ESCWA
Regional Stakeholders' Meeting
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Foreword
This presentation is based on two distinct studies:
ICTs, Telecenters and Community Development by Royal D. Colle.
Assessment of the Status of the Implementation and Use of ICT Access Points in Asia and the Pacific
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Foreword
The first one explains how to build demand-driven local communication institutions such as telecenters.
The second one travels statistically through the status of telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region.
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Emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
In this 21st century, it is not surprising that – from Mexico to Brazil, to the governorates in Egypt and the villages of India and Nepal – a wide range of organizations are promoting and supporting the creation of local entities that would make ICTs available on an affordable basis to everyone.
Much of the attention is on computers and telecom. networks.
It all started in 1980s especially with the introduction of the telecottage in Scandinavia.
ICTs, Telecenters and Community Development
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Emergence of Telecenters
Telecenters tend to be in the public sector, operated by governmental bodies or NGOs, serve a low income clientele, and have a community development mission. The services can be the following:
ICTs, Telecenters and Community Development
Computer and internet access, desktop publishing, community newspapers, sales or rental of audio and video recordings, book lending, training, photocopying, faxing, and telephone services. Some – like the Hungarian telecottages and Western Australia Telecenter Network telecenters – provide postal, banking and employment services.
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Emergence of Cybercafés
The commercially-oriented cybercafés have been an equally energetic movement. They are usually in the private sector and focus primarily on providing customers with the use of computers and connections to the Internet and the Worldwide Web.
Their clients tend to be more urban, more educated, and more economically well off than the clients of telecenters. The principal attractions are computer games, Internet services, and e-mail
ICTs, Telecenters and Community Development
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Emergence of IAPs
The Information Access Points fall between the cybercafé and telecenter approaches. They focus on the Internet and emphasize mainly on information seeking. IAP kiosks are being implemented throughout the world.
IAPs sometimes are reinforced by sectoral org. such as those in health and agriculture that build special information systems. The World Health Organization has set out a seven-year plan to establish the Health InterNetwork Project, an initiative to facilitate the flow of health information worldwide using Internet tech.
ICTs, Telecenters and Community Development
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ICTs, Telecenters and Community Development
10 of the principal
Challenges
that development-oriented telecenters
face in this decade
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
1. Concerted efforts to make telecenter content relevant to local needs;
2. A commitment by policy-makers for multi-year programs;
3. Partnerships for translating national policy into action;
4. Local champions who can mobilize others;
5. Community participation in operating telecenters;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
6. Networking telecenters to develop and share resources;
7. Increasing community awareness about ICT as a valuable resource;
8. Research as a telecenter management tool;
9. Long term sustainability and business plans that fit the culture of the community;
10. Linking telecenters to development.
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1. Concerted efforts to make telecenter content relevant to local needs
10 major challenges for community telecenters
One of the biggest challenges telecenters face is providing appropriate information and services for community members.
Although ICTs and web sites provide an enormous volume and variety of information, it is the quality of information that matters most in a community “trying to get information from the internet is like drinking from a fire hose – you don’t even know what the source of the water is” (McLellan, 1998:352 Supl. II).
The need for local targeted information continues.
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1. Concerted efforts to make telecenter content relevant to local needs
10 major challenges for community telecenters
The International Institute for Communication and Development in The Hague reported that “Developing countries are being invaded by foreign ideas and values that may undermine or overwhelm local culture heritage and economic livelihoods (Batchelor, 2002).
For security purposes on weather and tide information, a “Village knowledge center” in India translates weather reports from the internet and converts it to audio that is played on loudspeakers in the village. Similarly, information is localized for agriculture, health and government programs.
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1. Concerted efforts to make telecenter content relevant to local needs
10 major challenges for community telecenters
In China, a village telecenter converts important content found on the web into meaningful localized information and presents it in more understandable local terms on a bulletin board in the telecenter or on a community blackboard in the village center.
The clustering of telecenters can help support a localized information service.
In Canada, community internet access sites have joined together to make available French language material for local Francophone populations.
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
Policy-makers can be an important force in the life or death of telecenters.
Sustainability and government policy are often closely related. Governments are often pushed to make policies that will enable communities to take greater advantage of ICT.
The Canadian Government made a six-year commitment, providing start-up money, guidance, and an infrastructure to help local organizations establish Internet access sites.
2. A commitment by policy-makers for multi-year programs;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
In Australia, the Federal Government’s decision to create the “Networking the Nation” fund has been instrumental in Tasmania’s development of 59 Open Access Centers, and in New South Wales of 55 multi-purpose “Technology Centers”.
In South Africa, the 1996 Telecommunication Act created the Universal Service Agency and it has been the key actor in establishing and funding telecenters in under-served and rural areas of the country.
2. A commitment by policy-makers for multi-year programs;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
In China, the Tenth Five-Year Plan calls for national and local government efforts to popularize the use of ICTs and to build the human resources to make it happen. Since, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) is giving ICT an official push by incorporating in its Five-Year Plan provision for a rural market information service network that integrates television, radio, 18 MOA web sites, market databases, “Township economic information service stations” and other agricultural information components.
2. A commitment by policy-makers for multi-year programs;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
National policy and national government funding do not necessarily translate into centralized planning and operations.
In 2003, the Nepalese Government established pilot rural telecenters as the preliminary step towards deployment of up to a thousand such centers nationwide. The national telecenter project was built on the assumption that private sector partnerships would be instrumental in achieving both sustainability and rapid deployment of services.
3. Partnerships for translating national policy into action;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
Hungary has demonstrated that it could develop a telecottage system built on local NGO partnerships coupled with community ownership and management. To obtain a grant to start a telecenter, an NGO must demonstrate that it has the support of - and is partners with - local governments and private organizations.
Partnerships can provide telecenters with a variety of benefits. In Canada, the local communities joined libraries, schools, and community centers with Internet access facilities to provide a home, constituencies, and sometimes an identity for Internet Access Points.
3. Partnerships for translating national policy into action;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
ICTs can deliver potentially valuable information to end-users like market prices to poor rural farmers and medical advice to rural healthcare workers. However, market information is useless if there are no roads to transport goods, and medical advice is meaningless if there is no money to purchase medicines.
Information is important, but it is only one part in a chain of resources required for the end-user to have the capacity to act.
3. Partnerships for translating national policy into action;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
A telecenter manager should not only fight for the survival of the center, but he has to entertain new ideas to better serve his community through the use of new communication technologies. In such a case, he personifies what we call a “champion”.
Western Australia’s telecenters, and the telecottages of Hungary are people whose vision and commitment has meant the difference between ICT innovations and an information-poor community.
4. Local champions who can mobilize others;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
If innovators are from the community itself, it increases the credibility and potential diffusion of the telecenter initiative (Rogers, 1995).
4. Local champions who can mobilize others;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
Community participation has very practical value for telecenters. It comes in various forms including participants as telecenter users, staff volunteers or advisory groups.
The variety of volunteers in a system provides telecenter clientele with personal models with whom they can identify and feel comfortable.
In many parts of the world, women feel intimidated because of the “maleness” of the environment. The presence of self-confident women volunteers helps overcome some of the obstacles.
5. Community participation in operating telecenters;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
Volunteers can also contribute to enlightened decision-making in the telecenter because they reflect a variety of community constituencies.
In rural India, there are thousands of women’s Self Help Groups (SHG) involved in a wide array of micro-economic enterprises. Many have been mobilized by NGOs that have a commitment or mandate to improve the welfare of their constituents. Many of the women in these groups are not benefiting from ICT because of the cultural barriers
5. Community participation in operating telecenters;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
As an innovative initiative aimed at broadening their access to ICTs, the project selected representatives of (and in) SHGs and trained them in ICT use, such as: information seeking on the web, using e-mail, and working with self/distance-learning on multi-media packages or training material built around micro-enterprise management.
The SHG representative would then perform the following: serve as an information source on micro-enterprises, be the group’s liaison with the telecenter, facilitate distance and self-learning programs, and carry out informal ICT peer training within her group.
5. Community participation in operating telecenters;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
No telecenter is an island. If telecenters are to make their mission more effective, they need to organize themselves in overlapping national, regional and international networks (somos@telecentros, 2003).
A network allows its member telecenters to share insight and experience, increasing their effectiveness and chances of success. It allows them also to share resources, and to get access to resources more easily. Finally, those in telecenter activities need to engage actively in public policy debates, and organization is a key step towards this.
6. Networking telecenters to develop and share resources;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
Telecenters are subject to various pressures, and are especially vulnerable to isolation, intense demand for digital services, competition from cybercafés, and lack of supportive policy environments. Being part of a network provides them with the right help.
The telecenter community also needs to build up and create links and partnerships between the social, private and governmental sectors. All have a strong interest and involvement in overcoming the digital divide, be it political, economical or social reasons, but in order to be effective, none can operate on its own.
6. Networking telecenters to develop and share resources;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
The establishment of a telecenter needs to be properly and timely advertised. Applying a ‘field of dream approach’ (“build it and they will come”, or “provide the content and they will use it”) is naïve. It can also be dangerous: in India, village elders and leaders act as a main source of information and communication, and if a telecenter ignores this tradition, it may bring power clashes and conflicts that hamper any ICT-enabled development initiative.
It is important to raise awareness about the role of the telecenter and explore every opportunity to sensibly integrate it in the existing local comm. and social struct.
7. Increasing community awareness about ICT as a valuable resource;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
Clark (2001) describes how her organization used various techniques to change the mindset of people who thought that “the telecenter is only about computers.” In the province of Western Australia, the telecenter uses a variety of community activities to attract people. These include cultural events, workshops ranging from Belly Dancing to tractor driving for women, and other activities that put the telecenter into the mainstream of community life, rather than an oddity on the fringe. In the process, the telecenter and its ICT are perceived as supporting the needs of the community.
7. Increasing community awareness about ICT as a valuable resource;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
According to Helmore and McKie - 2000, Bill gates declared in an interview in the Guardian newspaper that “the world’s poorest two billion people desperately need healthcare, not laptops.”
The BusyInternet (BI) telecenter in Accra takes seriously the issue of awareness: movies are shown on weekends. The BI Cybercafé creates a social scene around technology to spark an innovative technology culture. To raise awareness about national ICT policy, the telecenter hosts monthly debates and organizes experts’ lectures. Low or no-cost internet access is offered to HIV/AIDS workshops attendees.
7. Increasing community awareness about ICT as a valuable resource;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
Research for needs assessment and project evaluation is an important component of telecenter operations because a research program provides the tools for assessing community needs.
Services are usually dictated by officials and experts and respond to what is called a community’s normative needs. However, another perspective is what the community judges its needs to be. These are the felt needs. A telecenter should be “people-oriented” and “demand-driven”.
8. Research as a telecenter management tool;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
Management research is important in monitoring on-going telecenter activities and documenting the consequences of telecenter programs. The results of the evaluations can be assessed and fed into management planning and decision-making.
Telecenter personnel should have simple research tools that help telecenters discover and continuously monitor the needs of the community, provide management with a reliable picture of the demographics of the area, monitor on-going telecenter operations, and document outcomes and consequences of telecenter programs.
8. Research as a telecenter management tool;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
Telecenter managers should train on business planning to make their telecenter self-sufficient and sustainable (Roman, 2000).
Other than urban cybercafés, most telecenters operate in a not-for-profit mode, but that should not mean not-for-income. Typically, donor agencies reduce or discontinue financial support for telecenters after an initial incubation period.
They need to have a financial plan for whatever the sources of support will be.
9. Long term sustainability and business plans that fit the culture of the community;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
In Hungary, major sources of support for the country’s telecottages are the contracts that they obtain from government agencies, thus becoming (for a fee) extensions of government services (Bihari and Jokay, 1999).
Telecenters face the question of how they can generate income yet serve those in the community who cannot afford to pay for “public goods” kinds of services (like access to health information). Some centers use the income from the user fees and other services to make public goods more affordable or free.
9. Long term sustainability and business plans that fit the culture of the community;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
During a World Summit in 2003 and 2005, the international community has identified seven Millennium Develop. Goals that are at the heart of the fight against poverty and the struggle to create opportunity, prosperity, health, safety and empowerment for all the world’s people, especially the poorest and traditionally marginalized groups. The seven goals are:
10. Linking telecenters to development.
1. Reduce extreme poverty by half between 1990 and 2015;
2. Enroll all children in primary school by 2015;
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
10. Linking telecenters to development.
3. Make progress toward gender equality and empowering women by eliminating gender disparities in prim. and second. educ. by 2005;
4. Reduce infant and child mortality ratios by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015;
5. Reduce maternal mortality ratios by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015;
6. Provide access for all who need reproductive health services by 2015;
7. Implement national strategies for sustainable development by 2005 so as to reverse the loss of environmental resources by 2015.
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
Each of these goals has a significant information and communication component. How to employ effectively the potential of ICTs toward those goals is the challenge of the World Summit.
In Rovieng, Cambodia, an isolated farming village is using two PCs, solar panels, and a satellite dish to connect to the Internet. This has given the opportunity to several women in the village to revive the traditional silk-weaving industry in the 1970s. The village is selling silk scarves through the village’s web site to customers around the world. Profits are put in an old-fashioned pig farm, which has generated new employment.
10. Linking telecenters to development.
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
New profits go into a fund to pay for villagers’ medical care.
One employee says that his steady job on the pig farm means that his children will be able to continue in school rather than work in the rice fields.
The success of an ICT project is strongly related to the technical quality and the degree of acceptance of the environment (Rosenthal, 2003).
10. Linking telecenters to development.
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
Many who have been in the field and seen the potential of ICTs urge that e-Development should join e-Commerce, e-Government, e-Readiness and other e-Somethings as a priority in this decade.
A theme that ripples through much of the discussion in this chapter suggests that while computers, networks, transistors and other hardware are significant assets in dealing with social, economic and political development, their successful use depends heavily on the human resources, and the ingenuity, the training, and the creativity that go into applying these technologies to community affairs.
Final Words Concerning this Chapter
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10 major challenges for community telecenters
Evidence tells us that ICTs and telecenters can make a difference in the lives and welfare of communities; whether this can be a universal phenomenon depends on intelligent decision-making, planning and commitment from the international centers of power and influence to the village chief in Rovieng.
Final Words Concerning this Chapter
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Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
No. of Telecenters per Country
Country Number of
projects Number of telecentres
Bangladesh 6 58 Bhutan 7 125 Cambodia 1 22 China 3 195 India 19 10 461 Indonesia 1 10 Lao People's Democratic Republic 2 10 Malaysia 3 99 Mongolia 1 3 Nepal 8 31 Pakistan 2 5 Philippines 4 30 Solomon Islands 1 10 Sri Lanka 9 29 Thailand 6 25 Viet Nam 1 47 Total 74 11 160
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Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
No. of Telecenters established by year
Country NA 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Bangladesh 47 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 0
Bhutan 63 1 0 0 0 0 0 23 6 3 1 28
Cambodia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 0 0 0
China 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 0 139 36 0 0
India 303 0 0 77 2 60 246 1612 3065 1163 2415 1518
Indonesia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0
Lao 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1 0 0 0 0
Malaysia 0 0 0 0 84 9 0 0 3 0 3 0
Mongolia 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 12 12 4
Pakistan 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Philippines 0 0 0 4 0 0 15 0 3 0 0 8
Solomon Is 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0
Sri Lanka 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 6 5 4 8
Thailand 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 12 2 2 6
Viet Nam 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 47
TOTAL 416 1 5 85 86 93 281 1647 3260 1222 2445 1619
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Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
No. of Telecenters in India/Other Countries Per Year
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
India
Others
Total
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Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Total No. of Telecenters in India/Other Countries
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
India
Others
Total
4646/68 /68 4646/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Gap Between India and Other Countries
Country
Mid-2006 Population
(Thousands) Percentage
urban
Estimated Current
Rural population
(Thousands)
Number of rural
telecentres 2006
Mid-2006 Rural
population/ rural
telecentres
Current Gap
between India and
the country
Bangladesh 144 437 25 108 328 10 10 832 775 1 199 Bhutan 2 211 9 2 012 3 670 670 19 Cambodia 14 081 20 11 265 0 NA 126 China 1 323 636 41 780 945 159 4 911 605 8 560 India 1 119 538 29 794 872 8 874 89 573 0 Indonesia 225 465 49 114 987 0 NA 1 284 Lao 6 058 22 4 725 0 NA 53 Malaysia 26 605 66 9 046 4 2 261 425 97 Mongolia 2 679 57 1 152 3 383 990 10 Nepal 25 887 17 21 486 30 716 207 210 Pakistan 156 580 35 101 777 4 25 444 250 1 132 Philippines 86 954 63 32 173 4 8 043 245 355 Solomon Is 490 17 407 0 NA 5 Sri Lanka 19 682 21 15 549 24 647 866 150 Thailand 62 520 30 43 764 10 4 376 400 479 Viet Nam 85 344 27 62 301 0 NA 696 Total 9 125 14 373
4747/68 /68 4747/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Gap in the No. of Telecenters Per Country
Country
Mid-2006 Population
(Thousands) Percentage
urban
Estimated Current
Rural population
(Thousands)
Number of rural
telecentres 2006
Estimated Number of telecentres
needed (2006)*
Current gap per country
Bangladesh 144 437 25 108 328 10 21 666 21 656 Bhutan 2 211 9 2 012 3 402 399 Cambodia 14 081 20 11 265 0 2 253 2 253 China 1 323 636 41 780 945 159 156 189 156 030 India 1 119 538 29 794 872 8 874 158 974 150 100 Indonesia 225 465 49 114 987 0 22 997 22 997 Lao 6 058 22 4 725 0 945 945 Malaysia 26 605 66 9 046 4 1 809 1 805 Mongolia 2 679 57 1 152 3 230 227 Nepal 25 887 17 21 486 30 4 297 4 267 Pakistan 156 580 35 101 777 4 20 355 20 351 Philippines 86 954 63 32 173 4 6 435 6 431 Solomon Is 490 17 407 0 81 81 Sri Lanka 19 682 21 15 549 24 3 110 3 086 Thailand 62 520 30 43 764 10 8 753 8 743 Viet Nam 85 344 27 62 301 0 12 460 12 460 Total 9 125 420 958 411 833
4848/68 /68 4848/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Distribution of Telecenters by Type
71.28%
17.25%
11.47%
private commercial
private social
governmental
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Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Distribution of Telecenters by Type and by Country
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%B
an
gla
de
sh
Bh
uta
n
Ne
pa
l
Sri
La
nka
Pa
kist
an
Ind
ia
Ch
ina
Mo
ng
olia
Ma
lays
ia
Ph
ilip
pin
es
So
lom
on
Ind
on
esi
a
Th
aila
nd
Vie
t Na
m
La
o
Ca
mb
od
ia
governmental
private social
private commercial
5050/68 /68 5050/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
No. of Governmental Telecenters / year
Country NA 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Total
Bhutan 63 1 0 0 0 0 0 23 6 3 1 28 125
China 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 139 36 0 0 195
India 38 0 0 76 0 30 0 458 0 60 15 187 10 461
Malaysia 0 0 0 0 80 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 99
Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 9 11 4 31
Total 101 1 0 76 80 39 0 481 148 108 27 219 10 911
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Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
No. of Private Social Telecenters / YearCountry NA 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Bangladesh 47 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 0
Cambodia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 0 0 0
China 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 0 0 0 0 0
India 244 0 0 1 2 24 33 134 670 303 200 31
Indonesia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0
Lao 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1 0 0 0 0
Malaysia 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 3 0 3 0
Mongolia 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0
Pakistan 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Philippines 0 0 0 4 0 0 15 0 3 0 0 8
Solomon Is 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0
Sri Lanka 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 6 5 4 8
Thailand 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 12 2 2 6
Viet Nam 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 47
Total 294 0 5 9 6 48 68 146 717 314 218 100
5252/68 /68 5252/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Distribution of Telecenters by Location
81.77%
0.14%
18.09%
only rural
only urban
semi-urban
5353/68 /68 5353/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Distrib. of Telecenters by Location and By Country
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Ba
ng
lad
esh
Bh
uta
n
Ca
mb
od
ia
Ch
ina
Ind
ia
Ind
on
esi
a
La
o
Ma
lays
ia
Mo
ng
olia
Ne
pa
l
Pa
kist
an
Ph
ilip
pin
es
So
lom
on
Sri
La
nka
Th
aila
nd
Vie
t Na
m
rural
semi-urban
urban
5454/68 /68 5454/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
No. of Telecenters by Type and by Location
ruralurban
semi-urban
governmental
private commercial
private social
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
governmental 293 0 987
private commercial 7934 0 21
private social 898 16 1011
rural urban semi-urban
5555/68 /68 5555/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Stakeholders Participation in Telecenter Projects
43%
39% 39%
22%
12%
8% 8% 7%4%
3%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
NGO
government
International organization
private company
foundation
foreign assistance agency
academia
public company
cooperative
development bank
5656/68 /68 5656/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Stakeholders Participation in Estab. Telecenters
74.24%
21.43%
17.12%
2.26%
1.08%0.77%
0.71% 0.52% 0.23% 0.22%
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
private company
NGO
government
International organization
public company
foundation
cooperative
foreign assistance agency
development bank
academia
5757/68 /68 5757/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
No. of Projects and Telecenters by Equip. Available
Technology Number
of projects
Number of
telecentres Percentage of projects
Percentage of
telecentres computer+Internet 62 10808 83.78 96.85 phone 9 9349 12.16 83.77 fax 16 8935 21.62 80.06 photocopy 11 1723 14.86 15.44 digital photography 5 1389 6.76 12.45 printer 29 1368 39.19 12.26 scanner 18 701 24.32 6.28 computer+intranet 5 319 6.76 2.86 computer only (no connectivity) 9 74 12.16 0.66
5858/68 /68 5858/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Connectivity Technologies by Telecenter Projects
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
All Governmental Private social
broadband
dial up
leased line
mobile phone
radio
satelite
wireless
N/A
None
5959/68 /68 5959/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Technologies Used by Projects in Select. Countries
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Sri Lanka
radio
mobile phone
dial up
broadband
satellite
wireless
None
N/A
leased line
6060/68 /68 6060/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Services Provided by Telecenters
4.2%
6.5%
6.5%
6.6%
6.7%
9.4%
14.9%
15.0%
15.8%
19.3%
19.9%
21.4%
25.6%
58.2%
86.4%
88.0%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
others
classified advertising
selling insurance policies
business services
matrimonial match
specific web content
fax
photocopy
access to government services
forward complaints to gov. agencies
health system information
ICT training
Computer Aided Learning Programmes
procurement of goods
agriculture information
internet access
6161/68 /68 6161/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
No. of Proj. and Telecenters by Type of Training
Type of training
Number of
projects
Number of
telecentres Percentage of projects
Percentage of
telecentres basic ICT 51 3911 68.92 35.04 school programme 11 817 14.86 7.32 agricultural programme 3 33 4.05 0.30 Nutrition and Health Education 3 31 4.05 0.28 English learning 3 22 4.05 0.20 health awareness programmes 2 30 2.70 0.27 entrepreneurship programme 2 14 2.70 0.13 business education 1 22 1.35 0.20 fishing programme 1 10 1.35 0.09 Environment Education 1 10 1.35 0.09 telecentre management 1 5 1.35 0.04 Computer Network 1 5 1.35 0.04 videographer 1 1 1.35 0.01 graduate programme 1 1 1.35 0.01 Child education 1 1 1.35 0.01
6262/68 /68 6262/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Physical location for the provision of ICT Training
71.5%
19.9%
7.1%
3.5%
0.0%
0.3%
0.5%
0.6%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
private
government office
education centre
community centre
temple
village radio
health centre
library
6363/68 /68 6363/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Telecenters and Projects by No. of Years in Op.
4%
15%
33%
26%
44%
39%
5%7%4%
24%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Projects Telecentres
0-1 Year
1-3 Years
3-5 Years
5-10 Years
NA
6464/68 /68 6464/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Sustainability of Telecenter Projects
63%
55% 52%
22%
42%
52%49%
61%
52%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Donor funds No donor funds Governmental
Pro
jec
ts
consider themselves selfsustainable
have sustainability plan
charge service fees
6565/68 /68 6565/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Sustainability of Telecenters
53%
91%
72%
29%
91%
70%
34% 34%
69%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Donor funds No donor funds Governmental
Te
lec
en
tre
s
consider themselves selfsustainable
have sustainability plan
charge service fees
6666/68 /68 6666/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Telecenter Projects by ICT Operations
68%
42%
21%
11%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
ICT aplications
e-learning
ICT for ruraldevelopment
e-government
tele-medicine
6767/68 /68 6767/68 /68
Community telecenters in countries of the ESCAP region
Distrib. of Telecenter Projects by Area of Intervention
5%
5%
5%
5%
5%
11%
11%
11%
21%
21%
32%
32%
42%
47%
47%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
develop small businesses
promote e-governance
promote self employment
promote telecentre operations
provide fishery information
create employment for youth
empower women entrepreneurs
facilitate access to government services
implement e-health programmes
promote rural marketing
provide access to online learning material
provide training for teachers/students
promote e-literacy
ensure universal access to ICT
provide agricultural information