Multiple purpose Community Telecentres and Rural Development in Guyana
[ A student, Vieira Linderova, is doing a survey of telecentre use around the world and sent this questionnaire to ask for my views.
I had worked on one telecentre run by the Cummings Lodge Hindu Society and organised by SEWA. The telecentre closed for various reasons. There are many other telecentre models in other parts of the world.
1. What role can MCTs play in social and economic development, particularly in rural communities of developing countries?
I believe there is evidence that in many parts of the world, telecentres have been part of the economic and social development of rural communities. Rural economies have faced serious challenges . The theory goes that communities with limited access to telecommunications and technical capacity can use the MCTs to access information and knowledge. There are telecentre models in urban communities as well with poverty.
2) In your experience, what have been some successes (especially concrete examples) of MCTs?
The experience that I had with the SEWA telecentre is that it is possible to configure them in different ways from the technology standpoint. Our experience was to establish a low cost one which used recycled equipment and the Linux Terminal Server Project. That was a success in terms of set up costs. At Bina Hill, in Region 9, there is also a community access point for computers and Internet. There are no other MCTs in Guyana despite many promises to set them up. Many organisations and other entities have opened Internet Cafes which have also been sites to teach computer skills. The model of ownership is different from that of an MCT . These have had varying levels of success, many relying on the cheap VOIP calls.
3) What have been the challenges or failures, and what can we learn from them?
In Guyana, there has been a deterioration of local government and community government . As a result, the idea of community ownership of resources for the community does not really exist - experiences with community centres and so on have shown varying levels of usage. The Government had planned to establish some kinds of IT access but these never materialised since the ongoing management costs were never sorted out.
Other organisations who have met set up costs, were not able to predict and find ways of dealing with the ongoing costs. While it is good to rely on volunteers, many times young volunteers are often pursuing studies and careers and they move on as they find jobs and so on. Sustainability is often the challenge.
The needs of the communities might evolve, and experiences from around the world are showing that MCTs are evolving and providing other kinds of functions and services.
There is also an issue with available applications for users to improve their livelihoods. If there are no e-services available especially from Government then there would limited benefits seen.
There were many infrastructure challenges in terms of availability of bandwidth and electricity - so these prevented the growth of telecentres. Many rural communities are also sparsely populated so there was limited Internet telecoms penetration since the market was not seen to be there.
4) What are areas of potential that MCTs should work on developing in the future?
In different places, the role of MCTs are evolving. In Guyana, the Government committed to a controversial One Laptop Per Family project. Part of the project sees the establishment of hubs which could serve as training centres and provide services to the users such as repairs and maintenance. This project is now evolving.
MCTs could also be hubs for development of new ways of working and entrepreneurship which involve ICTs . MCTs could also serve as media centres for communication of issues affecting the communities. The impact of this would be limited in places in which democratic institutions do not function.
5) Do you have any recommendations or guidelines for the implementation or management of MCTs?
a) The installation of an MCT is the easiest thing. The sustainability requires careful thought and the sustainability plan must be thought through and evaluated carefully.
b) Technology is evolving and in some places,the availability to the citizens might mean that they will rely less on the MCTs for access or service.
c) Continuous evaluation of the MCT to ensure that it is fulfilling the objectives.
I had worked on one telecentre run by the Cummings Lodge Hindu Society and organised by SEWA. The telecentre closed for various reasons. There are many other telecentre models in other parts of the world.
1. What role can MCTs play in social and economic development, particularly in rural communities of developing countries?
I believe there is evidence that in many parts of the world, telecentres have been part of the economic and social development of rural communities. Rural economies have faced serious challenges . The theory goes that communities with limited access to telecommunications and technical capacity can use the MCTs to access information and knowledge. There are telecentre models in urban communities as well with poverty.
2) In your experience, what have been some successes (especially concrete examples) of MCTs?
The experience that I had with the SEWA telecentre is that it is possible to configure them in different ways from the technology standpoint. Our experience was to establish a low cost one which used recycled equipment and the Linux Terminal Server Project. That was a success in terms of set up costs. At Bina Hill, in Region 9, there is also a community access point for computers and Internet. There are no other MCTs in Guyana despite many promises to set them up. Many organisations and other entities have opened Internet Cafes which have also been sites to teach computer skills. The model of ownership is different from that of an MCT . These have had varying levels of success, many relying on the cheap VOIP calls.
3) What have been the challenges or failures, and what can we learn from them?
In Guyana, there has been a deterioration of local government and community government . As a result, the idea of community ownership of resources for the community does not really exist - experiences with community centres and so on have shown varying levels of usage. The Government had planned to establish some kinds of IT access but these never materialised since the ongoing management costs were never sorted out.
Other organisations who have met set up costs, were not able to predict and find ways of dealing with the ongoing costs. While it is good to rely on volunteers, many times young volunteers are often pursuing studies and careers and they move on as they find jobs and so on. Sustainability is often the challenge.
The needs of the communities might evolve, and experiences from around the world are showing that MCTs are evolving and providing other kinds of functions and services.
There is also an issue with available applications for users to improve their livelihoods. If there are no e-services available especially from Government then there would limited benefits seen.
There were many infrastructure challenges in terms of availability of bandwidth and electricity - so these prevented the growth of telecentres. Many rural communities are also sparsely populated so there was limited Internet telecoms penetration since the market was not seen to be there.
4) What are areas of potential that MCTs should work on developing in the future?
In different places, the role of MCTs are evolving. In Guyana, the Government committed to a controversial One Laptop Per Family project. Part of the project sees the establishment of hubs which could serve as training centres and provide services to the users such as repairs and maintenance. This project is now evolving.
MCTs could also be hubs for development of new ways of working and entrepreneurship which involve ICTs . MCTs could also serve as media centres for communication of issues affecting the communities. The impact of this would be limited in places in which democratic institutions do not function.
5) Do you have any recommendations or guidelines for the implementation or management of MCTs?
a) The installation of an MCT is the easiest thing. The sustainability requires careful thought and the sustainability plan must be thought through and evaluated carefully.
b) Technology is evolving and in some places,the availability to the citizens might mean that they will rely less on the MCTs for access or service.
c) Continuous evaluation of the MCT to ensure that it is fulfilling the objectives.
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