The Five Pillars of Sustainable Telecentres

1. The Five Pillars of Sustainable Telecentres ISITI-UNIMAS Dr. Roger Harris roger.harris@rogharris.org http://www.rogharris.org/

2. The 5 Pillars of Sustainable Telecentres Sustainable Telecentres Policy Social Finance Operations Organisation Partnerships Needs and strengths analysis Poverty reduction Business plans Staff Premises Rural development Entrepreneurialism Community Participation Community ownership Technology ICTs Power supply Training Marketing Telecomm-unications Networking Location Subsidis-ation Outreach Internet

3. A Mnemonic for the 5 Pillars Something intended to assist the memory, such as a verse or formula. Policy Social Finance Operations Organisation O P S F O Old PrintersScrambleFuzzyOrders Old PrintersScrambleFuzzyOrders

4. Organisational Aspects of Telecentre Sustainability

5. Organisation • Partnerships • Community Ownership Networking

6. Partnerships • Why are telecentre partnerships essential for sustainability • Partners are essential. • Public-Private Partnerships bring in various skills and resources. • At the local level, typical Telecentre partnerships include; community leaders, community organizations, schools, health centres, agricultural extension agents and input suppliers, and local cooperatives. • Assist in identifying the demand for informationand in promoting developmental activities that make good use of it. • Also therefore; local agricultural extension agents, community health workers, schoolteachers and government officials

7. Partnerships • What partners should telecentres have? • Government • Public services, e-government • Donors • Funding, networking • NGOs • Development orientation • Private sector • Financial sustainability • Education institutions • Common service • Other telecentres • Knowledge sharing

8. Community Ownership • How to ensure community ownership of a telecentre • Include representatives within the governance structure • Provide services that are responsive to known needs • Why is it important? • The road to sustainability goes through the centre of community acceptance

9. Networking • What type of networks should telecentres belong to? • International telecentre networks • National telecentre networks • Regional and local telecentre networks • If they don’t exist, start one. • How to foster participation in a network • Be active • National level networking • Important for national programmes; government, NGOs, private sector.

10. Policy Aspects of Telecentre Sustainability

11. Policy • Poverty reduction Rural development • ICTs Telecommun-ications • Internet

12. Poverty reduction • Why are poverty reduction policies important? • To achieve the MDGs • To legitimise telecentres, that provide access to ICTs for poor people, for whom domestic access is unaffordable. • How are they formulated and why should they include ICTs? • National PRSPs, but ICT inclusion is patchy.

13. Rural development • Why are rural development policies important? • Most of Asia’s poverty is rural. • Rural locations are least served with access to ICTs • How are they formulated and why should they include ICTs? • Mostly under Ministries of Rural Development, but their use of ICTs is generally low priority.

14. ICTs • Why are ICT policies important? • To legitimise expenditure on expansion of the infrastructure • To align policies for poverty reduction and rural development with the formulation of telecentre programmes • How are they formulated? • Often a national agency which is outside the regular government structure, possibly directly under the head of government.

15. Telecommunications • What are the stages of growth for telecommunications reform? • De-regulation, competition, foreign ownership, independent regulator. • Why are they important for internet and telecentre diffusion? • Deregulation accelerates technology diffusion

16. Internet • Why is an internet policy required? • As a critical component of ICT policy • A mechanism for achieving digital inclusion • Policies for internet expansion underpin e-government and telecentre diffusion • How is it developed and implemented? • As part of ICT policy formulations

17. Social Aspects of Telecentre Sustainability

18. Social Needs and strengths analysis • Community Participation • Marketing Outreach

19. Needs and strengths analysis • How to discover the information and communication needs of the community • Primary data collection: • Community engagement • Interviews with representatives and officials • Household surveys • Focus group discussions • Secondary data collection • Previous studies • Other organisations and NGOs • Why this is crucial for telecentre sustainability? • To enable the provision of information-based services that the community will appreciate.

20. Community Participation • Why should communities participate in telecentre operation? • Info-mediaries who work in telecentres should be drawn from the communities the centres serve. • Community representatives within the governance structure facilitate responsiveness to community needs. • They also assist with outreach and marketing by the telecentre, which increases its impact.

21. Marketing • How to market telecentre services • Newsletters • Open days • Special offers • Posters • Notices and billboards • Fliers • Schoolopen days • Competitions • Advertising campaigns • Health campaigns • Demonstrations • Meetings

22. Outreach • How to maintain constant engagement with the community • Regular focus groups; farmers, women, youths, elderly, businessmen, etc. • Regular surveys • Regular meetings of the council / steering committee, which will contain community representatives. • Regular functions; open days, promotions, events, etc.

23. Financial Aspects of Telecentre Sustainability

24. Finance Business plans • Entrepreneu-rialism Training Subsidisation

25. Business plans • What is a business plan? • A formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals • How to build one • Should have these components; • The product or service • A market analysis • Strategy and Implementation • Management and staff • Financial analysis, income and cost estimates, cash flow. • Publicly sponsored telecentres often lack a business plan • Private sector managed telecentres have performed better financially. • The telecentre manager’s entrepreneurial dedication is a key success factor. • They require a combination of technical, managerial and social development skills that are sometimes difficult to learn spontaneously by local entrepreneurs. • Pressure for financial can force those that succeed to narrow their targeted users to the groups that can afford the services most, typically urban dwellers and the better off.

26. Entrepreneurialism • What is an entrepreneur? • A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on financial risk to do so • What essential skills are required by one? •  Self-Motivation, Self-Confidence, Salesmanship, Risk-taker, Financial, Management, Customer-oriented, etc. • Why are they important for telecentre sustainability? • Local investment fosters community orientation and fiscal discipline. • However, a drive for financial sustainability that relies solely on local entrepreneurialism risks a drift away from the social agenda. • Arrangements for financing Telecentres need to find a balance between ensuring financial viability (which may or may not include subsidisation) and equality in sharing the benefits among those in most need of them

27. Training • What training can and should be provided for entrepreneurs? • Some of the skills can be learned, but they are probably not the most important ones; • Salesmanship, Financial, Management • The more important attributes are inborn; •  Self-Motivation, Self-Confidence, Risk-taker • The challenge is in finding such people and nurturing them towards success.

28. Subsidisation • Why, when and how are subsidies used to support telecentres? • A sum of money granted by the government or a public body to assist an industry or business so that the price of a commodity or service may remain low or competitive. • Most governments, including those of the poorest countries, subsidise services that even the well-off benefit from, including schools, libraries, fuel, food, transportation and health services. • Subsidies to telecentres can help them become viable .They generally fall into two categories: • those aimed at expanding telecommunications infrastructure into under-served areas (rural and remote), and • those designed to enhance telecentre performance for development purposes. • Many countries are crafting market-oriented reforms intended to privatize and deregulate their telecommunications sectors and to improve access and investment in rural, underserved and un-served areas. • Example mechanisms include; • license obligations to serve rural communities, • minimum subsidies schemes, • telecommunications development funds, and • variations of build-transfer-operate arrangements.

29. Operational Aspects of Telecentre Sustainability

30. Operations Staff • Premises Technology • Power Supply Location

31. Staff • What is the role of telecentre staff? • To provide information services to the community • Act as infomediaries • Local capacity building • How should they be selected and trained • Drawn from the community • Women are best • Why are they critical for telecentre performance and sustainability? • Strong evidence links community acceptance of telecentres to quality of interaction with staff.

32. Technology • What technology should telecentres use? • Computers • Laptops draw less power • Thin clients are less complicated • Internet • VSAT, Wi,Fi, WiMax, • Peripherals • Other ICTs, TV, video • Community radio broadcasting

33. Power Supply • How to organise power supplies where they are unreliable? • Generators • Solar • Batteries • Micro-hydro • Wind turbine

34. Location • Why is telecentre location fundamental to sustainability? • Same reason as a retail shop • To attract customers • Best is next to a market, main street, ground floor, central location. • Upstairs in government offices don’t work; • Hidden • Official • Intimidating • “Not for us”

35. The Ecosystem Perspective on Telecentre Sustainability

36. Drawing together a diverse set of constructs ICT Policy Pro-poor Development Strategies Poverty reduction Local Access Telecentres, schools, libraries, Government As a user of ICTs Infrastructure Universal Service Methods Participatory, local, gender Institutions Agriculture, enterprise development, education, health… Services Extension, micro-finance, public health… People Farmers, women, disadvantaged, entrepreneurs, youth…