I'll start with a brief summary of my own work. I'm keen to hear other folks' views about how this might apply to development in an international context.

I have set up 2 "telecentres" locally (Toronto, Canada):

1. a net-connected computer resource centre for use by clients of my local food bank + several refurb'ed machines that we granted to needy folks to have and use at home - main goal was to enable access government and social-service resources on-line, find housing, and provide training in basic computer skills for job-seekers
2. a 'refurbish workshop' with net access, and a collection of 2-3 connected public-access PCs, for a group home for men who are in addiction recovery, that have graduated from their initial AA program - the aim here was to provide computers for the residents,and also an opportunity for skills development and small-business incubation

I've been moderately successful in acquiring small quantities of surplus operation PCs in the Pentium II/P-III range. I've deployed or granted a total of about 35 units.

In addition, I'm trying to start up an overseas laptop donation program, under which travelers to places like Africa could carry a refurbished laptop in their luggage, to be delivered to a needy organisation or individual at their destination. So far I've sent one laptop to Kenya, and am still trying to obtain feedback on success of the deployment.

I've also had a few expressions of interest locally by people to help start up a freegeek-style computer re-use/recycle operation - this is something I've wanted to do for awhile now, but it's perhaps tangential to this discussion.

The discussion on the XO laptop thread has seen one or two questioning the importance of computers in the personal development of young people and adults. I think we should be careful to ensure that when we press for computers in the lives of rural-dwellers, who have yet to see a computer, that it is supported by a long-term deployment and personal development strategy and also accepts that there will be many for whom the product is more of a burden than a boon.

One such computer kiosk strategy is adopted by Drishtee (Ashoka Fellow), as described on http://www.drishtee.com, and is focused around computers as an information source.

With regard to your idea on laptop donation, I have always wondered whether spare space in containers to Africa could be utilised for recycled PCs/laptops. This might even circuit some of the problems usually associated with goods import into Africa.

I won't repeat about my project Rural ICT Union, which is in http://www.ned.com/group/nigeria , for those who haven't seen it.

I might also suggest that with the World Bank focus on internet development, now might be a good time to develop strategies for telecentres and ICT skills and equipment transfer.

Lastly, I am corresponding with a gent, who heads up an MMOG software development company, who advises me that a talented graphic designer can be taught his or her "trade" from scratch in a couple of years. Strategically, I am thinking this might give some impetus to an idea for rural Africans to be developing digital art assets for videogames (from telecentre bases), using solar-powered wireless PCs from Inveneo?

What are your current plans, Jon?

Hi Ben - thanks for reminding us of some very important points, and I want to echo your invitation to the Rural ICT Union thread - I highly recommend it to all interested in ICT/development issues.

Currently I'm working on a campaign around peace and affordable housing (housingnotwar.ca), but I hope to find an opportunity during the holiday break to think further about where I want to take the laptops4all and other projects (I expect that will include some time on ned.com, perhaps in this thread as well as yours!).

Thanks for asking.

I don't have much direct experience with telecentres, but I'm eager to be involved in this conversation anyway.

I appreciated Jon's post for a number of reasons. First of all what fits in one place won't necessarily do for another, as his post makes clear. So there's not automatic connection between one experience and another, but such experiences can inform others.

Second I'm an avid reader of Beth's Blog and this month she's donned her Free Geek t-shirt on her blog. Free Geek is a great model and quite relevant to this discussion.

I somewhat familiar with a couple of efforts. the first was a commercial Web-cafe that was started by a Peace Corps worker in Mali. Basically start-up capital was raised and donated with the expectation the Cafe would be self-sustaining on the basis of fees. The second was a telecenter using computers donated by a Rotary Chapter. It's mission was mixed; to serve as education and to sell some services for sustaining itself. Neither lasted for very long. Certainly the reasons for their demise are in good part peculiar to their individual circumstances. But at least it can be said that such telecentres require some ceverness to maintain themselves.

The Read--Write Web is an important concept. Often such telecentres are talked about in terms of "access to information" but that way of thinking draws attention away from their importance as places where people can create content.

In Ben's thread I wrote a little bit about an idea of distributed information vendors using telecentres to upload media for distribution in villages and centres. Obviously my thinking along these lines isn't very far along. But it seems exciting to me to imagine the impact that locally procduced content shared by MP3, players, videos and other methods can have in areas where many are illiterate or simply cut off form the tech world. Again not so much for the information they can get as for their ability to create content.

When a person may not read well, or if they can read but not read English, the computer interface is daunting. But that person probably can talk just fine, so a recording and a means to distribute it might mean a lot.

So one problem to solve, is a business model for telecentres. I think there's another interesting challenge in envisioning ways that people can make money by making available digital technologies otherwise wouldn't be accessible. For these, the portable tools of video cameras, Mp3 players/recorders, cameras, and simple computers like the Alpha Smart Neo are important. The information vendor then connects the media produced to the computers, perhaps at a telecentre and provides ways for this locally produced content to be shared.

Also if you take into account locally produced material, the nature of the telecentre can be expanded too. Maybe it's a place where audio recordings of Sunday Sermons can be stored and made available. So people could download them to share with the sick and shut ins. Maybe it's a place where local videos can be shown to a wider audience.

So many schools don't have electricity. But these portable devices allow ways for students to create media in digital form regardless. What the telecentres provide is the connection to the Internet, and perhaps tools for editing their content.

I it's very important to think not only in terms of access to information, but access to ways of creating content. In fact I think the latter is the most important thing.

Lastly I recommend Christian Kreutz's Crisscrossed blog.

Hi John - your thoughts are right on, and very welcome. Thanks for the pointers to the interesting blogs by Beth and Christian.

You're absolutely right - we need some discourse on how to develop a sustainable business model for telecentres. All the while keeping in mind that models must be adaptable to a particular situation.

I'm intrigued by the Greenstar approach (as per your entry in Ben's thread) - I've been looking for people who've had direct experience with it, as I have much to learn.

One initiative I caught wind of, while browsing UN material is the Rural Connectivity Project at Wundanyi, Kenya.

The two volunteers partnered with the Global Education Partnership to receive a "Small Tech Grant" from the Global Catalyst Foundation in 2003.

They upgraded a slow dial-up net connection in a rural computer lab, using a wireless link to a larger nearby community. They also developed some ICT skills course material.

As a result, the youth who used the lab were able to go from limited use of email, to doing research and learning about current events (2 students were able to get jobs in IT-related fields).

Yaacov Iland, the volunteer who developed the course work and initiated the project, kept a entertaining and thoughtful little journal (in the form of correspondence) about his experience, although he only peripherally mentions IT issues.

Yaacov, does, however, have a very illuminating outline of a lecture he gave on "Getting Information Technology in the Developing World" - worth reading.

For us i.e. P-CED, that is Terry Hallman and myself this goes back to 1996 with Terry's whitepaper outlining a for-profit model for development in the information age with a warning about the information poor, those remaining disenfranchised from the industrial age and the threat of terrorism which might result from continuing to offer only palliatives in development.

http://www.p-ced.com/History/tab id/57/Default.aspx

Terry them used his own funds to develop a proposal for a project in Russia, which coincided with US government interest in the same area. Tomsk was proposed and around 35 sub-projects formed, the most significant being the microcredit bank run by Finca on a moral collateral model.

http://www.mixmarket.org/en/dema nd/demand.show.profile.asp?ett=2 236

Achieving rapid self-sustainability it enabled to creation of more than 10,000 new business, around 80% of which were initiated by women, making the point that in this instance gender bias was unnecessary.

Internet access development was however totally blocked by local interests. In addition the Russian FSB demands the installation of "monitoring" software called SORM-2 at a cost of around $25k for any ISP.

The Putin clampdown on NGOs was gaining momentum and Terry found himself blocked from returning to Russia. Though I understand the model was later replicated in Georgia.

I introduced Terry and P-CED to the UK in 2003, where we put together a proposal for a community broadband network. We were steered by members of an org called Ruralnet toward a Guarantee company incorporation. With only one source of potential funding, ICOF we were then turned down on the basis of not being a full cooperative (registered as an Industrial and Provident Society)

So, we set our sights on Ukraine. The aim, to scale up the Tomsk initiative to a national plan having proven the concept of full cost recovery. 25,000 rural telecentres, mixing social, educational, business and government information needs and provide affordable broadband which yields profit for social purpose.

This primary social purpose would be family type homes for all of Ukraine's 100,000 estimated orphans, adoption where possible. A urgent need which Ukraine's President had frequently appealed for help with.

We had a proven development model, now it was necessary to build a plan which could yield the desired result an nil overall cost. It was not just a case of providing homes for the orphans of today, but since around 90% of these are children with living relatives, ie they were institutionalised due to economic inequity, establishing an economic environment in which they would not simply be replaced by a succeeding generation would be paramount.

The result was the submission of a 'Marshall Plan', differing from most contemporary uses of this expression in actually having a plan, based on 3 years research.

http://en.for-ua.com/analytics/2 007/08/06/121201.html

http://en.for-ua.com/analytics/2 007/08/06/121201.html

As of December news, the situation regarding orphans is this:

"President Viktor Yushchenko has proclaimed 2008 as the Year of supporting national adoption and other forms of family raising of orphans and children deprived of parental care.

In a decree the president told the Cabinet to set up a steering committee by January 1 to work out and adopt an action plan for the Adoption Year by January 20.

Besides, it is necessary to draft a law on a mechanism of state support to families that adopt children, simplification of order of adoption and introduction of a mechanism for inducing citizens to adopt orphaned children, and bring it in for consideration of the Verkhovna Rada by April 1."

http://www.kyivweekly.com/?rub=n ews&from=0&page=0&nc ode=1197470175

Hi Jeff - wow, you've done a lot of good work! Thanks for high-lighting the issue of "the information poor" (an issue which I've also heard described as the "digital divide").

You have an ambitious plan - we would love to hear more in this forum if you have the spare time to keep us posted.

I can see why the Russian experience would have been difficult - I didn't realise there was such tight control of net access in Russia. Thanks for illuminating that.

Hi Jon,

And thanks. I'll be returning here but in the meantime theres something worth sharing as it may be useful to determine whether or not anyone reads a blog.

One of my recent discoveries is Feedburner which provides both a means to publicise a blog and to mix with other information sources. For example, pages tagged on del.icio.us can be spliced in "at a stroke" and I can offer email subscription, like this:

Digital Divide as terminology came into being around this time and became the defacto expression for the same concept .

http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/e mailverifySubmit?feedId=1514465& amp;amp;loc=en_US

Rural multimedia centres in Germany were mentioned in another group thread.

I hope the poster might post here a quick description of what these look like.

• Integrity
• Transparency
• Collaboration
• Co-operation
• Decency
• Honesty
• Respect

At the VERY least, could the "member" who just used "someone at gmail" as an identity - under which to make accusations about Jeff Mowatt - PLEASE have the integrity to OWN the accusations made by using a REAL NAME.

The tone and spirit (and possibly the legality) of the post above is unacceptable to me .... how does everyone else feel?

Hey Jon,

I posted the same entry as the one above on the "Speaking out about defamation and identy theft" thread and Mark and Linda have just recently lodged posts regarding their feelings and subsequent actions.

Hopefully this matter can be kept contained over at the other thread so this one can be kept clear for the purpose you created it - because it's a goodie!!!

Cheers,

Gayle :)

I think these posts should be deleted, if possible, as they are essentially spamming the thread.

Ben, if the post gets -5 points total, it folds the post. I'll give it one more neg and if you or others agree, then simply do the same. This is how the software designed to handle this kind of "problem".

Hi folks - sorry to come to discussion late, but it seems like the process worked just like it should. My thanks to all.

Will any of you be attending this? http://www.ictsummit.ca/

(I attended twice, would love to go again, but we're trying to move house shortly)

2008 ICT SUMMIT - STRATEGIC USE OF ICT FOR COMMUNITIES

February 22-24, 2008

Collaboration and Digital Literacy First Nation Technology Council Pre-Conference - February 21

Two First Nation Pre-Conference Workshops to choose from on the 21st

First Nations Land Referrals Workshop: How First Nations Collaboration with

Industry & Government Might Work and Telehealth Has Started – Be Part of What’s Happening

Michael, it sounds like an amazing event - Vancouver, right? Wish I could go.

Yep, starts tomorrow. Wish I could be there as well.

Jon Alexander said: "Feel free to chime in with anything you think is relevant."

One of the concerns I have regarding telecentres, whether nonprofit or for-profit, particularly in the developing world, is the experience for women users.

Back in August 2003, I had the pleasure of co-hosting an online discussion at Techsoup on Gender and the Digital Divide. It was a discussion of the barriers that keep women and girls in particular away from computer and Internet-related classes and community technology centers. These barriers are even more pronounced in developing countries, but certainly still exist in the U.S., even today, almost five years after this TechSoup discussion.

Have a look at the archived TechSoup discussion -- I think the points are all still valid and need to be kept in mind when making a telecentre that will be accessible for everyone. And, yet, I rarely see them discussed.

August 27 2003

Jayne - thanks so much for that, a wonderful and important reminder of a significant issue.

I'm taking a copy of the discussion home with me to read and ponder tonight.

Before anything else I want to say something about pornography and the relationship with cyber cafes. As I discovered only in fairly recent times, where laws exist on possession of illegal pornography and "electronic facsimilies", here in the UK for instance with regard to child porn. It is he who retains such an image on his hard disk who is liable for prosecution, viewing per se, is not.

Hence, internet cafe's become the domain of porn because the disk belongs to the cafe owner. Those aware of the legislation act to avoid prosecution, naturally.

Now, above I mention my colleague Terry's early warning paper about the digital divide and the information empowered model of a for profit approach to tackle poverty, rather similar to something a chap called Gates came out with at Davos recently.

Fundamental to the earlier and dare I say, more carefully thought out model that came from my colleague was the concept that a people-centered approach needed to be tailored to those with least accessibility, rather than re-enforce existing structures of advantage. Hence the insistence on a moral collateral model for the micrcredit bank with the result that women borrowers exceeded men by a factor of 4:1.

Accessibility here is the first word in the title of that Techsoup discussion, and if women are found to be at a disadvantage then the model and the project proposal should strive to demonstrate its intention to create more even handed accessibility and be held accountable for it.

A very good way of enforcing a model and protecting against being usurped by those with other ideas, is to enforce copyright - for this aim only. Hold in mind that the P-CED social business model was "open source" for anyone to deploy.

As an illustration, this was the way Terry tackled those who attempted to go around him in Crimea, where UNDP were prepared to come in behind using his proposal. Buiness copyright on the proposal gave him the power to get UNDP to back off, until local politicians got the message about corruption.

Grameen remains many people's most successful end digital divide story to date. One of the big debates going on is do the village ladies need to graduate to internet centres from their mobile phones

a few learnings from having actually visted a bangladeshi vilage 2 weeks ago

I hadnt fully realised that right from the start of empowering women, grameen bank constructed a meeting space every 60 members it has - ie about 140000 meeting spaces across territories served by grameen's microcredit. Before there was mobile hardly any of these village centres contacted each other- now they are arguably the greatest hub network on he planet - that's right 140000 vilage centres all looking for better solutions and openly sharing Q&A

POP GOES END OF POVERTY You may know of the pop group http://www.thegreenchildren.org and their end digital divides song you can hear me now. Its soon to be sung round the world with a launch by universal records. If you thinking mapping toy llow degrees of separation with this end digital divides movement is worth doing then click to http://www.thegreenchildren.org/ tgcf/forwardtrack/campaigns/test _campaign/accept/36efcf8152263a1 5f3942639e3c1c62d

Chris, 140,000 centers across all of Bangladesh is huge...are there any article or anything else about these locations? What does a center consist of?

sorry only just saw this

whole books have been written on grameen centres but I think they are perhaps historical

I think the first point is that grameen sets up a centre for every 60 borrowers -so with 7+million borrowers it now has the 140000 village spaces; grameen has done this almost since inception around 1980

this is where the women organise the whole community around them as well as have weekly banking meetings as well as potentially link across centres now they have shared mobile phones

back in 1976 village bangladesh women were one of the most abused demographic groups anywhere; the centres were the start of a very long journey towards empowerment - celebrated in 2006 when all 7 million became nobel peace prize winners

this video by the female co-founder of grameen gives some insight on the starting point